Lesson for October 15, 2017

Today our lesson was given by Maggie Kopp on Chapter 18, “Virtue—a Cornerstone.” Maggie began by saying that during her education, she had to take a Latin class. She said that because of Latin class, that when we talk about virtue as chastity, it is not quite accurate. A lot of chastity lessons are about what not to do, but virtue is more about what we should be doing. In Latin it is virtue. Paul used the world and the Aritcle of Faith 13. Something related to power and moral excellence The woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus’s clothes and virtue went out of him. Thinking of the broader definition, what does it mean to live a virtuous life? Being pure, living up to standards, doing good for others, integrity, being whole, being righteous and standing in holy places, a strengthe of values, learning from the best books. We’re seeking for these things, as it says in the Article of faith. We all have strengths and we have to seek after additional things. The Lord has said to let virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly. Then the Holy Ghost will be our constant comapanion. Could there be a greater promise than this? Even our thoughts should be virtuous. We should seek for consciousness and being strong. As we choose to have virtue in our thoughts and hearts, we can act with confidence and have a measure of power in our lives. It goes beyond chastity, but in all our lives. When we are honest, we are able to be trusted and confident in our actions, have peace of mind, have a clear conscience, and have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Then you can be filled with light and have the reputation of helping others and being trusted. We build up our inner selves as well as our outer selves. With the topic of pornography, those involved in it are exploiting others and objectifying them and not viewing them as our Heavenly Father would intend for us to view his children. On her mission, Suzy Sullivan studied the scriptures about virtue and most of her actions were good, so she worked on her thoughts. Maggie reads an advice column for managers and a person had struggled with self image. A person was assigned to her team who was very young and beautiful and the manager knew she was treating this new employee poorly. Her lack of self-esteem was having a negative influence for her whole team. She lost her managerial situation and recognized it was because she couldn’t control her thoughts. If we work on our inner thoughts, we won’t be as likely. Heather Cantrell said when she was an airline stewardess, she had to deal with men who had no integrity and it scared her. Interacting with other people who don’t have integrity can be helped by living a virtuous life and being aware that these people exist, we can stand up for what we believe in. One of Maggie’s personal values is to not judge others. Satan can influence us if we are not strong in what we believe, especially if you do things you now you shouldn’t, then the Spirit isn’t able to be with us as strongly. The Christlike attributes are in Preach My Gospel and the virtues are really all interconnected, so if we can clear our thoughts by memorizing a scripture, we are also increasing our knowledge and obedience. It’s that way whenever we focus on one virtue. If your eye is single to God’s glory, you can be filled with light. Hymns, scripture stories, scripture study can help us focus on God’s spirit If you’re scared or bored or trying to find compassion with yourself. One of the Turning points is to recognize that the adversary gives us negative thoughts that can affect us even thirty years later. Our internal voices are really strong and that could be good or bad. We need to acknowledge what our internal dialogue is so we dont let ourselves down. Ask if this thought is from Heavenly Father or some other source and replace it if you need to. We can be like God because we are His children. Physical appetites and desires can be controlled with discipline and maturity. It is possible that we can master ourselves. Sometimes it’s just a process of growing older or changing your circumstances. Having compassion on yourself. Joseph Smith said he did not care how fast we run on the path to virtue. So, as long as you’re trying, you are on that path. We are most likely not going to be perfect in this life, but we can be courageous and become women of integrity. We know that Heavenly Father wants us to be.