Be Peaceable Followers of Christ

I missed this during conference.

Now all of us are here in the second estate of our journey of progression toward a kingdom of glory as part of God’s great plan of salvation and exaltation. We are blessed with agency and subject to the trials of mortality. This is the time allotted for us to prepare to meet God. We are blessed to know of Jesus Christ and His role in the plan. We have the privilege to become members of His restored Church—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As peaceable followers of Christ, we strive to live His commandments. It has never been easy for His followers. Nor was it easy for the Savior to faithfully fulfill His mortal mission.

The scriptures are clear: many will succumb to an “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die” approach. Other nonbelievers retreat to somber enclaves of like-minded participants who advocate for the next “new thing” and philosophies of men. They know not where to find the truth.

Peaceable followers of Christ do not follow either path. We are warm, engaged members of the communities where we live. We love, share, and invite all of God’s children to follow Christ’s teachings. We follow the counsel of our beloved prophet, President Nelson: we choose the role of “a peacemaker, now and always.” This inspired approach is consistent with both the scriptures and prophetic direction.

• We are warm, engaged members of the communities where we live.
  • Are we? We should be but sometimes we may forget to engage in the communities around us. We can’t afford to get engaged only in the church community or only in our families.
• We love, share, and invite all of God’s children to follow Christ’s teachings.
  • If we do not engage in communities outside the church we won’t be effective in inviting others to follow Christ.
• We follow the counsel of our beloved prophet, President Nelson: we choose the role of “a peacemaker, now and always.”

First, He encouraged them to “praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.”

Second, the Lord counseled if they were “sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God with supplication, that your souls may be joyful.”

These two admonitions are great counsel for our own day. Lives full of praise, music, and thanksgiving are uniquely blessed. Being joyful and relying on heavenly help through prayer is a powerful way to be peaceable followers of Christ. Striving always to be of good cheer helps avoid being cast down in spirit.

I need to learn how to live more joyfully, although I’ve already been working on doing that.