Life's Challenges

Sometimes people argue and complain over petty matters in church meetings or throughout the week. Paul would counsel those to love others as Christ does and to esteem others higher than yourself. Be humble and charitable towards others. It doesn't matter what others say to us, but what we do about it.
Many youth lean on the testimonies of their parents as enough for them. Paul would say that each of us must, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" so that we might shine as a light before others. We must figure out our own salvation. You cannot get by to the celestial kingdom with the faith and testimony of a parent or friend. Each must strive for salvation and exaltation individually.
An investigator is considering joining the church, but his family will no longer associate with him if he does. This would be one of the most terrible decision to have to make. Family is the most important unit on this earth and to have to choose between family and the gospel... it would be so hard. But the gospel is true no matter what, even when your family may be wrong. Paul says we must put our faith in Christ and not look to the past, but to the future. He also says that through faith in Christ, He will give us the strength we lack to accomplish His will. The Lord will give us strength to do that which we find unbearable.
There are many life situations in which we need to turn to the Lord, and if we will just open the scriptures and read the gospel, we will find answers to any of our dilemmas, crisis, pain, joy, troubles, etc.

Live As Saints Should Live

In Romans 13:11 it says that "now is our salvation nearer than when we believed". Based on that scripture we can all be worried that the end is coming and we wont be prepared. So, what can we do to be prepared? As members of this church we are given the tools and knowledge to make it to the celestial kingdom. We have been instructed to live obediently and endure to the end so that we might be able to receive salvation and exaltation.
Paul gave many examples of what would help bring us to salvation. He said to keep our bodies holy, as an offering unto God. Be in the world, but not of the world. We need to "renew our minds" to what is good and acceptable to the Lord. We need to let love fill our lives and our actions. Giving service and kindness to those in need. Uplift and help others on the same path to reach the same goals you are. We need to be humble and remember who is the Almighty. Do good always and do not stand in debt. And then of course, to keep the commandments of God.
In Romans 14 and 15 Paul cautions the members from judging others. We are not the eternal judges of others, God, the Father, is. We are all equal in God's love and we all deserve respect and love. We need to treat each other as God would. By doing this, we avoid the wrath of God, and we gain greater understanding of God's love for us. Paul cautions that whatever standard we judge others, is how we will be judged in the end. People may have different opinions and practices, but it is important to remember that we are all children of God and we are all here for the same purpose, to return again to our Father in Heaven.
Repeatedly, Paul refers to us as saints. What are you doing today to be a true latter day saint?

Baptism

In Romans 6 Paul talks a lot of baptism and coming unto Christ. He says that we must forsake sin and "walk in newness of life" before being baptized. Paul makes several analogies to baptism and events in Christ's life. The first analogy was of Christ's resurrection and of how Christ was buried and then raised again from the dead. So are we baptized to leave behind sin and be lifted again unto new life. The second analogy was of Christ's crucifixion and how "the body of sin might be destroyed" so that we can be free from sin and worldly things. In both of these examples the ENTIRE body undergoes change. This is exactly why we must be baptized by immersion and not just by sprinkling. Christ was not sprinkled with dirt to be buried, nor was he sprinkled with blood and agony. He was immersed in it. So are we to be immersed by water to symbolize being "born again". So how can we maintain the "newness of life"? We must remember that we are the rulers of our lives and we must not let our lives be overrun by sin. We must remember also what Christ has done for us. According to Mosiah 3:19 the natural man must be put off in order to live according to the gospel of Christ and be baptized.
We can know whose servants we are by the choices we make and the things we allow to run our lives. When we allow sin to run our lives we are servants to Satan. But when we can break free from sin and live righteously we are servants to the Lord. Being binded by sin is no way to live. We may have agency to choose which path to take, but when we choose sin we are bound by the crippling effects of sin. When we choose sin over righteousness, we stop our ability to grow spiritually. True freedom is to choose righteous living and have the opportunity to receive eternal life.

Be Separate From the World

As we read on in the New Testament Paul continues to preach to people he's taught before through letters. He continues to encourage righteous living and faithful members of the church. In 2 Corinthians 6 there are a couple of phrases that are a little... unusual. The first one says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers...". If you look down in the footnotes for the word "yoked" you find that its meaning is "interfaith marriage or temporal marriage" So what I got from this line is that the members should not bind themselves in marriage to those that are not of the same faith. At first, I found this line to be slightly shocking and blunt. But when you think about it a little further you find that it is completely valid! As the footnotes state, giving yourself in marriage to someone of another faith means only a temporal marriage. You cannot have an everlasting marriage with them. If we are all striving to be the best and live as righteously as possible, then we will want to have a forever marriage- not one that will end with death.
The second line says, "come out from among them, and be ye separate..." At first I thought that this line meant to have nothing to do with those who are not of our faith, but after thinking about it some more I think that there is more to it. The Lord does not want us to withdraw form others completely, how would we spread the gospel? I think that it's like the line "be in the world, but not of the world". We need to separate ourselves from the WAYS of those that do not believe. We must associate ourselves with those of the same faith so that we can uplift and edify each other. Living the gospel is so much easier when you surround yourself with others who are trying to live the same principles.
The third and final line in this chapter says, "touch not the unclean thing". The world is becoming more and more filthy, yet we are sent here to be tested and to find our own way back to our Father in Heaven. He has given us all the tools that we need to get there it's just a matter of faith and avoiding temptation. The unclean things of the world can sometimes be a temptation to us all. But we must avoid it at all cost! We must be strong and continue to try our best to live righteously. The Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. It's all the same. The Lord expects us to live a high standard and if we don't, we will not be able to live with him in the highest degree of glory again.
All these things are for our benefit in living a more righteous life and trying to resist temptation so that we can once again live with our Father in Heaven some day.