Hey everybody, welcome back.

This is week 38 of Creative, come follow me for the New Testament.

This week we're going to finish the book of 2nd Corinthians.

So we're going to go from chapter 8, where we left off last week, all the

way through the end in chapter 13.

And I'd say if there was a summary for this week, it's sort of

putting the gospel into action.

Paul's been teaching us and the Corinthian saints all about charity and looking at

themselves and the, you know, fellow men around them with a God like perspective.

And this week, he's asking them to put it to the test.

He's saying, can you look at your fellow men that are different than you?

and donate generously.

Give of what you have in abundance to help their want.

He's going to ask them to look at their leaders with that

same kind of charitable lens.

Can you look at those who seem weak on the surface and appreciate

the magnitude of what is within?

Can you look at yourselves with charity?

Can you see and examine yourself and see where you need correction

and how you can improve?

And Where you can yield to the enticings of the spirit all of those things that

he's been teaching them this week He's gonna ask them to begin to do it and we

don't get a lot of feel for how they react Remember, this is the end of an epistle.

So I don't exactly know how they reacted to this letter, but I do

love where Paul's coming from.

He's saying it's one thing to hear and to learn and to even understand.

It's another thing to show it.

In fact, he'll start to use those phrases to prove your love for

God and to evidence what is there.

And so he'll kind of give us those same inclinations.

It sort of reminds me of this summer.

I was Teaching at a girls camp.

And I love teaching at girls camps, but particularly, I love that it's a chance

to test, you know, it's one thing to learn about the story of the Good Samaritan on

Sunday and to hear about it in a lesson.

It's a whole nother thing to ask a girl to invite that, you know, brand

new 11 year old into their tent.

You know, that's the story of the Good Samaritan.

in action.

And I just think that's where these saints are.

I was like, I've said as much as I can say, now I need to invite you to do.

And by extension, he invites us to do the exact same thing.

So there's a lot to learn, especially about his impressions of the savior.

He's had some great visionary experiences that we're just going

to get a taste of this week.

And it will inspire you to.

want to come closer.

It will inspire you to want to act and do and prove the kind of heart

that you have as you study this week.

I think you're really going to love it.

So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.

It's time to get started.

Lately, I've been talking a lot about the gift of agency in my institute class.

So that tends to be a lens I put on when I read any scripture in the last few weeks.

So if you look at chapter eight and you don't see a lesson on

agency, I'll understand why.

It's just in my brain all the time right now.

I just think that's what Paul is inviting them to do.

He's essentially saying to them, you have a choice to make.

Are you disciples or not?

If you are disciples, then the fruits of your discipleship will be, you

will give with a Christlike heart.

And that's what he's counting on.

Actually, there was this great quote from Elder Klebingat

that's in the notes this week.

And he talks about this choice.

This is, I, this is a paraphrase, but you can find the full quote in the notes.

He says, moral agency is God's precious gift to each of his children.

God won't force us to do good.

And the devil can't force us to do evil.

Though some may think that mortality is a contest between God and the

adversary, a word from the Savior and Satan is silenced and banished.

It is our strength that is being tested, not God's.

That's what's happening in these chapters.

He's saying, put your discipleship to the test.

If your testimony is deep enough.

You will give and you'll give abundantly because you're grateful to

the God who gave so much to you and because you trust that he'll make all

things work together for your good.

If you have that level of discipleship, then giving whatever is asked isn't

so hard or isn't so painful, and I feel like that's where Paul's going.

So first he compares he gives them a reference point and he

says let me tell you about some of the saints up in Macedonia So

the situation is in Jerusalem.

There's some struggles that are happening Most people think it's due

to a famine that happens around this time in history Whatever the reason

the Saints in Jerusalem need funds and so Paul's going to these various

branches to try and get funds that he can then funnel to Jerusalem and The

tricky part is he's already talked to Corinthian saints about this in the past,

and now he's writing them an epistle.

In the middle, he's gone to other places like Macedonia, where

people gave of their abundance.

They, uh, they offered what they could, and he seems genuinely

pleased at what he received.

What I really like about Paul's approach is he doesn't ever talk about amounts.

He doesn't say, well, the saints in Macedonia gave, you know, 500 talents

worth or, you know, 17 pounds of gold.

Like he doesn't give amounts.

What he tells you is where their hearts were.

So if you look in three, he says, For to their power I bear record, yea, and

beyond their power, they were willing to give of themselves, willing of themselves.

And then in five, he says, And this they did, not as we hoped, but first

gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

What they gave and the amount they gave doesn't matter to Paul.

What he can see clearly is where their heart is.

And that's what Paul's asking the Corinthian saints to do.

It's not so much a contest between Macedonia and Corinth to see

who can raise the most funds.

He's saying, show me where your heart is.

Are you willing to give and then in seven therefore as ye abound in everything in

faith and utterance and knowledge and in all diligence and in your love to us see

that you abound in this grace also he wants them to channel the abundance that

they feel and the goodness that they've experienced into other people, right?

This is his chance to like put their discipleship to the test.

What I like about it is they don't know these people, at least from my

understanding, you know, at least in our day today, if we were asked

to give generously, like to give a generous fast offering or to help

contribute to some fund in the church, we can actually see where that goes.

You know, I can watch on Instagram and see the female leaders of the church

go to impoverished places or places of natural disasters, or I can see

apostles watch and watch the donations happen to these really worthy causes.

And I can see it firsthand.

The saints in Corinth don't have those options.

They're just going on Paul's word that there is need and they need to do it now.

And so they've got to trust.

I just think that's a big gut check to see.

Will you trust?

And do you believe that, that I will do what I say I will do?

What's especially hard about this is Paul is facing a lot of persecution

at this time, especially in Corinth.

There are false prophets who are teaching.

There are people who are countering what he's saying and accusing

him of things and So this is a real test of their discipleship.

This is what I think is beautiful about Paul's approach.

He says to them in eight, prove the sincerity of your love

and the nine for you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor.

That he through that ye through his poverty, might be rich.

He's saying we have the ultimate example of this.

His motive, God's motive for giving this incredible offering.

Is love for his.

You know, children.

That's, that's what caused the Savior to give all that He did.

And because we are recipients of that gift, we should extend

that same love out to others.

And we should demonstrate it in the exact same way.

We can't replicate the Atonement of Jesus Christ, but we can...

Get a fraction of the love he has for others, and then

watch the fruits pour out.

You know, the fruits of my discipleship will be that I naturally am charitable,

and I want to take care of my fellow saints, and I want to ease suffering and

relieve burdens the same way that he did.

So I love that he puts this big spotlight on the Savior first.

And then he encourages them to to do, not just to believe, but to do.

So that's around 11.

Now, therefore perform the doing of it, that as there was a readiness to

will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that man hath,

and not according to that he hath not.

This to me is similar to what we read in the Doctrine and Covenants,

where he's saying it's not so much about what you can offer.

It's about what you want to offer.

You know, like, where is your heart if you have no abundance, especially

in financial, you know, means?

