How could you make the biggest impact for good on others that you possibly can? ⁣

It’s gotta be something big right?!⁣

A big event. ⁣

An elaborate service project⁣

A huge social media account. ⁣

Greatest good = tons of people, right?⁣

I want to flip the question a bit. ⁣

What things have made the biggest impact in YOUR life?⁣

Who has inspired you to live the gospel with integrity, and how did they inspire you?⁣

Who has taught you how to be kinder and more loving, and how did they teach it?⁣

For me, the answers to those questions are not big. ⁣

At least, they don’t look big. ⁣

They look like a text message sent at exactly the right moment. ⁣

They look like a leader who always lived the gospel with integrity.⁣

They look like someone teaching a lesson that they probably never got thanked for, but one phrase completely changed me. ⁣

Doing the greatest good seems to not look like large, grandiose gestures. ⁣

Doing the greatest good looks an awful lot like becoming a Christlike person who tries to do the little things that He would do. ⁣

So what’s the greatest good you could be doing right now?

It probably looks a lot like unthanked and overlooked service, love, and integrity that we will never fully see the impact of.

“And in doing these things thou wilt do the greatest good unto thy fellow beings.” (D&C 81:4)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Greatest good  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

D&C 82:7 says:⁣

“Unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God.”⁣

Whew. ⁣

That honestly does not sound very hopeful. ⁣

So if I repent for losing my patience with my kids, and then I lose my patience again, it’s like I never repented in the first place?!⁣

AND I’ve added back in all the previous times I tried to repent for losing my patience, too?⁣

This has never really seemed to fit in with everything else I’ve learned about Jesus Christ. ⁣

So, I want to share my personal perspective on this scripture. ⁣

President Nelson has really emphasized lately that repentance means change. To turn away from sin. ⁣

So when I raise my voice and lose my patience, I often feel sorry afterwards. ⁣

I may feel remorse, and I often feel the Spirit prompting me to want to repent.⁣

But… if I’m not changing, then I’m not truly truly truly repenting.⁣

I’m just feeling remorse, but I’m not changing. ⁣

So it’s not so much a vengeful God saying “Ha, you messed up again so now you have all the weight from all the times you’ve committed this sin!”⁣

And instead more of: “Hey, you may have thought that you had really repented and changed. But you’ve still got some work to do before that one can be wiped clean.”⁣

Does that make sense? ⁣

Now, before THAT sounds too depressing, I also think that it’s good to recognize that there are different variations or even degrees of sins. ⁣

So if I’m losing my patience in a very explosive way but I repent of that, and then the next time, I start say a few sharp things before I stop myself, then I believe I am in that repentance process! ⁣

I’m improving. ⁣

In small ways, with small steps, but I’m improving and not committing the same intensity of the sin each time. ⁣

But the sweetest reminder of all is that no matter what’s going on: whether I keep going back to the same sin even though I think I’ve “repented”, or whether I’m actually improving in little baby steps…⁣

As long as I want the opportunity to change, the Savior will give me as many chances as I need.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Repent over and over  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I have a friend that I only send memes or funny stuff to. ⁣

You gotta have a friend like that, right?⁣

We met up, and all of a sudden I realized that even though we technically “communicated” often, we didn’t know much about what was really going on in each other’s lives. ⁣

We didn’t know about the more serious stuff. The struggles. The big decisions. The heartfelt emotions. ⁣

We had a lot of catching up to do. (And it was still fun!)⁣

I had a chance to meet up with an old coworker, too. ⁣

We’ve done really well keeping in touch with the serious stuff in life. ⁣

I know about her health struggles, she knows about my struggles with figuring out work. ⁣

We are really good at having serious conversations. ⁣

And so when we met up, I realized she didn’t know about the funny moments in my life! The times where my kid is covered in who-knows-what from digging in the trash, or the exciting new achievement one of them made.

I love both of these friends so dearly and I value their friendships for the different ways that they happen. ⁣

Because I need both kinds of friends. ⁣

But I also realized… I want my Heavenly Father and my Savior to be both kinds of friends to me, and I to Them. ⁣

I want the formal, big, serious stuff. ⁣

The down-on-my-knees, eyes-filled-with-tears, baring my soul kind of prayer. ⁣

And I also want to share the easier, lighter, day-to-day stuff. ⁣

The prayer for patience as my daughter insists on telling me a story before she will buckle her car seat. The prayer of gratitude when my son gives a huge laugh. ⁣

I want both with Them. ⁣

The Lord taught: ⁣

“In prayer always, vocally and in thy heart, in public and in private”. (D&C 81:3⁣)

Formal prayers are essential. ⁣

Informal prayers are essential. ⁣⁣

We need both.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Two different friendships  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

That line is: “With great power comes great responsibility.”⁣

Spider-Man could have discovered his powers, realized what he could do, and then chosen to sweep it under the rug. ⁣⁣

I mean, does he really have to stop what he’s doing everytime there’s a distress call in his neighborhood? (Or the galaxy?!)

He’s got stuff to do, too! ⁣

It could be easy to ignore what he had to blend in with everyone else and try to live a normal life. ⁣

Life without his powers would be much simpler for young Peter. ⁣

But instead, he was reminded that with this great power, he can choose to take great responsibility, too. ⁣

Because other people’s lives would be much worse off if he chose to do nothing. ⁣

If he could save people’s lives, then his morals, guided by his uncle’s advice, led him to believe that he needed to help. ⁣

In D&C 82:3, the Lord gently reminds Joseph and the other leaders in Missouri that: ⁣

“Unto whom much is given much is required.”⁣

If you have a testimony of Jesus Christ.⁣

If you’ve made covenants in the holy temple⁣

If you know of prophets and scriptures that have made your life easier…⁣

Then you have been given a whole lot.⁣

It can be tempting to want to hide away from any consequences of that, though. ⁣

Can’t I just have an awesome, comfortable life, and everyone else can go on their own journey?⁣

The Lord teaches us that that’s not the way He’d like it to go. ⁣

If we’ve been given a lot, then there is a lot required of us. ⁣

Now, I don’t think we have to physically risk our lives every day. ⁣

But we are asked to risk our comfortable environments to repent, to share the good news with others, and to serve as He would serve. ⁣

With great power, comes great responsibility.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Spider-man’s spiritual thought  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.