Sacrament lesson
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:26–27).
Peace has been a topic that has heavily been on my mind the past month. It's a state of being that I've been trying to master off and on for about a year. It's a concept I've been trying to help my oldest understand and to adopt in our home--which has proved to be one of the most difficult aspirations, because let's face it, it's hard when you are raising 2 toddlers that could not have more disagreeable interactions with each other on a daily basis.
It's also been a lot harder to feel peace as I've been tuning into the news--which really highlights the anthesis of peace--turmoil, fear, hate, anger, pain.
And so as I've mulled this subject over and over in my mind--trying to break it down as to where peace comes from, where it needs to reside and how to navigate towards a more peaceful state of living--Ive realized that in order to live and maintain a more peaceful life, peace needs to first come from within, 2nd it needs to reside within the walls of our home, and 3rd it needs to be felt no matter what happens externally, in other words it needs to be felt in the world around us.
Before I jump into the three areas wherein we need to work on maintaining peace, I think it's important to first clarify WHERE peace comes from.
Isiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Out of all of the Saviors titles this is one of my favorites: Prince of Peace, for as the angels further declared at his birth: "glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men", Luke 2:14. The Savior is the author of peace. And hopefully I'll be able to paint a broader picture of how through him we can feel peace within ourselves, our home, and the world.
1st Peace needs to come from within:
Richard Scott April 2013
"Many voices from the world in which we live tell us we should live at a frantic pace. There is always more to do and more to accomplish. Yet deep inside each of us is a need to have a place of refuge where peace and serenity prevail, a place where we can reset, regroup, and reenergize to prepare for future pressures."
We know that there is a battle raging for the souls of men. If Satan can get us to fall prey to sin, to feel feelings of stress, inadequacy, feel as though we are not good enough, that we don't have enough, than he's won. All of these feelings lead us further and further away from peace--and the author of that peace, which is Jesus Christ.
???So how do we as Elder Scott said, reset, regroup and re-energize?
Multiple times in the scriptures the Savior set himself apart from the things that were going on around him to regroup and to reenergize. We find him not only slowing down to assess situations, but also taking time to be still, to meditate, to be in communion with God so he could more fully reflect on such qualities as humility, patience, strength, love, and obviously peace. One of my favorite examples is in the Book of Mormon when the Savior came to visit the people.
3 nephi 17:
13 And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon the ground.
14 And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.
15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.
Overcome by the wickedness of the people and turmoil it caused him within, the first thing he did was pray on behalf of these people and you know what that prayer did?
18 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.
His prayer restored peace not only within the Savior but within the congregation.
Not only do I feel it is so very important for us to detach ourselves from things that are constantly distracting us, enticing us with things of the world, and deterring us from feeling peace.....but I feel it's vitally important to proactively do the things in our lives that create and restore peace.
Take moments to detach from technology, to be in nature, to meditate, to be in communion with God. Prayer is one of the most powerful ways that we can seek Gods wisdom, his direction for our life, and to consistently make sure we are living with the right perspective!
Also, through prayer and mediation we can ask God to bring to our minds the things that are disturbing our peace, just as Christ did when he was in turmoil about the sins of the people. Some of the answers we receive may be answers we don't like--maybe there are some sins--big or small-- that are inhibiting us from feeling peace.
But as Elder Scott said:
" if we trust in God and have a desire to feel more peace within, we will do what we need to do to rectify those things.
And once we do rectify those sins, we need to believe in the power of the atonement--that they are wiped clean (something I think many struggle with most after the repentance process).
"To continue to suffer when there has been proper repentance is not prompted by the Savior but the master of deceit, whose goal is to bind and enslave you. Satan will press you to continue to relive the details of past mistakes, knowing that such thoughts make forgiveness seem unattainable. In this way Satan attempts to tie strings to the mind and body so that he can manipulate you like a puppet." Which ultimately robs us of peace.
Once we cleanse ourselves of inner turmoil--through repentance--and take moments to detatch ourselves from things that are interrupting our peace, we need to seek to have that same feeling of peace within our home.
Peace in the home
Elder Scott:
"Some homes have a father who is a worthy priesthood holder joined by a faithful, devoted mother who together lead in righteousness. Many homes have a different configuration. Regardless of your circumstances, you can center your home and your life on the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the source of true peace in this life."