Where's your heart?

Would you give if you could?

That's what Paul wants to see.

I think, I think his stance is sort of similar to what

we saw in the Old Testament.

I don't think Paul is trying to guilt them into giving.

I never, I don't think that's ever the Savior's approach

or his apostles approach.

What he's trying to do is say, where's your focus and where is

that money going to go otherwise?

If the Lord needs those funds and those contributions, then anything else you put

that money towards is a bag with holes.

Do you remember in the Old Testament when we were reading about Haggai?

And he basically said this to the saints in his day, where they

were trying to rebuild the temple.

And there were all these people who started to build, like, houses.

Remember this weird part where they started to build houses around the area?

And he was like, why are you taking your money and your time and your attention and

putting it towards this temporary shelter?

We need that at the temple first.

If we take care of the temple first, blessings will abound.

Stop putting your money in a bag with holes.

And I feel like that's what Paul is saying, too.

He's like, where else, what other worthy cause, if the Lord needs it here,

where else could you possibly put it?

I just think it's, he's trying to get them to see a bigger picture.

And then what he does, I like what he says in 13, he says, for, I mean, not

that other men be eased and ye be burdened and then 14, but by an, by an equality

that now at this time of your abundance may a supply for their want, that their

abundance also may be a supply for your want, and that there may be equality.

Similar to what we studied in the Doctrine and Covenants, this is

not equality, meaning everybody has exactly the same thing.

This is meaning an equality that comes in being in a Zion like society

where when I have good years and others have lean years, I share

because knowing at some point when I have lean years, they share with me.

There is a comfort in it.

There's also a stance of Remember the manna in the wilderness, like they

couldn't gather more than they needed.

In fact, if they tried to gather more than they needed, it would rot.

They couldn't store it.

So they learned really fast to take what they needed and to share of their

abundance and to help each other.

That's the mindset I think Paul's trying to get these people to, to embrace that

their abundance is intended to be shared.

They need to find a common ground.

So I love how it said in 15, as it is written, he that had gathered

much had nothing over and he that had gathered little had no lack.

That's what happens in a Zion society.

You take care of each other.

What I like is you actually get to see this play out in the Book of Mormon.

So there's a couple of places if you go in the notes, I think it's Alma one

is the one that I called out probably from the footnotes, but he talks about

how they reached this state where.

They are growing in wealth and they're doing better, but they

don't fall into that pride cycle.

They give and they take care of the widows and the poor and they.

They give of their abundance and they have this peace.

To me, I feel like, well, there's this interesting quote, I think it was Lindsey

Robbins and he it's in the notes, but he basically says our natural man tendencies

are to hoard and to keep things.

You know, there's a scarcity mindset that happens in us by our nature and

what charity offers and this idea of serving and giving to others is

essentially an antidote to that.

natural tendency, that natural, you know, tendency we have towards that pride cycle.

If you choose to give of your abundance, if you choose to look at the needs of

others first, then you take that detour.

So you guys remember, I think it was in the book of Mormon when we made that.

Pride cycle in a figure eight.

Do you guys remember and we like roll the marble around it to show that the

pride cycle doesn't have to be a circle.

You can actually take exit ramps off the pride cycle.

This is one of those exit ramps.

Paul's saying you're gonna end up falling into that same cycle we've seen

in the scriptures over and over again.

Unless you take this exit ramp that is giving generously of what you can.

Remember, we don't know the state of the Corinthian Saints bank accounts.

I don't know if they are more like a Kirtland type of situation where

they have nothing and they're trying to scrape together help, or if they

actually have a financial abundance and he's asking them to do good.

What I love is it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter where they are.

Paul's asking them to give what they can and if they'll do that Then they

get that exit ramp out of the pride cycle and find the peace that those

saints in the Book of Mormon found So I love that you see that in the verses.

Okay, when you flip the page, you're gonna see his guidance about Ties,

I actually think it's kind of cool.

You see him talk about Checks and balances of sorts because basically

what he says is I don't want you to get fixated on where this money is

gonna go I don't think he's trying to hide anything or cover anything up.

He's just saying you're gonna need to trust me This is one of the reasons I

think One of our fundamental testimonies has to be about the Apostles, like,

are they real witnesses of God?

Are they doing the best they can?

Because we have that same situation where we have to trust in that counsel

of the disposition of the tithes.

You know, we have to...

Do we believe this or not?

Will I send my funds and trust that you're doing the very best you can to allot it

to who needs it and when they need it?

And that's what Paul's kind of saying here.

He's saying there's me and there's Titus and there's another brother

and we're going to do the best we can to make sure that your money

is used exactly as it should be.

We do that by checking in with God and by checking with our fellow men.

So those are his checks and balances that he mentions.

So you can read it in 20 and 21.

Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance, which is

administered by us, providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the

Lord, but also in the sight of men.

I just like it because that's what you see at conference, right?

When we see the accountants stand up and they give you an accounting

of everything and say, we've checked it and things check out.

Like that is a legitimate, like they are standing before God

and they are standing before.

Men, meaning like all the saints and saying, here's to the best

of our knowledge, what is true about how these funds are used.

I just think it's cool that you see that same tradition.

all the way back in Paul's day.

And so then he wraps it up in 24.

Wherefore, show ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love,

and of our boasting on your behalf.

Paul's been telling all the other saints, probably those in Jerusalem

as well, how good the saints in Corinth are, where their hearts are,

and that he can trust that if their discipleship is that deeply rooted, that

there will be an abundance that comes from Corinth to whoever is in need.

So I love this little

as much as Paul wants these saints to take care of the members in

Jerusalem, he doesn't want them to do it with the wrong spirit.

The same way as you send your kids to youth activities and to a

service project, you don't want to send them with a begrudging spirit.

You want them to go in with a heart full of love and, you know, a service mindset.

And that's what Paul wants for these saints too, because he knows

it really won't benefit them unless it's coming from the right place.

So in nine, I feel like he's kind of checking their motives

and saying, Evaluate yourself.

How are you doing?

And where is this giving coming from?

So if you look in 6, he uses this farming metaphor.

It says, But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly.

And he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

What I like about this, you know, metaphor choice is, I think farming is

a really good example of the blessings that come from service, because

they don't always come immediately.

In fact, they almost never do.

Sometimes you'll go and you'll serve and you'll do good.

And you'll still struggle at the end to know why you were there, or was that worth

your time, or should you have been serving your family instead, or should you have

been taking care of your work instead?

Like, sometimes you still struggle.

And I feel like what Paul is saying is, all of these things

are like planting seeds.

When you choose to serve, especially to serve in whatever way God has

called you to serve, it's like planting seeds and the crops that will come

from that harvest eventually will fill all the needs that you have.

It's just going to take time.

I think that's really important for us because At least for me, I feel like

there are a lot of times with our callings where you find yourself struggling

because you feel like you almost have to neglect your own family or your own

house in order to fulfill your calling.

And that gets hard, right?

