Blessings from Obedience

By: Justin Hansen

About a month ago, I was wanting to post my thoughts on various blessings that come from keeping God's commandments. As you can see from my previous post, (...To that God who gave them life) I went another direction. I will now only post briefly about this topic as in reality, The Spirit is the one who is sent to let us know how we are doing in keeping with the things we have been asked to do. The Scriptures and living prophets are the ones that are here to let us know God's commandments, and we are asked by our loving Father to follow them. Much has been made among Mormons and those of other faiths that we place too much emphasis on our works, that it is the grace of Jesus that is really important and what we do has no bearing on salvation. These discussions used to be quite heated, but from what I have seen over the last decade, they have tempered some in their intensity, but still remain a sticking point between LDS and others.

It is not my intention to prove we need works to be saved, only to show that when we keep the commandments, God is happy with us, and we receive his blessings. Another thought is that when we follow with as much goodness and effort as possible, our lives are given to God, and the example shows through to others who may need to be brought closer to living a Christ-centered life. I have seen people on both sides of the argument take a stand and live such wonderful examples that I am left thrilled and I marvel at their goodness. I also see those on both sides who either 1. Don't understand the atonement and gift of Jesus and use it as an excuse to sin, or to misbehave or 2. They don't understand the purpose and scope of the atonement and put so much pressure on themselves to follow Him, they miss joys in life and bring upon themselves unneeded guilt.

I know the scriptures show that when we obey, there are blessings given (D&C 121) I will relate an experience of just a few weeks ago. I recently finished a Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and with that degree, I am starting a business/practice with a group of other counselors. I have tremendous respect for them and I'm grateful to be able to work with them. There was a time recently where we needed a group picture to put on our website (coming soon :) They originally met on a Sunday to take the pictures. I was not there, as I felt that my priority lay with being at church and with my family, keeping the Sabbath day. I was willing to leave myself out of the picture to keep the Sabbath, not bouncing off the wall with happiness, but at a peace that the correct decision had been made. We just took another round of pictures yesterday, with myself included, so, only about 6 weeks after the originals, God provided a way for me to get what was needed. I believe it was due to my determination to follow Him. This brings me to another thing that is needed to follow--faith. I struggle with this at times, and I am always looking to increase my faith so as to have a stronger desire to live a more holy life. I have found that doing the basics in life, prayer on your knees twice a day, scripture study, church attendance, Family Home Evening, etc, bring the needed blessings and faith to live well. Also asking specifically for charity and reaching out to others and attempting to serve brings what is needed in life.

Though I have not listed scripture after scripture in this post showing that obedience has it's blessing and place, my own worldview has shown me they are true. I hope we all can have the desire to take the steps God has laid out for us, and do what we can to become holy, embracing the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives' allowing him to make a miracle out of us.