The story of James Covel in Sections 39-40 is just fascinating to me.

Because we see EXACTLY what James missed out on due to his pride.

I mean, Section 39 is packed with blessings.

Promises.

Miracles.

James was promised all of these, as long as he would trust the Lord.

And then… pride got him.

He cared a bit too much about what others would think.

He cared about losing his great reputation he had spent years building back east.

The adversary appealed to his personal sense of importance, rather than the whisperings of the Spirit who encouraged him to give it all to the Lord.

This little case study in pride is so powerful to me!

James was promised so much, and chose his own comfort.

So… when am I doing the same?

I don’t have the blessings that I’m missing out on written down right in front of me, so it’s a little harder to see.

But I think it’s when I think that I’m “too busy” to fill my spiritual cup.

Or when I’m doing something good, but I have a totally bad attitude about it.

Or when I think that I’ve gotta worry about myself before I can reach out to those I minister to.

Pride gets me to miss out on a lot of blessings in my life that I’m probably not even aware of.

But, before I spiral into mourning everything I’ve missed and beating myself up about it…

(Feeling some guilt to move me to change is good— sitting in shame is not!)

How can I move forward?

How can I choose to claim every single blessing God has in store for me?

Or at least, as many blessings as I can, since I know I’ll let my pride get the best of me again and again.

I can choose to rely on the Lord.

I can choose total humility.

I can choose to not start my day without kneeling in prayer and asking for guidance.

I can choose to trust that when I rely on Him, I’ll start looking outward even more and worry less about what I’m doing.

Relying on the Lord, turning to Him in every moment, bringing every problem to Him…

That is how I beware of pride.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post WHY should I beware of pride? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Well, maybe not super easy.

But at least, I could do it.

But some of my highest highs and my lowest lows in life have come from interacting with other people.

I’ve laughed til my belly aches and cried in moments of vulnerability with good friends.

And I’ve endured awkward moments and painful misunderstandings with God friends, too.

I’ve experienced more love than I ever thought possible with my family members.

And I’ve had to practice patience and forgiveness more than I ever thought possible with my family members.

I’ve been uplifted and edified by things that my fellow ward members have said.

And I’ve been shocked and frustrated by things that my fellow ward members have said.

I’ve had sweet, kind interactions with strangers at parks, stores, or schools.

And I’ve had terribly rude interactions with strangers at parks, stores, and schools.

Getting outside of ourselves is where life gets extra messy, but also extra beautiful.

And I think that’s why the Lord reminds the Saints as they prepared to move to Ohio that they HAD to look out for each other.

They couldn’t just each take the journey on their own with their own resources.

Well, maybe a few of them could have made it in their own that way, but they would have left a lot of people in the dust in New York.

And so the Lord cautioned in D&C 38:27, “If ye are not one ye are not mine”.

We NEED each other.

The second great commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves.

And so if the adversary can get us to just think about ourselves all the time, he’s won half the battle.

We have to be one.

We have to experience the messes that come from meeting new people, awkward moments, and misunderstandings so that we can also practice living the gospel in action.

Unity and oneness can’t begin if we don’t even know each other.

And if we are not one, then we are not His.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The highs and lows of unity first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It’s a kids’ board book about Jesus visiting the Nephites, and it has a giant picture of Jesus on the front cover.

She calls it her “scriptures” or her “Jesus book”.

She was SO excited to find it.

And then we all piled into the car to get some groceries from the store.

As I pulled her out of her carseat, she grabbed her book, which she had, of course, brought in the car.

We started walking toward the main doors for the store, and a man was out there greeting and handing out carts.

Quin raised the book up high and said to the man:

“Look! I found my Jesus book!”

The man gave an awkward smile.

I quickly walked her inside the store and felt pretty embarrassed.

And then… I felt really sad about how embarrassed I was.

Why did I care what that man thought of my daughter and me?

I want her to learn to be comfortable talking about Jesus in front of other people and sharing her little testimony.

And yet, in the rush of the moment, I lost sight of that and only focused on caring about what someone else thought.

When the Lord talks about James Covel in D&C 40:2, the Lord teaches us that one reason James decided not to join the church was due to “fear… of the cares of the world”.

Are we afraid of being “that person” who talks about Jesus all the time?

Of course, I personally want to share my testimony of Jesus with tact and respect. Intentionally making others feel awkward is never something I aspire to do.

But I also want to never be held down by the “cares of the world” when it comes to sharing my testimony.

If you know me, Cali Black, you know that I talk about Jesus, and that’s just how it is.

I think there’s a reason we’ve been asked to leave the cares of the world behind, and to only focus on our Savior.

I think it’s because at the end of the day, when we pass on from this life, the cares of the world will no longer hold any meaning.

But our relationship with our Savior will have all the meaning in the world.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The cares of the world first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

We were at a restaurant, and this new colleague said to me, “Hey I’m gonna head inside and grab a beer. Do you want me to grab you one?”

I told him thanks for the offer, but that I didn’t drink.

He responded, “Oh! Do you not drink because your church tells you not to drink, or is it a personal choice?”

What a question, right?

I only had a split-second to gather my thoughts.

But I was able to respond to him:

“Well, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, if that’s what you’re getting at, so yes, my religion encourages us not to drink alcohol. But it is also a personal decision that I’ve made to follow that advice and not drink alcohol.”

He very graciously said, “Of course, of course, I get it!”

(And for the record, we worked together very well afterwards, so he obviously didn’t think I was too crazy for my response!)

I knew that he really wanted to just know whether or not I was “Mormon” or not. I get it.

But… I really wanted to let him know that I didn’t just not drink alcohol because my church told me not to.

I had also made a personal decision to follow the counsel, and have felt that decision confirmed to me many times.

In Doctrine and Covenants Section 37, the Lord gives the big, life-altering commandment to ask the Saints to move from New York to Ohio!

But the Lord ends this commandment with this interesting note in verse 4:

“Behold, here is wisdom, and let every man choose for himself.”

The Lord gives commandments.

The church gives guidelines.

Our prophet gives challenges.

Our Bishop gives us callings.

And yet, we always get to choose for ourselves.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Choose for yourself! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve been there.

It’s rough.

But I’ve also come to believe that the trials we experience become our own specific superpowers to help us look out for those going through similar struggles.

They are little lessons for us.

You wished someone would have showed up on your doorstep with a treat and a hug?

Then we can be that person to someone else.

You wish your ministering sister would have at least checked in on you from time to time?

Then we can check in on her often.

Life is so unbelievably unfair and difficult.

We can think about that all the time and wallow in self-pity for all the help we didn’t receive.

Or we can use that as fuel to become “that person” for someone else.

As the Saints in New York were asked to start making the journey to Ohio, they were advised by the Lord to especially look out for the poor and the needy.

This trip was going to take a lot of money and sacrifice, and the Lord didn’t want any of His children left behind due to financial hardship.

And so His counsel?

“Let every man esteem his brother as himself”. (D&C 38:24)

If YOU needed a place for your family to stay after selling your farm and before leaving for Ohio, what kind of help would you want?

Then BE that kind of help for someone else.

Life is hard enough without spending time and energy on thinking about how unfair we have it. How forgotten we feel. How rough our hand of cards is.

And so I’d rather treat others the way that I wish that I had been treated.

To allow my trial to be my specific training for how to serve those around me even better.

We can be the change that we wish to see.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Be what you needed first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.