And I feel like this is where I find comfort.

I think he's saying what you're planting is actually going to sustain your family.

So for example, when Jason was bishop for all those years, it was what I have.

I felt like I was planting a lot of seeds, you know, I, It was

hard and it was hard on him too.

And it was wonderful.

And I would do it again in a heartbeat, but it was hard,

but it was planting seeds.

And now that we're, you know, a year or two away from it, I can start to see how

much my family is feasting on those seeds that we planted during those six years.

Do you know what I mean?

So I feel like sometimes he's asking us to just like, step back

and trust there's something more.

that I need from you.

So those of you who are in young women callings or you know, you're

in callings where you feel like you give hours and hours like executive

secretaries and things where you give so much time and you struggle because

you have to pull away from your own family at times to accomplish it.

Trust that he's calling you to plant seeds that will feed your family for

years and maybe even generations to come.

There is a promise of a harvest.

I do think we have to take all that stride, right?

There are times when you need to pull back and there are times when

you need, the spirit will nudge you to take care of your family first.

I'm not trying to counter that.

I just think I've seen it in my life sometimes where I'm like,

Oh, I'm starting to feast on what I planted a long, long time ago.

I get why you needed me here now.

I understand better now.

And I think you see a little bit of that in six.

I also love what he says in seven and eight.

In fact, sometimes we read seven in isolation, but I like it better when

you read it back to back with eight.

So seven, he says, every man according as he purposes in his heart.

So let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful giver.

And in an eight and God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you

always having all sufficiency and all things may abound to every good work.

Here's why I like these two together.

You guys.

I think.

God wants a cheerful giver, right?

He wants us to come in with cheerful hearts.

Sometimes that's really hard.

And I just think what he's saying is the reason it's hard is you're

forgetting what's in verse eight.

If I'm finding it hard to be a cheerful giver, it's because

I've forgotten what's in eight.

What's in eight is he says, I can make all grace abound towards you, that you will

always have a sufficiency in all things that you will abound to every good work.

To me, what this means is.

I will always have enough.

If I'm called to do a work, and I am away from the family, or I am...

Even a little bit sleep deprived at times or times or whatever

it is if I feel Spiritually pulled to accomplish that work.

I will have sufficiency in the other areas Most of the time for me that means

people come out of the woodwork to help, you know, I have to extend it a hand and

say, I need help, but people will come out of the woodwork and say, I can bring

you a meal or I can take care of this, or I can help you with this tonight.

There is, there is comfort in that promise, but I think we have to

be willing to accept help in order for it to really fully be enacted.

But I do love, I do love the offering.

There's this quote in the notes from elder Oaks.

This is what he said.

Although those who serve out of fear of punishment or out

of a sense of duty, undoubtedly qualify for blessings in heaven.

There are still higher reasons for service.

I like this because a lot of times my service is a bit begrudging.

I'm not always a cheerful giver.

And I think he's saying there are still blessings at play there, but

I want something better for you.

And the Lord wants something better for you.

And that's what Paul was trying to say to his saints.

This is not about coins.

It is not about getting food in the mouths of the Jerusalem saints.

It's about something much deeper than that.

Where is your heart?

And then he reminds them how.

Rich they are.

Just remember, we don't know, the Corinthian saints, how actually wealthy

they are, but they are enriched in Abundant ways and that's what Paul's

trying to draw their attention to.

So in 11 He says, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which

causes through us Thanksgiving to God.

Then he talks about this liberal distribution that's been given unto them

and how they've been Incredibly blessed by God and that all those blessings

came from him and therefore aren't theirs to hold You know It's just like

what we talked about in the Doctrine and Covenants about stewardship and

this understanding that these things that I have I'm watching over them.

I'm supposed to Use them wisely.

I'm supposed to help things increase where I can, but these are not mine.

What I liked about it is, in my mind this week as I was studying, I realized

mana is still falling from heaven.

It doesn't look like it used to look, but remember it was

unrecognizable to them as well.

Mana from heaven for us is...

job opportunities that fall in the laps of my daughter and her, my son

in law, like they're, manna comes in all these cool ways, you guys,

opportunities and blessings still fall.

And what he's trusting is when you have enough and you're full, take whatever

you can and give it out, do what you can to bless the lives of others.

If you will do that, manna continues to fall and you'll always have.

A sufficiency does not mean an excess or a giant stockpile stored in your basement.

It means you'll have enough to meet your needs.

What I like about that is that's one of my most common answers to prayers, you guys,

because oftentimes I am praying for help.

I feel stretched too thin, or I feel like I can't keep up, or I feel like there's

not enough creativity or energy in my mind to accomplish what's in front of me.

The answer that often comes to me is Maria, you will have the help you need.

It is not that everything will be fine.

It is I will have the help I need.

What I've learned over the course of time is that means I have to be

willing to accept the help that comes.

Often he will put people in my path and I have to be willing.

to, to accept it.

You know, like we talked about with the chariots and Elisha, this idea

of like, if a chariot cruises by me, I have to be willing to say,

Oh, actually, no, I do need help.

I need a ride.

I do need help.

Can you come take care of my family?

Or can you come help me make clues for this giant party?

Like whatever it is, I have to be willing to accept the help that comes my way.

But sufficiency.

Maria, you will have the help you need.

It's a promise that has come to my heart more times than I can

count, and it helps me every time.

Seems like one of the big obstacles Paul is facing are other teachers.

So people who have set themselves up, even call themselves

apostles, who are actually not.

authorized witnesses of Jesus Christ.

They have no keys.

They are not aligned with the authority.

They, they are, they are AWOL and they're taking members with them.

And so this is Paul's concern.

What I like about his approach is he doesn't scramble after them.

What he says is, look at me and remember the savior.

I align myself with that chief cornerstone.

Always.

You can trust in my process of aligning myself with the savior.

And therefore you can trust that this is.

His gospel.

So that's what he says in one.

Now I, Paul, myself, beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ,

who in presence am base among you, but being absent, am bold towards you.

This is Paul saying, remember how the Savior came.

He came in meekness and humility and taught pure, simple truth.

That is how I'm coming to you.

The reason I think Paul's approaching it that way is because the others...

Don't talk that way.

In fact, you'll see it a little bit later in the coming chapters that it sure

sounds like those who are trying to lead people astray are similar to what we see

in the Antichrist of the Book of Mormon where they They have comfortable talk and

they speak with much flattery and they probably look fantastic and they've got,

you know, that tone of voice that makes you impressed and want to hear more.

What I thought was fascinating is, you know, there's that one description from

Joseph Smith about what Paul looks like.

I don't know where this came from.

It comes from exactly like if you saw him in vision or how he knows this, but

he talked about Paul being short, like five feet tall, dark hair, dark eyes.

In fact, he says he had like beady eyes and said that his voice

was whining sounding, which I always thought was fascinating.

I'm like, this sounds terrible to listen to.

And I wonder sometimes if.

If that's what the people see on the surface, you know, Paul's

trying to help them understand.

