This week was so awesome!! It literally just keeps getting better and better here in Dortmund. (this is a long one!)
Other than that we did some busy administrative things like cleaning up two other apartments for cleaning checks (not sure why we are inspecting apartments that nobody is living in but whatever), trying to resurrect our car which wouldn't start suddenly (it Worked!), and member splits!
"10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;" (D&C 18:10)
I've thought a lot about the worth of souls on my mission. One of the things I'm most grateful for in this gospel is the sense of personal worth and value that has come pouring into my life as I have drawn closer to my savior. I have begun to see the worth of my own soul.
But I also have found that I work most effectively, and feel the most charity and love for others, when I can focus on the worth of the souls surrounding me. My sincerity increases and my love increases and my patience and faith increase. Understanding my own relationship with God has changed me. I continually seek to come to deeper and greater understanding.
So what is the worth of a Soul? What is the worth of my soul? What is the worth of your soul? How important are you to your God?
To place a value on a soul, we first must know where it's value comes from. What gives it its value. Why is it worth loving. I've thought a lot about it, and I finally found an answer in something someone else said, but I sadly don't remember where. The value of a child of God doesn't come from its faith, competence, actions, choices, or even its attitude towards being loved. It doesn't matter if you are a sinner or Saint, a lover of God or hater, short tempered or patient. Or even how hard you try. You have value and God loves you the exact same. He's obviously saddened when we choose to turn away from him, but his love is still there ready for us if we want it.
Why is that? What is it that makes us so valuable to him?
"39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)
We are his work and his glory. His whole purpose is our immortality and eternal life. Eternal Life includes 3 conditions: immortality (a perfect, immortal body of flesh and bone), living in the presence of God the Father (clean of all sin), and Eternal Progression (the ability to become like him).
Our value comes not from what we do, say, think, or feel, rather from our potential. The potential of each of God's children to one day become as He is. To become a creator of worlds and a Parent to future generations of spirit children.
That's not just fancy. That's reality. That is our divine destiny and potential. And why wouldn't it be? Why would God settle for creating anything less than other Gods? He is the Almighty and all knowing Father of Heaven and Earth. He has created worlds without number and set the stars spinning in their perfect orbits. But what could be greater than creating another creator? What could be greater than creating a shining diamond out of the heat and pressure of existence? Of all that God has created, we are His greatest creation. You are his greatest creation. And he will do anything -- and I mean ANYTHING -- to get us to reach that potential and fulfill that grand vision in store for each of us. There is no cost too High. No pain too great. No loss too painful. For what can compare to the glory of creating creators? What can compare to the feeling of looking back on who we once were and seeing the growth and luster of what we have become?
He will truly do anything to get us to return to him, because he knows that as great as this gift is, even the gift of eternal life, he cannot force it upon us. It must be chosen. And so he let's us choose. He let's us choose poorly even. Because he knows that this is the only way. That is a price he will pay to watch his children catch the light of Faith and take flight. He will let them misuse their own gift of Agency.
He loves us enough to let us choose falsely.
The conditions for returning to live with God are set by His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The conditions of repentance were set by Christ, to become clean of our sins. He paid the previous terms, set by the Law of Justice, and interceded by sacrificing himself for our sins. His terms ask for a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Only if we satisfy these conditions can we be clean of sin and receive this gift of Eternal Life. In order to fulfill His work and his Glory, God needs us to have that. He needs us to be humble.
"I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me" (Ether 12:27).
God wants nothing more for us to be happy. But he's willing to hurt us in the short term to ensure our eternal happiness in his presence. He's willing to cut down the overgrown currant bush, to ensure it reaches its true potential ("As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten", Elder D. Todd Christofferson, April 2011 General Conference). He knows what we are capable of, even if we don't, and he is willing to push us there. He's willing to give us weakness, he's willing to give us hardship, he's willing to cut us down, because we as a whole are more important to Him than our own temporary state of happiness. He will take everything from us and expose our weaknesses and flaws if it means that at the end of the day, at the end of our lives, we have that Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit. Because if we do, it's all worth it. God wins. We win. Because we can return to live with him. He has achieved his purpose, which is our lasting and eternal happiness and glory.
He loves us enough to hurt us.
But ultimately, he loves us enough that he gave up his Son.
"16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
I actually like this verse in German better. In English it says that God 'gave' his only begotten son. But in German the word it uses is 'hingab' which is slightly different. The prefix 'hin' implies motion away from the speaker. It means he gave him away. He gave him up. This wasn't a partial gift, or a temporary gift. He didn't share Jesus Christ with us or hold back. He gave the very best he had, even his only Son. He let Christ, the creator of the heavens and earth, the Great Jehovah and a member of the Godhead, condescend and be born as a helpless infant. He gave away his only perfect son for us.
Not only that, but it was no gentle experience for Jesus. 1 Nephi 19:9 describes Christ's mortal experience.
"9 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men."
Christ loved us enough that he let us torment him. He knew that we had no idea what we were doing, and that even though we rejected and murdered him, we desperately needed him. He loved us enough to suffer for us and sacrifice himself. Our souls and the mere opportunity of our salvation were worth the unimaginable price of his suffering. He was willing to let us kick, mock, scourge, and spit on him so that each of us could have the opportunity to achieve our potential.
But this scripture took on a whole new meaning for me when I read it in relation to the Father. I imagine the patience and long-suffering the Father exercises every day working with a group of humans as imperfect and limited as ourselves. He builds and maintains his church. He is hastening the Gathering of Israel. He is bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. That cannot be easy. He does it all whilst managing the personal destinies and development of every soul on earth. And he does it only using painfully imperfect people to do it all. People who are prideful and fearful, who sometimes push away from our loving Father or hurt those fellow precious souls around us. But he still loves us. He loves us so much He sent his Son, who was the only perfect person to ever walk this earth. The only person who loved the Father perfectly and who never resisted his will. What a gift to us. A perfect example, a standard to follow and a friend to support and cradle us as we struggle and grow and learn on our journeys back home.
What a wonderful instrument for our salvation was our Savior in the hands of our Father! I mean even aside for his sacrifice, a perfectly obedient Son who did nothing but go around blessing and loving his little brothers and sisters.
But God loved us enough to give him up for us.
"9 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and [the Father] suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men."
He loved us enough to insist that his Beloved take the bitter cup in Gethsemane. He loved us enough to let us lash out in hatred and fear at his only Begotten. He let us kick, mock, betray, and scourge him. He let us put a crown of thorns on his head and nail him to a cross. He not only loves us enough to let us do that, but he loves us and cares about us enough to withdraw his presence from Christ as he died on the cross. He left Christ alone in his darkest hour so that Christ could complete his Atonement. He left him alone in his darkest hour so that when we have our darkest hours, we don't have to be. He did it for us.
He gave up his only Son.
Everything God has done, does now, and will do is for you. It is to help you fulfill your own divine destiny. Everything he has given is for you. He would do it all again just for you. Christ would suffer and the Father would let him if it meant, that at the end of the day, just one soul made the decision to come back to Him. Because what a beautiful reward for an enormous price. God would do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant that you would come back to Him.
So know that you have cheerleaders in heaven. That you are a child of God. That you are his precious child. He knows you and loves you and watches over you. The trials and hardships of this life are prepared and tailored to you by a loving Heavenly Father to prepare you for eternal glory, even your Eternal Life.
All of creation is cheering you on, waiting eagerly to see you progress and shine forth.
"16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." (Romans 8:16-19)
You are awesome. Bleibt cool Leute
