Take Up Our Cross
BY ELDER ULISSES SOARES
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
We learn through the scriptures that those who wish to take their cross upon themselves love Jesus Christ
in such a way that they deny themselves
of all ungodliness and of every worldly
lust and keep His commandments.9
Our determination to cast off all that
is contrary to God’s will and to sacrifice
all we are asked to give and to strive
to follow His teachings will help us to
endure in the path of Jesus Christ’s
gospel—even in the face of tribulation,
the weakness of our souls, or the social
pressure and worldly philosophies that
oppose His teachings....
Additionally, for those who feel
bitter, angry, offended, or chained
to sorrows for something you feel is
undeserved, to take up one’s cross
and follow the Savior means to strive
to lay aside these feelings and turn to the Lord so He can free us from this
state of mind and help us to find peace.
Unfortunately, if we hold on to these
negative feelings and emotions, we may
find ourselves living without the influence of the Lord’s Spirit in our lives.
We cannot repent for other people, but
we can forgive them—by refusing to
be held hostages by those who have
harmed us.
The scriptures teach that there is a
way out of these situations—by inviting
our Savior to help us to replace our
stony hearts with new hearts. For this
to happen, we need to come before
the Lord with our weaknesses and
implore His help and forgiveness, especially during the sacred moment
when we partake of the sacrament each
Sunday. May we choose to seek His
help and take an important and difficult step by forgiving those who have
hurt us so that our wounds may begin
to heal. I promise you that in your
doing so, your nights will be full of the
relief that comes from a mind at peace
with the Lord. ...
My dear friends, we must remember
that taking our cross upon ourselves
includes being humble and trusting in
God and in His infinite wisdom. We
must acknowledge that He is aware of
each of us and of our needs. It is also
necessary to accept the fact that the
Lord’s timing is different than ours.
Sometimes we seek for a blessing and
set a time limit for the Lord to fulfill
it. We cannot condition our faithfulness to Him by imposing upon Him a
deadline for the answers to our desires.
When we do this, we resemble the
skeptical Nephites from ancient times,
who mocked their brothers and sisters
by saying that the time was past for
the fulfillment of the words spoken by
Samuel the Lamanite, creating confusion among those who believed.23 We
need to trust the Lord enough to be
still and know that He is God, that He
knows all things, and that He is aware
of each of us.
#aang
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