Lesson for February 18, 2018

The lesson today was about “Abiding in God and Repairing the breach” a conference talk by Sister Neil F. Marriott. Thanks to Carly for teaching the lesson. Carly spoke about the call to action to live to have the Spirit with us to manage opposition. We need to get to the point of wanting feelings of offense from us and we can turn to God. If we turn to Goght d to change ourselves we can resist being offended. We can realize that being offefended is widespread and we can resist offending others. We discussed the story in church history about Sister Marsh who agreed to share milking strippings that influenced Governor Boggs in expelling the Saints. Yet Brigham Young accepted chastisement from Joseph Smith with humility that had a positive result. Brother Marsh came back to the Church years later, saying the Church lost nothing by his absence, but he lost a great deal. Carly asked how it felt to be forgiven. An answer was that it felt free and light. Whenever we feel offended we lose something. We have something missing. When we can make amends we can feel forgiven. Is there someone in your life who needs your forgiveness? As we do forgive others, we will feel more free. It is impossible to be offended if we don’t choose to be offended. We don’t have to worry about others. Don’t let somebody else push your buttons. Try to understand why they would behave that way. There is a difference between forgiveness and trust. We’re much happier if we can trust Christ. We can ask God to help us to forgive and grow. We can also ask to know when we should change and how to change. Some people may need to work on something and may have their own problems. We should have the perspective that they have their own reasons. How can being offended take us away from friends? We need to know those we love and know what their friends needs are. Offenses can be huge, but we can be true to who we are and do our part. It’s important to see that people are imperfect. We can learn to be kind and forgiving. Our eternal perspective can change due to circumstances that will influence us and our families forever. The choices we make have eternal consequences. It would be easier in the long run to choose to not be offended. The gospel is true even if people are not perfect.