Everyone told me the first year of teaching would be difficult and I experienced many difficulties and many triumphs and delights as I taught and did my best to help 220+ eighth graders. I love them and would of course require work, thought, time, and participation in class. Writing paragraphs, analyzing sources, reading were little things we did daily in my classroom. While many students jumped right in, there were also a good handfull that would respond, 'ah, that is so hard though!' Initially, that response made me laugh and I would make little jokes back. Then, as I heard that response daily... multiple times a day, I realized how much they, me, we, use this excuse to avoid trying or giving effort and deprive ourselves of wonderful experiences in the process.
With many thoughts on this topic, I will share a series of my thoughts as I continue to learn how to overcome the habit and false comfort of responding to opportunities in life as being too hard. Do we understand who we are? Do we know our worth and capabilities? Ultimately, each of us have the capability to become like Jesus Christ, whole, full of self-control, and love. We cannot become like Christ or reach our full potential without making certain choices, without trying or working. The excuse, "that's too hard," can be caused from approaching something we have never done before so we may feel inadequate, fearful, lazy, tired, do not see the need to engage, or fail to recognize the results of work. Becoming aware of different ways to handle or seize opportunities of life gives me courage and strength to try, to work, to improve, and to expand myself. So I hope this serves as a reminder to myself and you that work, hard work, simple, diligent, consistent work is worth every effort. The AWESOME thing about all of this is, YOU get to Choose! You and I get to choose to engage, to act, to grow and create a more splendid life. Our ability to choose is a great gift and I know that as we choose to work we will become more confident in ourselves because we will know, not just wonder, that we can do hard things... of course you can.
I intend to share examples of people I have observed through day-to-day interaction and the scriptures. This first series is from the example of Nephi, a prophet to learn from in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The following is a study so that you can learn for yourself and be taught from on High of why YOU in particular should take responsibility and work and maybe even be taught of what areas of your life to work on. I will also provide contrasting choices to that of Nephi's from the example of his brothers Laman and Lemuel, so that we can learn the impact of not working and hopefully have more motivation to choose to get to work! Wahooooo
God commanded Lehi (Nephi's dad who was also a prophet) to leave Jerusalem and go to the Promised Land that God had prepared for them. God also wants us to prepare for our own 'Promised Land' of living with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. So, what is our responsibility? Let us learn from Nephi a pattern of what is required for each of us to achieve.
Here are questions to consider as you study:
1- What did Nephi do with his ability to choose?
2- What allowed Nephi to be successful?
3- How often did Nephi experience opposition?
4- What are you learning about what it takes to become like Christ?
Nephi Laman and Lemuel
1 Nephi 1:2-3, 20
1 Nephi 2:5, 16, 19 1 Nephi 2: 5, 12
1 Nephi 3: 6-7, 9, 11, 28-29 1 Nephi 3: 5, 28-29, 30
1 Nephi 7: 12
1 Nephi 10: 17-21
Chapter headings of chapters 11-13
1 Nephi 15:14
1 Nephi 16: 17-18, 23-24 1 Nephi 16: 20-22, 35-38
1 Nephi 17: 8, 11, 15 1 Nephi 17:17-18
Why work? Why become like Christ? What are you learning from the example of Nephi, Laman and Lemuel? What are you learning about your responsibility?
There are many more examples and this is just 1 Nephi, many more in 2 Nephi too but how was Nephi's relationship with God impacted because of his choices? Laman and Lemuel's? Something I know to be sure is that God keeps His promises and again, there are multiple, but here are two promises He extends to us about how He feels about our good choices and the blessings. 'Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast d o n e...' (1 Nephi 2:1) and also, 'you shall prosper...' (1 Nephi 2:20).
Great things are ahead and also possible now as you and I get to work! Aren't you glad we can learn from others and choose for ourselves?! Go dominate and remember... you can do it! Just like with Nephi, lots is required of us to become great and a richer life awaits as we choose today and every day to work towards progress. Please comment of other examples or answers you discovered as you studied. Like Elder Christofferson stated in his talk Free Forever, to Act for Themselves, "Get to work so God has something to help us with!"
With many thoughts on this topic, I will share a series of my thoughts as I continue to learn how to overcome the habit and false comfort of responding to opportunities in life as being too hard. Do we understand who we are? Do we know our worth and capabilities? Ultimately, each of us have the capability to become like Jesus Christ, whole, full of self-control, and love. We cannot become like Christ or reach our full potential without making certain choices, without trying or working. The excuse, "that's too hard," can be caused from approaching something we have never done before so we may feel inadequate, fearful, lazy, tired, do not see the need to engage, or fail to recognize the results of work. Becoming aware of different ways to handle or seize opportunities of life gives me courage and strength to try, to work, to improve, and to expand myself. So I hope this serves as a reminder to myself and you that work, hard work, simple, diligent, consistent work is worth every effort. The AWESOME thing about all of this is, YOU get to Choose! You and I get to choose to engage, to act, to grow and create a more splendid life. Our ability to choose is a great gift and I know that as we choose to work we will become more confident in ourselves because we will know, not just wonder, that we can do hard things... of course you can.
I intend to share examples of people I have observed through day-to-day interaction and the scriptures. This first series is from the example of Nephi, a prophet to learn from in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The following is a study so that you can learn for yourself and be taught from on High of why YOU in particular should take responsibility and work and maybe even be taught of what areas of your life to work on. I will also provide contrasting choices to that of Nephi's from the example of his brothers Laman and Lemuel, so that we can learn the impact of not working and hopefully have more motivation to choose to get to work! Wahooooo
God commanded Lehi (Nephi's dad who was also a prophet) to leave Jerusalem and go to the Promised Land that God had prepared for them. God also wants us to prepare for our own 'Promised Land' of living with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. So, what is our responsibility? Let us learn from Nephi a pattern of what is required for each of us to achieve.
Here are questions to consider as you study:
1- What did Nephi do with his ability to choose?
2- What allowed Nephi to be successful?
3- How often did Nephi experience opposition?
4- What are you learning about what it takes to become like Christ?
Nephi Laman and Lemuel
1 Nephi 1:2-3, 20
1 Nephi 2:5, 16, 19 1 Nephi 2: 5, 12
1 Nephi 3: 6-7, 9, 11, 28-29 1 Nephi 3: 5, 28-29, 30
1 Nephi 7: 12
1 Nephi 10: 17-21
Chapter headings of chapters 11-13
1 Nephi 15:14
1 Nephi 16: 17-18, 23-24 1 Nephi 16: 20-22, 35-38
1 Nephi 17: 8, 11, 15 1 Nephi 17:17-18
Why work? Why become like Christ? What are you learning from the example of Nephi, Laman and Lemuel? What are you learning about your responsibility?
There are many more examples and this is just 1 Nephi, many more in 2 Nephi too but how was Nephi's relationship with God impacted because of his choices? Laman and Lemuel's? Something I know to be sure is that God keeps His promises and again, there are multiple, but here are two promises He extends to us about how He feels about our good choices and the blessings. 'Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast d o n e...' (1 Nephi 2:1) and also, 'you shall prosper...' (1 Nephi 2:20).
Great things are ahead and also possible now as you and I get to work! Aren't you glad we can learn from others and choose for ourselves?! Go dominate and remember... you can do it! Just like with Nephi, lots is required of us to become great and a richer life awaits as we choose today and every day to work towards progress. Please comment of other examples or answers you discovered as you studied. Like Elder Christofferson stated in his talk Free Forever, to Act for Themselves, "Get to work so God has something to help us with!"
Comments
Post a Comment