"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."
1 John 2:27
You know, this scripture was confusing me a little bit. The part where it says "ye need not that any man teach you" seems strange. Other places in the scriptures it talks about teachers and learners coming together and basically learning together, and so when I read this it kind of threw me. I looked up the footnote, and that one is worded even more strongly: "Ye are not sent forth to be taught, but to teach..." (D&C 43:15). So, my conclusion was that there are some things that we need to learn from the spirit... not listening to the world, because the world knows nothing about them. In those cases, *we* are the teachers, sent by God through his spirit to teach, and not to learn. We are learning directly from God, and we really don't need anyone but him as a teacher in those cases. :) All the world can do is confuse us, but God offers clarity. I think getting a testimony is like that. No matter how many people talk to you about it, that testimony is between you and God. We don't have a testimony of what someone says *about* God... we have a testimony of God himself, and of our interactions with him.
That doesn't mean that we should shun all instruction, especially Sunday School teachers or our instructors when we're trying to get a degree. :) There are circumstances where it is *really* better to step back and learn rather than assert yourself and teach. I think as we work to build Zion, that is a safe place where everyone learns from each other, and we all learn from God. And definitely, we should be open to the truth around us, wherever it is. But when we're out there in the world, we need to be careful that we aren't listening to people that tell us that the truth is a lie, or that God isn't really there, or doesn't really matter. With regard to our relationships with God, we should listen to God first and only, in order to keep ourselves safe from those that would lead us astray. What God himself has taught us can't be contradicted by any mortal, and we shouldn't let anyone poison prayer for us. That communication we have individually with God matters, and it helps. Let's not listen to anyone who tries to get us to ignore that.
1 John 2:27
You know, this scripture was confusing me a little bit. The part where it says "ye need not that any man teach you" seems strange. Other places in the scriptures it talks about teachers and learners coming together and basically learning together, and so when I read this it kind of threw me. I looked up the footnote, and that one is worded even more strongly: "Ye are not sent forth to be taught, but to teach..." (D&C 43:15). So, my conclusion was that there are some things that we need to learn from the spirit... not listening to the world, because the world knows nothing about them. In those cases, *we* are the teachers, sent by God through his spirit to teach, and not to learn. We are learning directly from God, and we really don't need anyone but him as a teacher in those cases. :) All the world can do is confuse us, but God offers clarity. I think getting a testimony is like that. No matter how many people talk to you about it, that testimony is between you and God. We don't have a testimony of what someone says *about* God... we have a testimony of God himself, and of our interactions with him.
That doesn't mean that we should shun all instruction, especially Sunday School teachers or our instructors when we're trying to get a degree. :) There are circumstances where it is *really* better to step back and learn rather than assert yourself and teach. I think as we work to build Zion, that is a safe place where everyone learns from each other, and we all learn from God. And definitely, we should be open to the truth around us, wherever it is. But when we're out there in the world, we need to be careful that we aren't listening to people that tell us that the truth is a lie, or that God isn't really there, or doesn't really matter. With regard to our relationships with God, we should listen to God first and only, in order to keep ourselves safe from those that would lead us astray. What God himself has taught us can't be contradicted by any mortal, and we shouldn't let anyone poison prayer for us. That communication we have individually with God matters, and it helps. Let's not listen to anyone who tries to get us to ignore that.
No comments:
Post a Comment