Wednesday, April 12, 2000

Doctrine and Covenants 1:24-28 -- On Learning

"Behold I am God and I have spoken it; these commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.
And inasmuch as they erred it might be made known;
And inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed;
And inasmuch as they sinned they might be chastened, that they might repent;
And inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time."
Doctrine and Covenants 1:24-28


Once again this is a scripture I stole from a lesson at church.  When we read it I thought it was so interesting because although it sounds kind of scary, it is exactly the way to get us to learn stuff. :)

First verse... these commandments were given why?  That we might come to understanding.  So that we can learn. :) 

Second verse.... this sounds scary, but seriously, nobody can learn anything new if no-one tells them that the old way is wrong, or that it can be done a better way.  If you let your kid read all the books upside-down, and never teach him the "right" way... there is going to be a real problem when he gets to school... and it is the same with us.  As hard as it is sometimes to realize that we are doing it wrong... there is no other way to learn.  God loves us enough to TELL us when he thinks we are wrong, instead of letting us blow up our lives without knowing.

Third verse... if we seek wisdom, God will teach us some. :)  Awesome. 

Fourth verse... a little scarier than knowing our mistakes is being chastened for them.  This step comes after the first, probably because we have to have the knowledge that we are doing it wrong first... and then, if we persist, we get punished, so that we see some consequences.  But this is part of the learning cycle as well--punishment not meaning a lightning bolt from heaven or the destruction of our lives, but the loss of the spirit in a lot of cases, confusion and darkness... helping us to see, and pointing us toward the eternal consequences of our choices.  If we do it this way, we're happier... simple things, adapted to our ability to learn and comprehend. 

Last verse... when we are humble, accepting our roles as learners, we can tap into God's strength, and learn it for ourselves.  We can receive the spirit and the clarity and the light that God offers, and all the knowledge we can take in. :)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Total Pageviews