“The gospel is the way of discipleship. . . Discipleship is a journey. We need the refining lessons of the journey to craft our character and purify our hearts. By patiently walking in the path of discipleship, we demonstrate to ourselves the measure of our faith and our willingness to accept God's will rather than ours.”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, May Ensign, 2009
“The word disciple comes from the Latin [meaning] a learner. A disciple of Christ is one who is learning to be like Christ—learning to think, to feel, and to act [like] he does. To be a true disciple, to fulfill that learning task, is the most demanding regimen known to man. No other discipline compares … in either requirements or rewards. It involves the total transformation of a person from the state of the natural man to that of [a] saint, one who loves the Lord and serves with all of his heart, might, mind, and strength” (Chauncey C. Riddle, “Becoming a Disciple,” Ensign, Sept. 1974, 81).
"The man that is most truly great is the one who is most Christlike. What you sincerely in your heart think of Christ will determine what you are, will largely determine what your acts will be. … By choosing him as our ideal, we create within ourselves a desire to be like him, to have fellowship with him" (David O. McKay, in Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 93, 98). If you think about Him long enough, you will begin to act like Him. If you act like Him long enough, you'll truly become like Him. Gene R. Cook, Ensign, May 2002.
Then becoming a disciple of Christ is follow him to end that we be come like him. As Paul says when we “see Christ we will be like Him.”
The first steps, says Pres. Uchtdorf, is the gospel. It is to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which will motive us to repent and be baptized for the remission of our sins, that we might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We renew our covenant of baptism right here at this alter by taking of the Sacrament.
D&C 20:77 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
78 The manner of administering the wine—he shall take the cup also, and say:
79 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
To take upon them the name of thy Son.... is to take on his characteristics, just like we have the characteristics of our parents, we are to be like him. By taking on him name we become his children, His heir and will inherit all that the Father has through Jesus Christ.
and always remember him . . . is to remember his life, his perfect life and how he lived, to study the scriptures about Him. It is to remember his offering, His Atonment, is suffering for us to take upon Him our sins and bears our stripes before the law of justice. It is to remember the Holy Resurrection and the promise of Eternal life and Exaltation
and keep his commandments which he has given them. . . is to disciple ours selves to follow him and live his laws and do them. Not just know them. Not just talk about them, but to do All of the commandments. This is to live according to the truth and light which we know.
that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. The gift of the holy ghost is given only to those who are disciples. The Holy Ghost is the comforter to help us in hard times. He will teach us the truth of all things. He will ratify our righteous acts that they are accepted in Heaven. He can change our hearts and sanctify us this process is being born again and to overcome the natural or fallen man.
“The Lord our God has sent us here to get experience in these things so that we may know the good from the evil and be able to close our hearts against the evil. . . everyone has the power to close his heart against doubt, against darkness, against unbelief, against depression, against anger, against hatred, against jealousy, against malice, against envy. God has given this power unto all of us, and we can gain still greater power by calling upon Him for that which we lack. . . God has given us power to resist these things, that our hearts may be kept free from them, President George Q. Cannon
From John's writing we learn that Christ did not obtain a fulness of the glory of the Father at first, but did so by advancing from grace to grace. We are then told that this knowledge has been restored to us that we might know what and how to worship. (See D&C 93:11-19.) That is, we worship by imitating or emulating Christ, who was fully obedient to the will of his Father and who refined his soul, advancing from one grace to a greater grace through service to his fellow beings. Nothing is more exalting to the soul than selfless service. The genius of the Lord's kingdom is that all are called upon to serve-and the more faithful the service, the more godlike the servant becomes.
Elder James E. Faust
The attributes of Christ discussed in Preach My Gospel, Chapter 6 are: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Hope, Charity and Love, Virtue, Knowledge, Patience, Humility, Diligence, Obedience, and I will add meekness and forgiveness and there are many more..
“The restored gospel enables you to become like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Savior has shown the way. He has set the perfect example, and He commands us to become as He is (see 3 Nephi 27:27). Learn of Him and seek to incorporate His attributes into your life. Through the power of His Atonement, you can achieve this goal and lead others to achieve it also.” Preach My Gospel, Page 115
We maintain our repentance, as King Benjamin taught, renewing our covenants made at our baptism by partaking of the sacrament. Thus weekly, we are to assess or actions, our thoughts and our words and make corrections and improvements and refocus our lives through the sacrament. The sacrament time is sacred and should be a very holy time in our lives. Do not let it become common. Make it a special event each week in your life as you come forth with a broken heart and a contrite spirit to renew your covenant with the Lord. This is the way of the true disciple.
32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. Book of Mormon
No comments:
Post a Comment