Like that's why his words maybe are more powerful in letters

than they are in person.

But what I love about Joseph Smith's description of Paul, he says, unless he's

speaking of things that he's impassioned by, I don't have the quote exactly in my

head, but you can find it in the notes.

But.

He says, then he sounds like the roaring of a lion and that I could see with

Paul, you know, that there is when you are in the zone with Paul and when the

spirit is there, there is a power in Paul's words, but on the surface, he's

not going to look like those fancy teachers from these other comfortable.

You know, versions of the Savior's gospel, he's going to sound exacting

and sharp because that's what the Lord expects from all of us, right?

There is correction that comes with the Spirit so that we can continually be.

Getting closer to what we're supposed to be.

That's where Paul will be.

What I like is how he describes it.

So if you look in three, he says, for though we walk in the flesh,

we do not war after the flesh.

To me, this is like, he doesn't get into these big battles with the other

philosophers and people on the, you know, like, He has a different game plan.

So he says in four, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.

but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down

imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of

God, and bringeth into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Paul is someone who is continually teaching us about

the value of self mastery.

And he's trying, I think, to demonstrate to us, like, I

have got my thoughts aligned.

The visual that helps me and this, I did this in my YSA class once where I had

them line up perfectly some dice, you know, I, I set a big die in one spot and

said, okay, now I want you to take these 15 dice and I want you to line them up so

that they're perfectly aligned with that first corner, kind of like what we do with

the object lesson with those blocks that we built up similar idea, except for in

my YSA class, I brought in a laser level and I, I shown it at that first big die.

Okay.

And then you could see exactly this bright red line that cut down the side

of the dice, and you could see which one were just a fraction off, a fraction

to the left, a fraction to the right.

And then you could get them in perfect alignment because we had this laser guide.

That's what I feel like Paul understands.

He's like, I, because I am who I am, I will always.

Check my alignment with Jesus Christ.

I will, I am accountable to Jesus Christ, and I will always be in alignment.

So my thoughts are in check, my actions are in check, and I

will be obedient in my thoughts.

So you can trust what I teach you.

I just won't sound flowery, and I won't sound impressive to you unless

you see that alignment, and then I might sound like the roaring of a lion.

That's where I think he's going, because he says, In 8, well in

7, he says, Do you look on things after the outward appearance?

If any man trusts himself that he is Christ, let him of himself

think this again, that as he is Christ, even so are we Christ.

He is not trying to be Paul independent of the Savior.

He's trying to be Paul who is perfectly aligned with the

Savior, his special witness.

And then in 8, he says, For though I should boast somewhat more of our

authority, which the Lord hath given us for our edification, and not for your

destruction, I should not be ashamed.

To me, this is Paul reminding them about the keys, that there is something

much more powerful at play here.

This is not just, he's a good teacher and so he got picked to be a leader.

This is, he's been set apart.

He's been given keys to do this work and his work will be to edify.

He's going to use this phrase again later, but I think the combination

of destruction and edification is a really interesting one.

Essentially, what Paul's job is, and probably all of our jobs as teachers,

is at times to break things down so that something true can be built.

So the visual in my mind that comes back is that foundation

that Brigham Young exposed.

Remember they were building the Salt Lake Temple and they had

to bury it because of threat.

And then when they pulled it back out again, they could see that the foundation

wasn't as strong as they thought it was.

And the question was, do we try to just shore it up or do

we just start from scratch?

And to, in order to build something and to build, to build an edifice that would be

strong, they had to destroy a little bit.

I think in some ways it's the exact same thing we see in Alma 32.

Where he asks us to give place, you know, to take some of the comfortable packed

out down soil out of our pot so that we can give place for this seed to come in.

And it's going to be a little uncomfortable at first, you know, we're

going to miss that warm packed soil.

But the promise is if you will let some destruction happen, then something

edifying can be built in its place.

And it will be worth the sacrifice.

That's what an apostle's job is.

It's what a parent's job is.

It's what we're supposed to do this to ourselves as we self evaluate.

His job is to do both.

So we're there expecting a teacher who will be comforting.

You know, a teacher who will say, you're doing great.

And there's no expectation of you.

And Jesus loves you.

And it doesn't matter what your choices are.

Like those kind of voices that we still hear today are not apostolic voices.

Because an apostolic voice is both.

There is some correction that is needed so that edification can happen.

So you'll see Paul worry about that.

And then he talks about his physical appearance.

I like this intent.

He says, For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful,

but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible.

That's harsh criticism, right?

I just think it's, this is Paul.

What's fascinating to me about this is I've always pictured Paul as this

master orator, maybe because early in, when we studied him in Acts, you know,

he had the gift of tongues and he was able to speak in so many languages and

he's was training to be a Pharisee.

So I always picture him as this gifted orator.

And sometimes I wonder if he deliberately had to simplify and condescend in a way

in order to take the attention off of himself and put it back on the message.

I don't know exactly, but sometimes that fits with Joseph Smith's description of

Paul just a little bit better for me.

But I like the way he, where he goes next 12, he says, for, we dare

not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that

commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing

themselves among themselves are not wise.

Okay.

Here's why I like this.

You guys.

So last week, one of the reasons there was this great big stress is I, I helped

host this really, really big party.

Um, it's a big event for a group of business.

And one of the challenges I set up was a measuring challenge.

So they had to find the distance from location a to location B.

And one of the teams came back at the end and we were tallying up

scores and he said, I want you to know your measuring clue was off.

And I was like, Oh, you're kidding.

We measured that so carefully.

Jason set that up and we were talking about what he thought was off.

And then his other teammate basically said to him, like, you have to

tell her how you were measuring.

And I found out.

that he was measuring.

Not with the measuring tape I provided him in the backpack,

but with his feet, you guys.

And I laughed at him.

I'm like, are you serious?

You're telling me my clue is off when you didn't even get out a measuring tape?

And he's like, you don't understand.

I've measured my feet.

I know exactly how big my stride is.

Yours is off.

And I'm just laughing at the, to me, that was just preposterous.

I'm like, the only way we can know if it's off is if you use the

measuring tape that's in the backpack.

That's how we're going to know for sure.

Anything there has to be a standard between us and I feel like that's what

Paul is saying here He's basically saying to them like you can't make up your own

measuring stick that God has provided a ruler He knows exactly how to judge

and he knows exactly the worth of souls and his ruler is what I will use Every

other measuring stick, and every other popularity contest, or whatever you

want to call it in this mortal world, those measuring devices are not real.

What matters to Paul, and what should matter to us, is

that we're using God's rule.

And that's what he says in 13.

We will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of

the rule which God hath distributed to us.

He gave us a measuring tape.

We need to use His standard to judge.

A measure to reach even unto you.

And then when he goes in 17 and 18, he takes this a little farther.

He says, But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

To me, this is Paul saying, I may not look like much.

I, I, I'm a tent maker.

You know, I will not get into these squabbles with all these other

people who claim to be teachers.

