Sunday, August 29th, I taught my Relief Society lesson from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's conference talk "Not as the World Giveth." The main message of this talk is what I titled this post: Jesus Christ can bring us peace.
Elder Holland begins his talk directly with scripture verses from Christ's earthly ministry:
John 14:1, 18, 27
"1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
18. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.
27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
In those three verses, Jesus asks us not to fear, and to believe in Him. In return, he promises us comfort and peace.
Elder Holland then goes into a summary of the grim things that have been prophesied for the last days.
JS Matthew 1:23, 30
"23. Behold, I speak these things unto you for the elect’s sake; and you also shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled, for all I have told you must come to pass; but the end is not yet.
30. And again, because iniquity shall abound, the love of men shall wax cold; but he that shall not be overcome, the same shall be saved."
Elder Holland also said that the Book of Mormon prophets "prophetically warn us that violence and conflict will be a signature characteristic of relationships in the last days.”
And D&C 1:35 “For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is night at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion.”
My ward talked about how knowing this stuff ahead of time helps us prepare both spiritually and physically. And that if our focus is on Christ, we will be okay.
Elder Holland said that the greater conflict lies not in the wars and rumors of wars, but something closer to home:
"Fortunately, the current generation has not had a Third World War to fight, nor have we experienced a global economic crash like the one in 1929 leading to a Great Depression. We are, however, facing a kind of Third World War that is not a fight to crush our enemies but a conscription marshaling the children of God to care more about each other and to help heal the wounds we find in a conflicted world. The Great Depression we now face has less to do with the external loss of our savings and more to do with the internal loss of our self-confidence, with real deficits of faith and hope and charity all around us. But the instruments we need to create a brighter day and grow an economy of genuine goodness in society are abundantly provided for in the gospel of Jesus Christ.” (emphasis added)
In addition to that, Elder Holland paraphrased President Russell M. Nelson that even if the world is generally not at peace, we can be individually. We discussed how to do that, and the conversation steered in the direction of taking care of ourselves and our family. Also, not to feel stress to save the entire world by ourselves. We save the world one step at a time: ourselves, our families, our ward, our neighborhood, our community.
Elder Holland then said, “Such help and hope are dearly needed because in this worldwide congregation today are many who struggle with any number of challenges - physical or emotional, social or financial, or a dozen other kinds of trouble. But many of these we are not strong enough to address in and of ourselves, for the help and peace we need is not the kind “the world giveth.” No, for the truly difficult problems we need what the scriptures call “the powers of heaven,” and to access these powers we must live by what these same scriptures call “principles of righteousness.”
There are three parts from this quote that I want to focus on. The first is that we are not strong enough to fix all of our problems ourselves. I asked the sisters what their initial feelings or reaction to that statement were. The common response was, "so that I can turn to Christ for help." Then we talked about the difficulty that many women have in accepting help from others, and the reminder that Heavenly Father sends help in the form of others.
The second is the inspiration behind the title of Elder Holland's talk. What "peace" that the world gives that both Christ and Elder Holland recommend that we stay away from? Probably temporary pleasures, addictive substances and behaviors, worshipping money, etc.
And last, Elder Holland says that living by "principles of righteousness" will bring us the peace that Christ gives us. We made a list of principles of righteousness: love, faith, humility, knowledge, teachable, obedience, service. etc.
Elder Holland said, "Absent those principles, it was certain we would eventually face discord and enmity.”
If not following the principles of the gospel means “discord and enmity,” does following them promise harmony and goodwill all the time? No, but it does help us gain the skills and strength to make it through hard times.
Elder Holland ends his talk with the reminder that in addition to finding peace for ourselves, we should also provide peace for others in our words and actions. He said, "Everyone has the right to be loved, to feel peaceful, and to find safety at home… The promise of being a peacemaker is that you will have the Holy Ghost for your constant companion and blessings will flow to you “without compulsory means” forever.”
I also believe that in bringing peace to others, through service, we can also bring peace to ourselves. I ended the lesson with challenging the women of my ward to find one way to bring peace to someone else, and to write down their experience in their journal.
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