"As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
2 Corinthians 6:10
Paul here is talking about how ministers of God should behave, and since we are all ministers of God to some extent, I imagine that this applies to us all. Paul lists a lot of things here, but the part that struck me was this single verse. Our lives are made up of a lot of contrasts and opposing desires and emotions. I'm sure this is good for us because it allows us to weigh the good and the evil, or other choices that are good and different good, or perhaps painful short term and painful long term sometimes. We have the opportunity to choose and really find out what we want to do and to be... and whatever we find out, God will restore to us for eternity. I think though that we confuse ourselves sometimes thinking that good choices always, and immediately, equal happiness, or on the other hand that if something is going wrong in our lives that we are expected and required to be sad about it. Paul shows us here, and in other scriptures (2 Corinthians 4:8-9), that we can live with contrasts. That we can experience sad or painful things, and yet still be happy and rejoice. That we get to choose our attitudes and are able to fill our hearts with love and joy, no matter our circumstances.
I'm not saying here that sad = evil, or that feeling negative emotion means that we need to repent and force ourselves to fake smile at the world. I'm just saying that maybe, like Paul, we should take a step back and realize that we get a choice. It's appropriate to be sad sometimes, but there is also *always* a reason to rejoice, so let's not feel trapped into one or the other. And let's realize that our circumstances don't have to control our emotions or actions either. We can be poor financially and still generous with our riches in other areas. :) Even when we have nothing in an earthly sense, we always have God... which means that everything is ours, and we are wealthy beyond imagining. :) Today, let's find reasons to rejoice, despite our current hardships, and let's also remember that even if we are having a hard time making ends meet, the riches of eternity are ours (D&C 78:18).
2 Corinthians 6:10
Paul here is talking about how ministers of God should behave, and since we are all ministers of God to some extent, I imagine that this applies to us all. Paul lists a lot of things here, but the part that struck me was this single verse. Our lives are made up of a lot of contrasts and opposing desires and emotions. I'm sure this is good for us because it allows us to weigh the good and the evil, or other choices that are good and different good, or perhaps painful short term and painful long term sometimes. We have the opportunity to choose and really find out what we want to do and to be... and whatever we find out, God will restore to us for eternity. I think though that we confuse ourselves sometimes thinking that good choices always, and immediately, equal happiness, or on the other hand that if something is going wrong in our lives that we are expected and required to be sad about it. Paul shows us here, and in other scriptures (2 Corinthians 4:8-9), that we can live with contrasts. That we can experience sad or painful things, and yet still be happy and rejoice. That we get to choose our attitudes and are able to fill our hearts with love and joy, no matter our circumstances.
I'm not saying here that sad = evil, or that feeling negative emotion means that we need to repent and force ourselves to fake smile at the world. I'm just saying that maybe, like Paul, we should take a step back and realize that we get a choice. It's appropriate to be sad sometimes, but there is also *always* a reason to rejoice, so let's not feel trapped into one or the other. And let's realize that our circumstances don't have to control our emotions or actions either. We can be poor financially and still generous with our riches in other areas. :) Even when we have nothing in an earthly sense, we always have God... which means that everything is ours, and we are wealthy beyond imagining. :) Today, let's find reasons to rejoice, despite our current hardships, and let's also remember that even if we are having a hard time making ends meet, the riches of eternity are ours (D&C 78:18).
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