What I can tell you is I was appointed by God.

I'm authorized.

I have keys to do this work.

I know who I am and I know why I'm here.

Can you trust in that?

Can you trust in the God who gave me this situation that he will empower me to do

whatever it is I need to do and set aside all those other pleasing distractions and

focus in on what God told me to teach you?

One of the things I think we can know for certain is that

the adversary is not creative.

He is not, he does not come up with new strategies.

He's able to use the exact same one he's used for a long time and pull

people away from light and truth.

That's what you're going to see in 11, because basically

Paul is warning the people.

He's like, the adversary has been trying to do this for a long time.

He's been trying to, Overcomplicate things and set up false t shirts and people

who will tell you what is comfortable and what is pleasing and then you know

Eat drink and be merry kind of attitude.

He's like that's been around for a while So I need you to be on the offensive.

I need you to use those weapons that we talked about in the chapter before

to be on the offensive and guard against the deceits and the lies.

I really love Elder Holland's approach on this.

He says, basically, this is making God in our own image.

When we choose to speak of Jesus in a way that is not who he is, but who

we hope he would be, you know, the God that's comfortable to me, the one

that doesn't have high expectations, or is never disappointed, or has

no boundaries or limits, that that is not the actual Jesus Christ.

That is our own That's making God in our own image, and that never leads to faith,

and it never leads to the covenant path.

So that's what Paul's warning about, that they're going to get corrupted from

the simplicity that is in Jesus Christ.

And then in four, he says, For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus,

whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which

you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted,

you might well bear with him.

This is his warning.

There is no other way.

There is one way.

There is the Savior's way, and there is no other way.

What's interesting is, I guess you could say that there are a myriad of other ways.

There's just one right way.

And honestly, if you choose anything except for the Savior's, true Savior's

way, it doesn't really matter what you choose, like Elder Corbridge taught.

They all lead to darkness, to despair at some point.

So that's what Paul's trying to warn against.

And he reminds them that he doesn't come in a pretty package

and he won't come comfortably.

So in six he says, Though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge,

but we have been thoroughly made manifest among you in all things.

I also like what he says in 13.

He says, For such are false prophets, deceitful workers, transforming

themselves into apostles of Christ.

It's the transforming themselves that I think is so fascinating.

Because we know that you can't appoint yourself.

You can't ordain yourself to anything within the priesthood.

This is something that has to come through authorized channels, and it

is not something you get to pick for yourself or ordain yourself to become.

It has to come through other sources.

It has to be through his way.

So in 14 he says, And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed

into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the

ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.

This is Paul saying clearly and even sharply, I think there's going to be

some really convincing counterfeits out there and you need to check it.

You need to constantly check for alignment with Jesus Christ

because there are going to be.

Really close.

The visual that helps me is, you know, those early mission impossibles.

They probably still do it in mission impossibles today.

I haven't watched one in a while, but you know, when they would show a character and

they'd be in the scene for like 10 minutes and you'd be engaged with this character.

And then out of nowhere, they like pull that face off and you see like underneath

this very convincing face, there was a whole different person underneath.

That's what I think the adversary is like, he will.

He will set people up to appear to be lights, to appear to be guideposts that

we can watch and get distracted by.

But anything that's out of that laser like alignment with that chief cornerstone

can't take us to where we need to go.

I feel like that's what Paul's trying to say.

He's like, don't look on the outward appearance.

I think it's the same way our prophet has pushed us to increase our ability to

receive revelation, because there's going to be some really convincing counterfeits.

I think you see that in our world today, where it's really hard to

know what is true and what is not.

So having the ability to trust in the Spirit, and especially the gift of

discernment that can come with it, that's a powerful tool in our arsenal of these

offensive weapons against the adversary.

That's what I think Paul's trying to push us towards.

And then he warns where they all go, that at the end, there's no other...

There is no other course for them.

So they all will lead you to darkness.

I think his invitation is simply, look at the fruits.

In fact, that's where he goes next in the chapter.

He basically says, look at the fruits of my life.

And then he lays out...

Follow his advice.

I just think this is a really interesting tactic.

He basically says, so if you look from like 23 to 28, he talks about all the

things that have gone wrong according to men's standards in his world.

I am more in labors abundant in stripes above measure in prisons

more frequent in deaths off of the Jews 40 stripes save one.

That's like the Ultimate penalty you can get, according to the Law of Moses.

Thrice I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a

night and a day I have spent deep, been in the deep, in journeyings often, in

perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in

perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in

perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness.

In watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

And beside all those things, this is in 28, that are without, meaning

like things that come from the outside towards me, I also have

the struggle that happens within.

That which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

You know, if you've seen a bishop or a stake president or a young women's

leader and the weight that is on their shoulders as they worry profoundly for

the people that are in their watch carry.

You know, you've probably seen Relief Society presidents who don't sleep

at night at times because they're so worried for the needs of the sisters.

That's what Paul's.

Wrestling with all these outside forces that he can't control and the

inside weight of setting up all these branches and trying to keep them going.

Like that's a lot on his shoulders.

What I think is fascinating is he says, I anger not like all this has happened.

If you look at the JST of 29, he's saying, I'm not angry because of it.

I've learned to understand that that is a witness to me.

It reminds me of.

Joseph Smith.

In fact, he kind of references these verses and basically says like, deep

waters are what I want to swim in.

I love that verse.

I've loved it for a long time because I think that's what we're trying to get to.

We're trying to get to the point where we, we don't hope for adversity, but we

Anticipate it and we trust that in the adversity he can make my spiritual mother

muscles strong enough to be buoyant.

I can withstand the deep and I can withstand shipwrecks and I can transcend

the doubts and the fears of others like I can I can make it through all of this

without anger without losing my faith.

That's where Paul is.

What I really like, and I think I said this to those of you who were in

the live a couple weeks ago, there's this great quote from Elder Maxwell.

I don't think I put it in this week's notes, but it's in the previous weeks

where he talked about how in adversity, it's kind of like a kaleidoscope that even

though things are fractured and broken, what, what the adversity through the lens

of Christ is, is it's almost like viewing broken things through a kaleidoscope.

We can see that there is brokenness, but you also see this divine,

beautiful pattern that comes because of looking through his lens.

You can see these broken things become a pattern and a beautiful thing.

I just, I think that's what Paul gets.

He's like, even in these hard things that other men caused to happen

to me, I'm looking through a lens and I can see God's hand in it.

Not that God caused it, but that God can make something beautiful come from it.

The same way a kaleidoscope can take broken beads and shards of

glass and turn them into these beautiful geometric patterns.

That's the idea that Paul wants us to grasp.

So that as we head into hard times and we deal with the weights on our

shoulders, that we can trust that there's a greater plan at play.

We can trust that there is, he can make all things work together for our good.

I think that's Paul's big message in chapter 11.

In addition to a life full of adversities and persecutions, and

somehow this ability to not be angered and not be lost in all that struggle.

