Do we see the commandments as grievous and an irritant?

“When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” – President Ezra Taft Benson⁣

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” (1 John 5:3)

Or are they our quest and our desire? ⁣

I think this is a HUGE step in our spiritual maturity. ⁣

For me, my spiritual maturity has followed my physical maturity. ⁣

As a teenager, I remember seeing the commandments as lists of things that I can’t do and things that I should do. ⁣

I can’t see that movie. I have to go to church. I should be reading my scriptures. I shouldn’t listen to that music. I should be nice to everyone. ⁣

For me, I feel that each commandment has taken its own journey. ⁣

Watching bad movies slowly moved from being something I shouldn’t do to something that I have no desire to have in my life because I don’t want certain images or words in my mind. It’s literally not even a temptation for me anymore. ⁣

It ceased to be grievous and an irritant and began to be something I naturally and willingly do. ⁣

But there are other commandments where I still know I need to build my spiritual maturity. ⁣

I should reach out naturally and willingly to the people around me. And sometimes I do! I feel pure love and concern and reach out and serve! ⁣

But other times, I turn into a spiritual teenager and revert back to doing things because I should.

What a great concept that John asks us to reflect on!⁣

Which commandments are grievous to you right now?

How can we build that spiritual maturity and learn to love and seek after these commandments?⁣

As with many things, I think the answer is Jesus Christ. And I think John would agree with me in these chapters. ⁣

When we turn to our Savior more and more often, we gain His love for the people around us and we lose the desire to be “of the world”. ⁣

The Savior is our answer to building that spiritual maturity.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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