This was a talk Rob gave in church. He doesn't write out his talks any more, which is a shame. Writing it out makes it easier to share! (this part written Nov. 2008)
Giving Glory to God
In one of my courses a journal article was suggested. It was a review about the advances of cell biology. The opening paragraph, I thought related perfectly to my topic today.
“The greatest scientific advance of the last 1000 years was providing the evidence to prove that human beings are independent agents whose lives on earth are neither conferred nor controlled by celestial forces. Although it may be more conventional to measure scientific progress in terms of specific technological developments, nothing was more important than providing the means to release men and women from the domination of the supernatural.”
Seeking our own glory isn’t a new plague in the world. It has been a struggle since the beginning.
“And I the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.” (Moses 4:1)
Satan’s goals were selfish. Satan’s approach to the plan of salvation would have completely disregarded the Plan Maker. Now, as I was preparing this talk I thought perhaps a blasphemous thought. Isn’t God really seeking for His own glory? All that we do is to be directed to Him. He should be thanked for all our accomplishments. We are to thank Him for all things. We are to let our lights shine so that the people of the world can see our good works and not praise us but praise our Father in Heaven. We know that regardless of how righteous we are and what kind of wonderful things we are able to do that there are consequences of seeking for our own glory.
“For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him.” (D&C 3:4)
So, why should I get punished and humbled by God for seeking for the same thing that God himself is seeking?
Now, before I get struck by lightning allow me to share a familiar scripture, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (read twice)
We, as children of our Father in Heaven, are his glory. We are his work. Leading us to eternal life is what brings him joy. It is incredible to me to realize that God, the creator of worlds without end and supreme ruler of the universe finds glory in me. His purpose is to give me all he can and lead me to eternal life. Is it not in order for us then to recognize him in all we have?
Elder Marvin J. Ashton once told about a successful member of the church. Quoting from this talk Elder Ashton stated that, “This man had been quite successful in land development and everything he touched had turned to gold. He’d also tried to live a faithful life and had been a very active servant in the gospel. Then he’d been called as a mission president. Throughout his life he’d experienced one success after another—he was a recognized leader in his community, had built a prosperous business. Being called as a mission president had sort of cemented in his mind that he’d made it. When he returned from his mission, a combination of changing interest rates and other business factors caused his once prosperous business to plummet. In fact, he’d lost nearly everything. Telling the story, this man said, “I realized that I’d become quite boastful—that while I felt I had a testimony of Jesus Christ, in my mind I had brought about all of these wonderful things through my hard work, intelligence, and so forth. But when hard times hit, I began to realize how offensive I must have been to others and to my Heavenly Father to assume that I had brought all of these good things on my own. I felt like I’d lived a life of arrogance and boasting.”
Elder Marlin K. Jensen once said in a General Conference address, “When our eyes are fixed on God’s glory, we feel the majesty of His creations and the grand scope of His work on this earth. We feel humble to be participants in His latter-day kingdom. If we pause and quietly reflect on our role in all of this, we will come to know that placing our egos and our vain ambitions on the sacrificial altar is one of the most important offerings we can ever make.”
Alma stated this type of attitude perfectly, “this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God,” (Alma 29:9). Gods wants us to be successful. He wants us become known in the world. Successful members of the Church, through tithing and offerings will only advance the work of the Lord at a greater pace, allowing more temples to be built and more help to go to those in need. Influential members of the church play a role in opening doors to the gospel message throughout the world. Each needs to ask himself, “What are the desires of my heart? What is my work and what is my glory?
I learned a valuable lesson on my mission regarding the desires of my heart. I wanted to be a great missionary. I wanted to partake of the gifts of the spirit. I wanted to have some incredible stories to tell people when I got home. You know, things like “I heard the still small voice, or I felt this prompting and then we went down this street and we found a golden investigator or I spoke in tongues one day, or I healed a man with leprosy . . . you know just your usual mission stories. Anyway, my mission president had challenged us all to seek after the gifts of the spirit and pray for specific ones, which I did. Sure, I felt promptings and the spirit and taught people the gospel, but it wasn’t until I realized that my motivation in gaining the gifts of the spirit was wrong that a new understanding of God’s power was opened to me. It was only after I desired to be given those gifts, so that I could better teach the gospel and bring more people back to their heavenly father, that I began to experience and understand the true power of our Father in Heaven. Those experiences became sacred to me and are only shared during certain circumstances.
Quoting from Elder Jensen again he stated, “This kingdom will roll forward with or without us as individuals. Men and Women who even momentarily take their eyes off of God’s glory and seek to exalt themselves, or who become entangled in the vain things of this world, will find that the kingdom quickly moves on without them.
To those faithful Latter-day Saints whose view of their own importance in God’s plan is in perspective, the Lord has promised: “And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
Therefore, sanctify yourselves that you minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.” (D&C 88:67-68.)
Brothers and sisters; let us glorify our Father in Heaven who has given us all that we have and allow him to fill our bodies with His light and His Glory. I know he will. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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