Another credibility stance that Paul can take is that he

has revelations and visions.

That's something that no false teacher or false apostle could claim.

He is someone who is an authorized seer.

So he...

Has seen things and that's where he's going to take us next in chapter 12.

It's really interesting to me, interesting to me to see the tone shift.

So in 11, where he's pretty open and even bold at times to give us the

list of all the things he's endured in 12, there's a softness, um, a

humility, even like a reticence.

Like he is, I think, awestruck by what he experienced the same way he, we know he

has seen the resurrected savior already.

We, he has seen some.

grand and glorious things.

He just can't speak them, or at least he can't write them to the Corinthian saints.

I think it's probably related to what we read in Doctrine and Covenants.

Um, this is 63 64.

It says, that which comes from above is sacred and must be spoken with

care and by constraint of the spirit.

For whatever reason, Paul's not allowed to explain or give

us details about what he saw.

But we do know that he saw the third heaven.

So, something similar to what Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw, where they, he had

an experience in the kingdoms of glory.

And it sure seems like he had a very tangible experience, because he can't tell

if he was in the body or out of the body.

What's interesting is he uses this...

He uses a form of speech where he's talking as if it's about another person,

but later the way he phrases things about, you know, not glorying too much tells

you that this actually happened to Paul.

He's just using a different way of speech to talk about it.

So he talks about something that happened to a person 14 years ago

where he was caught up to the third heaven or caught up to paradise.

So this is when we get a feel for the kingdoms of glory in the New Testament.

And then we start to understand that the same gospel that was restored

to the earth is the Savior's gospel that he placed on the earth.

Those same teachings were in place in the Savior's time.

They've just been lost over the course of time.

And that's why we needed the restoration.

But you can see his phrasing about it.

It is so soft and so humble and just a fraction.

You know, the same thing happened with Joseph Smith, where when you read his

writings about section 76, he basically says that he says, I could only give

you a small portion of what I saw.

And it is this glorious.

I mean, you read section 76.

I remember when we were studying that in the Doctrine and Covenants and feeling

like the universe expanded a little bit.

That might sound dramatic to you, but that's how I felt when I was studying it.

I was like, the deeper I get into understanding what Joseph saw, the bigger

the universe feels to me, the greater God feels to me, and I think that's the

nature of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I think the more we understand it and study it, The more there

is to learn, it expands with us.

Well, I mean, it probably doesn't actually expand, but

it feels like that to my brain.

And that's what I think is happening with Paul.

So he describes it a little bit, and then he talks about how he can't share it.

I just thought it was fascinating to see what he describes next.

So we're in 11, we learned all about the adversities that came from outside

forces, you know, people trying to stone him, people trying to, you know, storms

that would shipwreck him and people that would try to, you know, give him lashings.

All these things happened to Paul.

In 12, we see something that happens from what seems like the hand of God,

an adversity that happens that God could relieve Paul from, but doesn't.

And it's fascinating.

So this is what he says in six.

For though I would desire to glory, I shall be a fool.

I will say the truth, but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above

that which he seemeth, he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of

the revelations, there was given to me a thorn of the flesh, the

messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

I don't know exactly what this means, you guys, but to me, I feel like this thorn

of the flesh, whatever it is, whatever adversity Paul had to carry with him,

if it's a physical ailment, if it's an inability to speak clearly, if it's a

mental struggle that he has, I don't know what his thorn of the flesh was.

What I do know is that he saw it as a way to Stay present.

That's how I read these verses.

To me, I think Paul is saying, well, kind of similar to what we saw with Moses.

When he comes down from Sinai, and he is so full of the Spirit, and he's had such a

glorious manifestation of what is real and what is out there, that his face glows.

You know, same thing with Abinadi.

His face Glows and Moses in that case needed a veil to cover his face because

it made it hard to interact with people people Were afraid of him and

it was hard for him to stay present.

I think that's kind of what you're seeing with this Lord of the flesh It's a way

for the Lord to say I'm gonna I'm gonna show you some things because you are my

apostle and because I want You to know who I am, but I can't you need to stay you

have a work to do I wonder sometimes if you've had an experience like Paul's where

you've seen what the celestial kingdom is like to any degree If then it would be

very hard To want to stay and maybe the Lord of the flesh helps him stay grounded

or maybe it helps him relate to people.

But I do love that he prays to have it lifted and I also love what you

learn about why it doesn't get lifted.

So this is what he says in eight, for this thing, I besought the Lord

thrice that it might depart from me.

You just have to love that about Paul, despite the fact that he knows this

is an adversity that God could have lifted and that he prayed for it once

and didn't get, didn't get the answer.

Then he comes back a second time.

I don't know if this is years apart.

Like, I don't know his circumstances.

He's praying for this adversity to be lifted probably so he

can be a better missionary.

He could travel easier.

He could be more impressive to people.

I don't know.

I don't know what his...

what the situation was, but I do know where his heart is.

I mean, Paul, all he wants to do is be a better disciple of

Jesus Christ and teach better.

So what he's hoping for most likely is an ability to do that.

And for whatever reason that isn't given to him.

I just think it's fascinating.

So if you look a little further in nine, he says, and he said, meaning

the Lord said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my

strength is made perfect in weakness.

Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the

power of Christ may rest upon me.

Here's what I love about this, you guys.

I think, when you think about the Savior, He is someone who was made

perfect in weakness, meaning He chose to condescend and be And to submit,

you know, he chose to allow himself to endure all those hard things and endure

temptations and endure the people who came to apprehend him in Gethsemane and

endure the Roman soldiers and the cross.

He chose to be in a position of absolute weakness and in that

choice gained absolute strength.

He is the epitome of strength in those moments of choosing to be vulnerable.

What I like about that for us, maybe just for me, is I think the

invitation is very similar to us.

There are often times when the Lord asked me to be in a position

of vulnerability, and he says, I can't guarantee any results for you.

You know, for example, if you think about Getting married, it's this

position of vulnerability, right?

Even if I pray about it and feel good about the person I marry, that

doesn't guarantee that this person will be righteous all their life, or

that our marriage will go great, or that we'll be able to have kids, or...

It doesn't give me any guarantees.

I'm in a big position of vulnerability when I choose to be in that spot.

But what the Lord promises is...

The only way you're going to really learn to love the way I know

how to love is you have to be in those positions of vulnerability.

The same thing happens if you go on a mission, right?

If you choose, there's no way heading into a mission that you're going to know

if you're going to like your mission president, if you're going to have good

companions or incredibly hard ones.

If you're going to be out preaching or if you're going to be stuck in your

apartment for six weeks or six months because of COVID, there are no guarantees.

What he promises you is by making yourself vulnerable.

And in this position of weakness, he will bless you with strength.

That's the promise.

Strength comes as you embrace that vulnerable state of yielding to him.

That's what I think King Benjamin is trying to teach us.

He's trying to say, yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit.

Choose to be vulnerable.

Everything you have on the altar.

In fact, there's a great quote.

I can't remember who it's from.

