Sacrifice and blessings.

*old post that I wasn't sure about posting, and now I feel like putting it up.

I've been meaning to put up more pics of my sweet and adorable camry. and I promise I will. But there's this thing inside of me that has to literarily release my thoughts every once in a while. And something happened recently that has driven me to this point, the point where I grab the computer and just start typing.

Recently I was in a class where a quote was shared, (which I now have memorized, but so as to not offend I will not repeat it) that was false doctrine at it's finest. It was not from a General Authority--which is why I feel bold enough to call it false doctrine.

I don't profess to know everything about the gospel. In fact my faith is bigger than a mustard seed, but I sometimes feel as if my knowledge of the gospel might be smaller. And even though I've spent a lot of time specifically trying to study the Atonement I still feel inadequate in my understanding of it.

But I do know that it is the center of everything. Without it, or I should say, without Christ, nothing else matters. And this quote, if understood, took away the importance of the Atonement.

I will paraphrase the quote, or at least my understanding of it. It basically said that sacrifice is nonexistant if we recieved a blessing that was greater than what we sacrificed to recieve the blessing.

MMMmmmmm ponder that.

My opinion is that no matter what our sacrifices entail, our blessings will ALWAYS be greater. and if you can't see your blessings in your life, that's nobody's fault but your own. (I think the world wants us to say everything gently and not be straightforward. But on my blog I'mma have to say it straight. Because it has to be said. Even though hardly anyone reads my blog....it makes me feel better haha.)

If Job in the Bible, could still find goodness in his faith in God and if he could still trust Him to bless his life even after all of the horrible things that happened to him, then why can't we?
And D&C 122:8 "The Son of man hath descended below all things, art thou greater than he?"

And in direct response to the quote, if there's no sacrifice when our blessings are greater than what we gave, then that would mean in order to recieve "all that the Father has" we would have to sacrifice more than what we as imperfect beings can give. We would be stuck. No going forward. We would not be able to be with our Father or be given all He has because we could never be worthy of it... because on our own we are not worthy of it.

It is through Christ that we can recieve all that the Father has. It's through ordinances, like Baptism, and the ordinances we partake of in the temple, and through living our lives righteously, and partaking of the Atonement regularly, and repenting, and loving and serving our brothers and sisters. but all of those things are for naught if Christ had not atoned for the sins of the world. And if he had not the power to give us... through his grace that we might become stronger and more able to withstand  the temptations we are faced with ...then we would be too weak.

In D&C 76 we find:
50 And again we bear record—for we ^asaw and heard, and this is the ^btestimony of the ^cgospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the ^djust—

51 They are they who received the ^atestimony of Jesus, and ^bbelieved on his name and were ^cbaptized after the ^dmanner of his burial, being ^eburied in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given—

 52 That by ^akeeping the commandments they might be ^bwashed and ^ccleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the ^dhands of him who is ^eordained and sealed unto this power;
 53 And who ^aovercome by faith, and are ^bsealed by the Holy Spirit of ^cpromise, which the Father ^dsheds forth upon all those who are just and true.
 54 They are they who are the ^achurch of the ^bFirstborn.
 55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given ^aall things—
 56 They are they who are ^apriests and ^bkings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;
 57 And are ^apriests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of ^bEnoch, which was after the ^corder of the Only Begotten Son.
 58 Wherefore, as it is written, they are ^agods, even the ^bsons of ^cGod—
 59 Wherefore, ^aall things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
 60 And they shall ^aovercome all things.
 61 Wherefore, let no man ^aglory in man, but rather let him ^bglory in God, who shall ^csubdue all enemies under his feet.
 62 These shall ^adwell in the ^bpresence of God and his Christ forever and ever.


We don't have to do a lot to recieve it all. If we have an eternal perspective, then life's battles become much smaller and much more insignificant. My mom has said to me before, in essence, that every sacrifice we make is put on the books in heaven, and those sacrifices are not forgotten. And I was taught by very brilliant parents that when we live righteously, our Father in Heaven tends to bless us beyond what we even thought possible. I truly believe that.

And let me end with one more thought.

I feel strongly, that living righteously, if consistently done with a sincere heart and contrite spirit, does not feel like a sacrifice at all. I believe in sacrifice, and that it's real, and required, but it's weight does not always equal the weight of the blessings we receive in this life, or in the life to come. We are only required truly small sacrifices if we can see them with an eternal perspective. Some have to sacrifice more than I can imagine, and some sacrifices seem too insignificant to call sacrifices. And I believe that if I try harder to align my heart with the Savior's, and if I keep repenting and trying to become better, and if I find joy in doing so, I will see the blessings unfold----and I know this to be true because I have done this--it's a process that requires a lot of 'rinse and repeat' in it. And I've seen the blessings, over and over and over again.
So I guess what I'm saying is---When we come unto Christ, truly come unto Christ, the desires of our heart's change and become righteous desires. And the thought of sin is abhorred, and the desire to live righteously is abundant and is above all else. I feel that our prophet encompasses all that a joyful heart in a human being could be. I believe that he sacrificed along the way to get to where he is, but I believe the blessings we each can recieve will always be greater than anything we can ever give. Because that's how our Father in Heaven loves.

Please teach me if I'm wrong, but this is my understanding of the gospel, and I find that it brings me joy. But the thought of every blessing (blessings the Lord gives I find to be humblingly great) requiring an equal amount of giving in order to be called a sacrifice overwhelms me and makes me think that I would have to live like Job from this point on in order to deserve what I have already been blessed with. And I don't believe that. So hopefully you understand what I'm saying. Hopefully you too can find joy in the gospel and be comforted as you look around at the blessings in your life and realize how humbling it is. I am so beyond thankful for all I have and even if I had nothing else, the knowledge that my Savior Jesus Christ died for me, is a blessing that I will never fully comprehend, but it brings me to my knees, it brings me to church, and it brings me to the other end of the line for a friend in need---in hopes that somehow I can give a little back after all Christ gave for me...knowing full well, that I can never fully repay him, but my heart is overjoyed with what I have, and can recieve forever.