Hello again, everyone! The Church News continues to report on the addresses given during the Seminar for New Mission Leadership.. Just about an hour ago, this report was published summarizing President Eyring's counsel to those new leaders. His message was on a subject he has covered before, how to be confident instead of self-doubting in assignments and situations that seem beyond an individual.
He spoke of his personal experiences receiving Church callings for which he felt inadequate and, to a certain degree, unworthy. He again highlighted an experience he shared before about how President James E. Faust had called him into his office shortly after then-Elder Eyring's call to the apostleship. He could see that the new apostle was struggling with the magnitude of his new role. Elder Eyring anticipated that the veteran apostle would offer him advice to get through those feelings. But President Faust instead offered this powerful lesson: "Don't ask me. Ask him."
Now-President Eyring went on to talk about how he now occupies the office in which that visit with President Faust occurred. He then noted that at times since that meeting in April 1995, and particularly as he has been called to continue his service in the First Presidency under a third president of the Church, he has kept President Faust's counsel in mind.
He went on to describe his understanding of how those called to preside over missions or serve as Church missionaries may face the same feelings on inadequacy. And he offered some suggestions in terms of how all Church members, in whatever their calling may be, can refocus their attention away from wanting their service to be acceptable to those under whose direction they are called to serve to instead being more concerned about whether that service is acceptable to the Lord.
He pointed out that, of all opinions, our standing with the Lord should be the most important. And he urged mission presidents to encourage their missionaries to serve under the Lord's direction, endorsement, blessing, and approval.
It is a very timely message. In a world dominated by the idea that we need to focus first on pleasing others and ourselves by what we do, we are prone to forget that the Lord's opinion should be the one that matters most. Only He knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts, and at the day of judgement, we will not be asked about what we did to be acceptable to our fellow man, but what we did to be accepted of Him, which includes rendering service to those among whom we share our earthly sojourn.
May we all remember the importance of that message. That does it for this post. If you liked what you read here and would like to, please feel free to subscribe to stay informed about new content on this blog. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time.. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
President Eyring Teaches How to Be Confident Rather Than Self-Doubtful
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.
At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.
I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.
And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.
Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.