That's earlier in the notes, but he basically talked about that.

This has been the recipe for Christian living always that you give all you

can holding nothing back and trust that in his hands, it can be made

enough and you will have the promise.

That's what I think he's asking us.

What I love about it is it's the only way we're going to learn to love as he loves.

to be all in, right?

The Savior was all in and he sacrificed absolutely everything so

that from the love he had for us, so that we could be strengthened.

And I think that's what he's asking us to do as we embrace

having kids and starting families.

It's this incredible state of vulnerability.

that leads to an incredible strength.

There was a podcast I listened to this morning.

Uh, I can't remember the professor.

I put it in the notes, but he kind of talked about this and how it can

lead to faith and hope and charity.

It was so beautiful.

Go read it in the notes and then go listen.

But I just think that's, that's weakness to strength.

It's, it's about choosing to be vulnerable and choosing to yield so that we

can, He can make something out of us.

I just don't think it's this back and forth.

I don't think it's, he turns all my weaknesses into strengths.

I'm still in a position of vulnerability by being the parent to these six kids.

In fact, the more I love them, the more vulnerable I am to hurt.

The more I love my grandkids that have come, my heart goes out to them.

And now I'm even more vulnerable.

There's something bad happened to them.

My heart would break.

It's.

That's, that's this life and that's what it's like to learn how to be a God.

We know that from our, what we've studied with Enoch and how God still weeps for

his children or Jacob 5 when he still grieves for the trees that are lost.

That's what it is to have a God like love, to love much and to

be in a vulnerable spot where you will also hurt and grieve and ache.

And I just think it's beautiful teaching.

You can go to the notes and learn a little bit more, but I love that principle.

When you go into 10, you'll see how Paul comes to terms with this

understanding, that this adversity isn't going to be pulled from him,

and he knows it's something that will strengthen him in the long run.

He says, Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, and

in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The reason I like that phrasing is it's not, I'm going to be weak

now so that I can be strong later.

He's saying in this position of weakness, I'm actually strong in these

vulnerable relationships that we're placed in and in these callings and in

these circumstances where we're exposed and all in, we are actually strong in

those moments because we are like he is right in that, in that submissive

position to God, the father's plan.

And that's where strength comes from.

I just think it's beautifully written.

One of my favorite verses in this chapter is verse 14, where he says, Behold,

the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to

you, for I seek not yours, but you.

This, I think, is Paul's way of saying, this isn't about

me trying to solicit funds.

This isn't about me trying to get you to do callings better.

This isn't, it's not any of those surface level things.

What I want is You almost hear Elder Holland's words when you read that,

you know, when he has that talk where about the fish and he says, if

I, if I need fish, I can get fish.

And what I want is you, what I want is disciples.

And I want you to go out and I want you to feed my sheep.

He wants their hearts in this.

He's not seeking something that can be measured.

He wants to bring them to Christ.

That's always Paul's goal.

And then he talks about how that's going to happen.

So remember how earlier we talked about how he often will speak to, instruction

and edifying and destruction and edifying.

That's what you see in 19.

Again, thinking that we excuse ourselves unto you, we speak before

God in Christ, but we do all things dearly beloved for your edifying.

This is Paul saying, I'm not just accountable to you,

I'm accountable to Christ.

So I'm gonna say Whatever he asked me to say.

And if it's something edifying and lifting, I will say it.

And if it's something destructive for a minute, so that you will

change course, I will say it.

That's my job.

In fact, that's what he warns about in 21 as well.

He's like, that should...

Indicate to you who I am.

The very fact that I am willing to correct you and to create tension in

our relationship so that you can come closer to Christ should be the ultimate

witness that I am who I say I am.

I am an apostle of Jesus Christ because of those things.

And because I've chosen to abide by what he's asked me to do, I will continue to

correct and I will continue to guide you on this path to the right source of truth.

There's a lot of power packed into this final chapter, even though it's short.

There's just some beautiful phrasing in it.

I really like three.

For example, he says, since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me,

which is to you word is not weak, but mighty in you, meaning like

you have expectations of what a man of God is supposed to sound like.

And you're listening, hoping that I will sound like what you expected.

And then what he says in four.

Helps them understand.

He says, for though he was crucified through weakness yet He liveth by

the power of God for we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him

by the power of God toward you He's saying, use the Savior as an example.

He is someone who is the epitome of, of choosing vulnerability and

weakness so that he could be strong, so that he could accomplish this

great work for God the Father.

That's something that you'll see echoed in us.

You're gonna see us choose to be weak and vulnerable and submissive to the

will of God so that you can be made strong, so that we can pass on his

goodness and his light towards you.

So that's what he's gonna say as you go a little further.

In eight, he says, for we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth,

in nine, for we are glad when we are weak, and ye are strong, and in this

we wish even for your perfection.

Paul will willingly do whatever the Lord asks him to do.

I just think he's got that stance of, I don't care.

I don't care what people think about me.

I don't care what other, you know, Fancier priests and teachers look like I

care about being reconciled to God, and that's what he wants us to do as well.

So he's like, that's my whole focus and that should tell

you that I am who I say I am.

And then 10 he says, therefore I write these things being

absent, Les being present.

I should use sharpness according to the power of which the Lord has given me

to edification and not to destruction.

He's, he's going to come, he's going to speak in person.

That's what he's warning about and it's gonna be sharp.

So this is sort of his.

Early warning system.

You know, I think it's the same thing we read in the Book of

Mormon where they say, this life is the time, prepare to meet God.

It's, you've had guidance, you've had warnings now, choose to change.

Remember this whole lesson is about using your agency to choose to follow,

not because you feel compelled or guilty or afraid of consequences,

but because you trust in the God that created this great plan.

That's what Paul's pushing them towards.

I love the way he says it in 11, finally, brethren, farewell.

Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God

of love and peace shall be with you.

To me, this is almost like he's setting up a math equation.

He's basically saying if your goal is to have the God of love and peace be with

you, this is what needs to come first.

You need to be perfect, be of good comfort and be of one mind, live in peace.

That's his equation.

What I think is impressive is be perfect.

Like we've heard about from President Nelson is not.

Do everything flawlessly.

It means be whole.

Use the gift of grace that is offered to you and be whole.

One of my favorite talks that I studied this week is from Paul Johnston, and

he was talking about his grandson, or Johnson maybe, he was talking about his

grandson who had, I think it was some sort of a blood disease, like a leukemia.

It's fuzzy in my head, but it's in the notes, and he talked about how he needed

Someone else to be a donor to give him blood and how crazy it would have been

to assume that that little boy could have Done this on his own that he needed

an advocate He needed an intercessor to act for him so that he could become

clean again And that's how we should approach the Savior as well knowing that

we are weak and knowing that only his

It's not something we can earn on our own or somehow produce on our own.

It doesn't matter how, how perfectly we live this life, we

cannot do it without his help.

So that's what he says when he says be perfect.

To me, that means be repentant, be continually seeking after the help

of Jesus Christ, be aware and self evaluate and then move forward.

