The Lord's way.

I'm doing something called Feel Great in Eight. It is a health program, mixed with spiritually uplifting goals. I have overcome a few addictions with this program and one that I have recently been working on is striving to LIVE like Christ lived, by doing my very best to exemplify his behavior. This has been extremely difficult as I have intended to take my love to a much higher level. This has required a deeper level of forgiveness and submission than I tend to feel comfortable with on a regular basis. This requires a constant devotion of conscious effort and commitment. I am still working on this and probably will be my whole mortal life, but I would absolutely LOVE if the destructive spirit of contention, resentment, and revenge were completely and entirely absent from my life.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, said it best in this last conference when he said, "We simply have to stop judging others and replace judgmental thoughts and feelings with a heart full of love for God and His children. God is our Father. We are His children. We are all brothers and sisters."

We are all brothers and sisters.

He continues to say the following:

"When we feel hurt, angry, or envious, it is quite easy to judge other people, often assigning dark motives to their actions in order to justify our own feelings of resentment".

"As always, Christ is our exemplar. In His teachings as in His life, He showed us the way. He forgave the wicked, the vulgar, and those who sought to hurt and to do Him harm."

"Jesus said it is easy to love those who love us; even the wicked can do that. But Jesus Christ taught a higher law. His words echo through the centuries and are meant for us today. They are meant for all who desire to be His disciples. They are meant for you and me: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

"We are not perfect."

"The people around us are not perfect. People do things that annoy, disappoint, and anger. In this mortal life it will always be that way."

"Nevertheless, we must let go of our grievances. Part of the purpose of mortality is to learn how to let go of such things. That is the Lord’s way."

"Remember, heaven is filled with those who have this in common: They are forgiven. And they forgive."

"Lay your burden at the Savior’s feet. Let go of judgment. Allow Christ’s Atonement to change and heal your heart. Love one another. Forgive one another."

"The merciful will obtain mercy."

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I know without a doubt that the Lord's way is supposed to be our way. In a world that has so many wicked habits and tendencies, we must personally make a commitment to be different. We all need the Savior's help and the Savior himself needs more of us to be willing to exemplify his pure love through our very own loving countenance and righteous ways.

All Merciful.

One of my favorite quotes after reading through this month's General Conference addresses for my church, was this quote by Elder Holland:

"Surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful - especially to those who don't expect it and especially to those who feel they don't deserve it."

This is surely where the atonement plays into our lives. We all depend upon that forgiveness and that comfort which makes us feel whole again. It's so very relieving that we have such a merciful God whom helps us to acknowledge our eternal potential and the importance of it.

To have been the recipient of God's mercy, on more occasions that I dare try to count... all the while not expecting it, nor feeling like I deserve it, has truly made me want to dig deeper and find a way to be better and more deserving of His love and goodness.

What a great quote.

When you are in your thoughts all alone, just trying to understand the significance of feelings within your heart... often times you judge yourself. You label yourself as weak, incompetent, and broken.

Thank goodness that LOVE itself is so very very very real. Love changes the patterns of our lives. When you come to know both your Heavenly Father and the Savior for yourself, you gain a full knowledge of what love truly is and what YOUR love is truly capable of.

I have been looking over and reading some of April's Conference articles HERE and a quote that completely stood out to me today was this, by Paul E. Koelliker :

"The feeling of love from our Heavenly Father is like a gravitational pull from heaven. As we remove the distractions that pull us toward the world and exercise our agency to seek Him, we open our hearts to a celestial force which draws us toward Him.... I am confident that our Heavenly Father’s arms are constantly extended, ever ready to embrace each one of us and say to each one with that quiet, piercing voice, “I love you.”

Do you ever feel you have so many problems, such real concerns, and that you get overwhelmed with the challenges of life?

I do.

I loved reading this very specific and optimistic suggestion from our prophet, Thomas S. Monson: seek heavenly guidance one day at a time. Life by the yard is hard; by the inch it’s a cinch. Each of us can be true for just one day—and then one more and then one more after that—until we’ve lived a lifetime guided by the Spirit, a lifetime close to the Lord, a lifetime of good deeds and righteousness. The Savior promised, “Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.”

Take one day at a time... or an inch if you will and truly strive for greatness.