August 25, 2012
Learner Readiness
Today, the lesson which I have been assigned is on Sacrifice.
When we think of the word, 'sacrifice' all sorts of images come up in our minds. I sometimes think of sacrifice in the context of good, better, and best. When we sacrifice, we choose to use our time for something better than the many good things that we could be doing.
When I think of sacrifice, I put that term within the context of covenants. If I willing sacrifice for the Kingdom of God, in whatever way that is, I am keeping my covenants. I believe this is why the brethren try to instill in us the need to sacrifice. We advance spiritually, this we are happier and able to hear more advance doctrine.
I have heard my times over the years, the statement, 'Oh, that was no sacrifice at all, I wanted to do it'.
Q: If we enjoy keeping our covenant to sacrifice, does that mean we aren't sacrificing?
Q: Does sacrificing have to have a negative connotation?
Q: If we give a grudging gift is it counted unto us as righteousness?
Elder Oaks, in his talk brings up many ways in which we as latter day saints sacrifice.
Let's list some ways in which we sacrifice on the BOARD:
1. broken heart and contrite spirit'
2. missionary work
3. Temple work
4. in our families
5. in our church calllings
6. Catholic devotion
7. Selfless service
Learner Involvement
READ A (broken heart and contrite spirit)
A The incomprehensible suffering of Jesus Christ ended sacrifice by the shedding of blood, but it did not end the importance of sacrifice in the gospel plan. Our Savior requires us to continue to offer sacrifices, but the sacrifices He now commands are that we “offer for a sacrifice unto [Him] a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 9:20).
READ B (Selfless Service,and Progression)
B He also commands each of us to love and serve one another—in effect, to offer a small imitation of His own sacrifice by making sacrifices of our own time and selfish priorities. In an inspired hymn, we sing, “Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.”
Q: How does sacrifice bring forth the blessings of heaven?
Q: Have any of you had experiences in which you know that the sacrifices you have made brought forth the blessings of heaven your life?
Q: If we don't believe this principle, what are we lacking? (faith, sacrifice is an unseen principle, that we are told from the prophets and scriptures that it is true. From the natural man perspective, it could be viewed as a foolish principle).
READ C
C I am grateful for the marvelous examples of Christian love, service, and sacrifice I have seen among the Latter-day Saints. I see you performing your Church callings, often at great sacrifice of time and means. I see you serving missions at your own expense. I see you cheerfully donating your professional skills in service to your fellowmen. I see you caring for the poor through personal efforts and through supporting Church welfare and humanitarian contributions.10 All of this is affirmed in a nationwide study which concluded that active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “volunteer and donate significantly more than the average American and are even more generous in time and money than the upper [20 percent] of religious people in America.”11
Such examples of giving to others strengthen all of us. They remind us of the Savior’s teaching:
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself. …
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:24–25).
Q: How do the scripture verses just read tie to sacrifice?
READ D
D I believe that Latter-day Saints who give unselfish service and sacrifice in worshipful imitation of our Savior adhere to eternal values to a greater extent than any other group of people. Latter-day Saints look on their sacrifices of time and means as a part of their schooling and qualifying for eternity. This is a truth revealed in the Lectures on Faith, which teach that “a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation. … It [is] through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life.”13
Q: How important is it to learn to sacrifice properly?
READ E
E I will speak of these mortal sacrifices our Savior asks us to make. This will not include sacrifices we are compelled to make or actions that may be motivated by personal advantage rather than service or sacrifice.
Q: Why don't these kind of sacrifices count toward blessings?
READ F Moroni 7:4-8
F And now my brethren, I judge these things of you because of your peaceable walk with the children of men.
5 For I remember the word of God which saith by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also.
6 For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.
7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.
8 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth itgrudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.
Q: Why is having the right intent so important when we sacrifice or give service (it shows our motives, it shows us where our heart is)
READ G
G We are frequently asked, “How do you persuade your young people and your older members to leave their schooling or their retirement to sacrifice in this way?” I have heard many give this explanation: “Knowing what my Savior did for me—His grace in suffering for my sins and in overcoming death so I can live again—I feel privileged to make the small sacrifice I am asked to make in His service. I want to share the understanding He has given me.” How do we persuade such followers of Christ to serve? As a prophet explained, “We [just] ask them.”7
Q: If we don't like to sacrifice, what might be the problem?
Board: Write the word sacrifice. Q: What does sacrificing do for us?
- it helps us to change or hearts
- it softens us to be able to feel the love of God which sheddeth itself forth unto the children of men.
- it keeps us humble
- it prepare us for living the law of the gospel
- we are following the mandate which the Lord gave: He that loses his life shall save it and he saveth his life shall lose it.
READ H
H Prior to the rededication of one of our temples, a Christian minister asked President Gordon B. Hinckley why it did not contain any representation of the cross, the most common symbol of the Christian faith. President Hinckley replied that the symbols of our Christian faith are “the lives of our people.”
Q: What is the symbol of our Christian faith?
LEARNER APPLICATION
Say, Being ordained to the Melchesidek Priesthood means we have special responsibilities that tie to Sacrifice.
Alma 13:1-3
And again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children; and I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.
2 And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in amanner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption.
3 And this is the manner after which they were ordained—beingcalled and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.
Q: What are we as High Priests supposed to be examples of? (that great and last sacrifice) What are the people to look to us for?
Bednar: Going from bad to good. Now we move from good to better. How do we do this?
Conclusion: Keeping our covenant to sacrifice is an integral step that we must take in this mortal life.
One of the first things God commands us is to sacrifice. Sacrifice prepares our hearts and our minds.
Elder Bednar .... The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of mortality—from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.
I am not suggesting that the redeeming and enabling powers of the Atonement are separate and discrete. Rather, these two dimensions of the Atonement are connected and complementary; they both need to be operational during all phases of the journey of life. And it is eternally important for all of us to recognize that both of these essential elements of the journey of mortality—both putting off the natural man and becoming a saint, both overcoming bad and becoming good—are accomplished through the power of the Atonement. Individual willpower, personal determination and motivation, effective planning and goal setting are necessary but ultimately insufficient for us to triumphantly complete this mortal journey. Truly, we must come to rely upon “the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8).
Q: How does sacrifice fit into the big picture?
Q: How does it fit into truth?
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