In fact, that's what he says in five.

He says, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves,

know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except if you

reprobates, like this is his message.

He's like the same way.

When I go to a Temple Recommend interview, I get to evaluate myself.

The hope there is I'll hear those questions and I'll

be able to answer honestly.

And if I have concerns, then I go back and I fix those concerns.

Or I work with the bishop and I fix those concerns, but I'm examining myself.

It's not, it's not a test I'm passing.

I get to self evaluate.

That's what Paul's inviting these saints to do as well.

He's saying, you need to check in with yourself and see how you're doing.

How are the fruits of the gospel working in your life?

Can you see them?

And so he invites them to be perfect, to be of good comfort, meaning the kind of

comfort we talked about last week, you know, that boxer coach kind of comfort,

be of a good comfort, meaning make course corrections, listen to All the guidance

that come, that comes from the spirit and make changes, be of one mind, meaning

you've got to work with your hearts knit.

This is not just about you and the Lord.

This is about you and the Lord so that you can go and be a part of this

greater community and bring others to that relationship with the Lord.

It's, it's bigger than just you and live in peace.

I think that's his invitation.

I think that's an internal peace and an external one.

No matter what my circumstances are, no matter if my persecutions

start to feel like Paul's, I can choose to live in peace.

If I find that freedom of the soul that we've been talking

about, that's his invitation.

Live in peace.

Choose to transcend the hard and seek for something higher.

And if we do those things, then we have the promise of the other side

of the equation that we'll have the God of love and peace with us.

And then in 14 he ends, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the

love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.

Amen.

I really like that at the end of Paul's big discourse, he focuses on the entire

Godhead, and how they work in harmony, and how we need all three of them

to appreciate where we go from here.

That's his invitation.

I think it's the same thing that Moroni ended with in the Book of Mormon,

where he said, Come unto Christ.

Be perfected in Him.

You know, like, set down all this...

Distraction and come closer.

That's Paul's invitation to the Corinthian saints, and I think

it's his invitation to us as well.

His grace is sufficient.

We should seek to come close.

Hey everybody, welcome back.

This is the creative side of week 38.

So just like every single week, especially with Paul's writings, I'm trying to help

you take some of the principles that you read about in the verses and find

ways to apply them to our kids lives.

The way I like to do that is through weird and creative object lessons.

And this week is no exception.

So if you're watching on the full course, You'll be able to keep watching

beyond this and see the full videos of each object lesson and have the

access to the notes and the printables.

If you happen to be watching this on YouTube or listening on the free podcast,

I'm just hoping to inspire you to give you an idea of what you could focus on or

different ways that you could teach it.

My hope here is that you'll just find ways to inspire your kids to.

get into their scriptures and to see that the teachings of Paul thousands

of years ago apply to us today.

And I think I've got some really fun ways for you to do that.

Okay.

Let me walk you through your supplies list first, and then I'll go into the details.

First off, I wanted to put a big, warm spotlight on ministering.

So this week, the focus, in fact, I think it's a title of the lesson

that God loveth a cheerful giver.

And I think in ministering, especially since our youth are

involved so heavily in ministering now, I wanted to find some way to.

warm that up a bit.

Sometimes when we talk about ministering, there's an immediate

like deflation in the room.

People's shoulders slew stoop and they're just struggle to feel engaged.

So I wanted some way to like pep that up, especially with the youth.

I started searching online for ministering ideas and I felt like

every one of them was targeted.

To a very Relief Society audience and I wanted something fun for teenagers

and for guys and so we're doing pizza I'll explain why in just a second, but

I created for you what i'm calling a ministering kit This is designed to go

with a pizza to the houses that you're ministering and gives you a chance to be a

more cheerful giver of this gift of taking care of God's sheep for him, feeding his

sheep in the way that he asked us to.

And I'll walk you through how to pull this off in just a second.

I think you're going to love it.

Okay.

Second one.

This is really simple since the first, the first and the last

are a little more complicated.

The second one I wanted to point out that verse from Paul about using God's

measuring tools that some people were.

seeing the other priests and the false teachers that were out there

and measuring them against themselves.

In fact, the priests themselves were measuring themselves against themselves.

And he said, God gave us a standard.

He gave us a measuring tool.

We need to use his pattern.

And there's a really easy way to teach this.

And the only tool you're going to need is a simple measuring tape, even a ruler,

if you want to use something smaller, but I think a measuring tape gives you a

little more fun and a lot more options.

So grab a measuring tape.

You'll be good for that one.

The third one is the most adventurous of the three.

It's guts and glory week, you guys.

So when you scratch off your circle on the chart, There's going to be a little

rocket ship under it and that means we have to take things to a whole new level.

So this week we are going to create a cloud in a bottle and I'll show you how.

The supplies you need are actually really, really easy.

You're just going to need a two liter bottle.

You want to get it as clear as you can.

So for me, I used a Fresca bottle and I took the label off

and then you're going to need.

a bike pump and a tire valve.

So I'll walk you through what kind of tire valve you're going to need.

You can get it at any auto parts store or the auto aisle in like a Walmart

or even a Target might have it.

I promise they're readily accessible and they only cost a dollar or

two and they'll make your lives in cloud making so much easier.

I'll walk you through that in a second, but we're actually going to use it

to teach about a thorn in the flesh.

Why sometimes God allows adversities to continue even when we.

Pray, and even when we are worthy to receive a miracle and sometimes they

just don't come and we'll understand better why that happens and how to deal

with it by making this crazy cloud.

The reason I call it guts and glory for this particular object lesson is

because it makes a very big boom sound when you, when you pull this off.

So I, I think your family's going to love it.

Okay.

So grab those supplies.

Really all you need is cardstock for the printable and a bike

pump, a tire valve and a fresco bottle and you'll be good to go.

See, I told you it was going to be a good week.

All right.

I hope you enjoy it.

I hope your ministering gets better.

I hope you make big booming sounds in your kitchen and just have a blast together.

I also hope this helps you get into the words of Paul just a little bit more.

I know it's hard.

His writing is hard to understand in our modern lens, but I think

there's a lot of goodness there.

So go in the notes if you need extra support, or if you need

to come join me on Instagram.

10 a.

m.

Monday, that's when I'll chat through.

Some of the insights I couldn't quite fit into the videos and then also talk through

the creative in a little more detail.

It's a good place to ask me.

tips.

I've gone through all these object lessons in a lot of trial runs.

So I've learned a lot of things the hard way.

So the live is a good place to ask me more specific questions.

So if you have questions, come find me there.

Otherwise you can leave questions on the discussion boards or on the

YouTube channel, and I will get back to them as quick as I can.

Otherwise, I hope you just get into your scriptures.

Give it a shot.

I promise there's goodness there.

There are, there are rich, beautiful doctors like at your fingertips.

They take a minute to fully digest, but I promise they're worth it.

So get in your scriptures and enjoy it.

And then come join me next week for week 39.