"I’m sure you can identify the fundamental principles that center your home on the Savior. The prophetic counsel to have daily personal and family prayer, daily personal and family scripture study, and weekly family home evening are the essential, weight-bearing beams in the construction of a Christ-centered home. Without these regular practices it will be difficult to find the desired and much-needed peace and refuge from the world."
Every home is different so what you put into practice will be different. I know for our family taking time to meditate, listen to positive affirmations each morning, reading the scriptures at breakfast, listening to good music when tension starts to build, even just wrestling or having a good sense of humor--things that seem so little but are actually so big--restore peace in our home.
Richard Scott:
"Remember: little things lead to big things. Seemingly insignificant indiscretions or neglect can lead to big problems. More importantly, simple, consistent, good habits lead to a life full of bountiful blessings." And that's why we keep hearing year after year the same things: read your scriptures, go to church, go to the temple, repent, pray, have FHE....these little acts need to become habitual so we feel more peace on a daily basis.
I know first hand that peace is something we have to pro-actively work on establishing Day in and day out. It's not an event we wait for--the 30 seconds out of the week when our kids triumphantly get along, the moment when we finally pay off our debt--it's a daily feeling we have to consistently work towards.
Which leads me to the last place we need to feel peace: in this world.
Peace in the world
Peace is mentioned
It's no wonder that it's mentioned so many times in these ancient, inspired texts--look at the world we live in today, I can't think of a higher power other than love, that this world is more deficient in, than peace.
Many in the world today--I've been at fault thinking this way as well--think there is no way we can feel peace in this world. But that's a deception Satan wants us to fall prey to. Because when we fall prey to it we not only lose hope and become apathetic, we give up the fight of becoming peacemakers.
Going back to the scripture I opened my talk with: The Savior told his disciples, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:26–27).
One could spend days studying and dissecting this one verse because it's such a profound and some what foreign concept to us. Peace? Where is peace in this world?
Some could interpret the Saviors bestowal upon his disciples as a physical peace he left his disciples, which I believe is true-they had a certain kind of peaceful power with them when he was gone. But I also interpret it as him saying, "I lived in the world like you--a place that is the antithesis of peace--but I've left my example for you, and it's an example unlike the other examples you are going to see in the world. As long as you follow me, you'll have no need to fear--peace can be felt in everything you do. And then what's amazing is that the greatest trials of the Saviors life came after he shared this concept of peace with his disciples.
Just to share a few examples of the Savior enacting peace
First and foremost, the atonement--the most excruciating, painful thing, both mentally and physically, that any man on earth has had to experience, causing the Savior himself to bleed from every pore, to feel the pains, the turmoil, the sins of every human being that's ever lived on earth. In D&C Christ says it was so painful that it even caused him to nearly give up. But again he felt peace in that most excruciating moment because he was in communion with God thus enabling him to remember why he was doing it--so that we would not have to bear our own sins. Yet amidst it all he felt peace--for in his own words "father not my will but thine be done".
Even when he was being questioned by Pilot who told him he could release him and asked him what had he to speak about the matter...he could have said what he needed to say to be released, he could have used his power, but he was quiet, he knew his mission, he knew there was purpose in his crucifixtion and he was at peace.
And then you think of him being humiliated, beat, spit upon, having to carry his own cross, and being crucified...he had peace in every single one of those moments as manifest by his beautiful temperament--he didn't Lash out in anger, he wasn't vengeful or full of hate. In fact of those who crucified him, he prayed "father forgive them for they know not what they do".
Just as the Saviors ministry exemplified, there are going to be trials, weaknesses, pain, that are placed upon us just by living in this world. But There is purpose in our trials and weaknesses. There are lessons to be learned that we could never learn in our perfected state.
However, just as the Savior also exemplified, we can feel peace no matter the circumstance. Yes, we can feel peace when a war is raging, when we are being mocked and ridiculed, when others try to bully us, or be hateful towards us....we can feel peace as we seek to forgive those who've wronged us.
I love love this quote because to me it's the truest summary of peace and it epitomizes the example of our Savior:
My hope and prayer for us all is that we take a moment this week to do some inward reflection--through meditation and prayer on what things we need to change to feel more peace within and then to have the courage to make those changes. To make a list and be proactive with that list of things that we can do to feel more peace within the walls of our own home. And then to go out into this world with the example of our Savior--the Prince of Peace--at the forefront of our minds, especially when we are in the midst of turmoil and trial and know that "He will help us through our difficulties, whatever they may be, for as the Psalmist provided us this assurance: ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy (and I might add peace) cometh in the morning’
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