New Testament Class Week 4

Here is my most recent post for my new testament class. I don't know if anyone is reading my blog here, but if you are, hopefully you are enjoying these little insights I have had! This post is on how we can use the scriptures to solve our day to day problems. ENJOY!

Unit one

Choice 1: Philippians 1–4. Find Solutions in the Scriptures to Life’s Challenges

For each of the following common challenges, write the counsel from Philippians that you would use to resolve it:

• People sometimes argue and complain over petty matters in church meetings or throughout the week (see Philippians 2:1–8, 14–15).

In this set of scriptures it talks about how we should be like minded and remember Christ who died for us. These scriptures made me think about how we need to realize that everyone is different, and so we will all have different opinions. We need to realize this, and think well if it isn’t something vitally important, than we shouldn’t argue over it. I a lot of times try (and the key word here is try), to just think let bygones be bygones, if it isn’t eternally important, I try to just let it go.

• Many youth feel that their parents’ testimony is sufficient for them. Since they have good parents, they rely on them for all their spiritual strength (see Philippians 2:12–15 and institute student manual commentary for Philippians 2:12, “Work out Your Own Salvation with Fear and Trembling” [pp. 361–62]).

These are good scriptures, but what really helped it hit home was the part of the institute manual. We are responsible for our own testimony. This is an action gospel, we can’t just sit idly by and expect to gain exhalation. No, we must live and strive for it constantly by always trying to better our testimony. Not only can we forever lean on the testimony of our parents, but we can’t just have one spiritual experience and think we have a testimony and never work on it again. Having spiritual strength and a testimony is a lifelong process of hard work.

• An investigator is considering joining the Church, but his family will no longer associate with him if he does (see Philippians 3:7–16; 4:13).

These scriptures are very comforting, and help us realize that Christ has suffered it all. He knows what it is like for someone to lose their family, He asks us to follow Him, and He will make it all better. He will strengthen us in our tough times; we just have to have faith in Him.

• How is this writing assignment an example of the principle taught in 2 Nephi 32:3?

In this scripture it is telling us we should feast upon the words of Christ, because they are the words of Christ, and will be a comfort for us. So this activity of seeing how the scriptures can help solve day to day problems is like feasting on them. So many times we want other people to solve our problems for us, or help us figure them out, when really all we have to do is learn to turn to the scriptures for all our problems.