Let virtue garnish your thoughts

Okay, picture this:

Your life on earth has ended.

You get to meet God the Father, face to face.

You are waiting right outside the door. (Or gate? Or garden?)

What is your mind doing?

Really think about that for a second.

What are you thinking about?

Maybe your mind is going to some of your shortcomings on earth. The times you forgot about Him.

Maybe you have some stories you want to tell Him that would make Him smile.

Maybe you have questions you want to ask.

Maybe you don’t know if you’ll say anything at all.

Maybe you are excited out of your mind. Maybe you are nervous.

I’ve thought about this reunion a lot, and how it will go changes pretty dramatically in my mind all the time.

But I’ve always been fascinated by this promise of what we can feel in God’s presence:

CONFIDENCE

Not pride or superiority. But a righteous and humble confidence.

And where does this confidence come from?

“Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God”. D&C 121:45

The confidence comes from our thoughts. Virtuous, loving, God-focused thoughts.

But it’s actually not so much about that future, glorious moment, as it is about right now.

We can be in God’s presence here, even though we may not see Him.

So what are our thoughts like on a daily basis? What are our thoughts like in the temple? What are our thoughts like at home?

Because we can’t fake those. Our thoughts often reveal our heart.

And the great news about thoughts? If our thoughts aren’t always where we want them to be right now, if they aren’t always virtuous and loving, we can change them.

And when we slowly change our thoughts to reflect the most important things on our heart, we gain confidence before the Divine.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black