Thursday, September 8, 2011

"As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten" - D. Todd Christofferson

It is usually very humbling when one of our faults or shortcomings is pointed out to us. The human response may quickly be to find fault with the person that calls attention, attempting to ignore the statement or find other faults in the other that offset the rebuke. That is an attitude for us to watch carefully as it most often is an opportunity for us to grow. Our practice should be "willingly to accept and even seek correction." Four of the early church leaders were rebuked strongly in revelation found in D&C 93:41-50.


There are three purposes behind divine chastening:

  1. To persuade us to repent,
  2. To refine and sanctify us, and
  3. At times to redirect our course in life to what God knows is a better path.
The two stories told by Hugh B. Brown illustrate this principle eloquently. They should be referred to if you are trying to understand and teach this to others. The first regarding the trimming of the current bush is understandable to even young children. The second about religion being the factor in losing a promotion may illustrate a probable reason for some of our own disappointments in life. I can relate well to this statement by Elder Christofferson; "Even when we encounter mean-spirited criticism from persons who have little regard or love for us, it can be helpful to exercise enough meekness to weigh it and sift out anything that might benefit us."

Important corrections can many times come from our own spouse and we will do well to listen and consider when this is the case. 
Posted by James Russell Allen at 10:23 AM
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1 comment:

  1. Shirlyn H.Thursday, September 08, 2011

    He made the statement "The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Plan". Our Father in Heaven holds out high expectations from us. In order for us to reach our full potential we must accept and seek correction. We must look others in the eye when we speak or they are speaking to us. He also said that as parents we can and must correct. When you don't you are only thinking of yourself. When you fail to act His spirit withdraws from you. Annualize every performance in every assigment and task and see how you could have done better then do it. Love inspired correction.

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