God loves us so much. ⁣

He wants us to become more like Him and His Son. ⁣

That can seem a bit vague and overwhelming, so He also gives guiding commandments that help keep us on the right path of truth.⁣

Most of us start our gospel journey because we realize how much we love God. ⁣

Whether you realized that as a young child, learned it as an adult, or anything in between, most of us have felt love and wanted to give love. ⁣

So then we start keeping the commandments to make sure that our “love” is actually developing us closer and closer into the Divine. ⁣

And then we sometimes get stuck here. ⁣

Keeping the commandments. ⁣

Just keep the commandments. ⁣

Tick those boxes. Get a perfect score. ⁣

Ahhh, totally fell off the track there. Try to keep the commandments even better. ⁣

And we slowly start to lose sight of the WHY. ⁣

Why are we keeping commandments?⁣

Why are we given commandments?⁣

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)⁣

He wants our heart. He wants our soul. He wants our might. ⁣

But only if we are ready to willingly give them to Him. ⁣

Just to be clear, commandments are amazing and absolutely necessary, and doing our best to keep them is essential in molding our character. ⁣

But we’ve gotta keep that WHY in mind. ⁣

Does your heart really want to do what Jesus asks you to do?⁣

Does your whole soul desire to be able to enter God’s presence?⁣

Do you use all your might to listen to the Spirit and follow revelation and commandments?⁣

THESE  are my life goals. To be able to firmly answer “YES” to all three of these questions. ⁣

It’s a huge, lifelong task, but what God really wants is my heart. ⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Losing sight of the why first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

My sisters and I all got brand new kites, and we spent the day flying them on the always-windy beaches in Northern California.⁣

My dad would run and throw the kite up, and if it caught the wind correctly, I would have to dig my feet into the sand in order to hold the kite.⁣

It always amazed me how tight I had to hold on to my handle.⁣

As I would turn the handle and give the kite more string, the kite would fly higher and higher, until the string stopped.⁣

And, as a kid, I would look up and think, “Man, this string is just holding the kite back from flying even higher.”⁣

It seemed like that string was restrictive.⁣

The kite could fly so much higher without me.⁣

And so, one time, I let go.⁣

The kite turned every possible way before nose-diving into the sand far down the beach.⁣

It turns out, the string that I thought was so restrictive was actually the only thing helping the kite reach its highest point.⁣

This is what the commandments look like to many people, right?⁣

People are shocked when they find out we give 10% of our income as tithes. That we abstain from alcohol. That we don’t do playdates on Sundays.⁣

What foolish ways to bind ourselves down! Just like a silly, restrictive kite string!⁣

And yet, I have found that while these “restrictions” look like they would hold us back, they create the perfect amount of tension to let us reach our highest potential.⁣

In D&C 95:11, the Lord promises the saints who didn’t think they could build a temple: “If you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it.”⁣

The commandments were going to give them power. ⁣

And the commandments continue to create power in our lives. ⁣

So to me, this “restrictive” religion is actually creating the greatest freedom I can imagine!⁣

And I’m grateful for the tension on the string, even if others view it as holding myself back.⁣

Because I know that without it, my “freedom” wouldn’t help me get to become the person I know God wants me to be.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Restrictive kite strings  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was at a restaurant with some of my work colleagues a few years ago, and had just been introduced to someone new who had been hired onto our team.

This new colleague had asked me if I wanted him to get me a beer inside.

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

He responded:

“Oh! Do you not drink because of your church, or is it a personal choice?”

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

But I was somehow able to respond by saying:

“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 asks 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 graciously said, “Of course, I get it!”

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

Really, I just wanted to let him know that I didn’t abstain from alcohol only because my church told me not to.

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

The Lord gave the new Saints in New York a big, life-altering commandment to move to Ohio.

But the Lord ended this commandment with an interesting note:

“Behold, here is wisdom, and let every man choose for himself.” (D&C 37:4)

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 Why don’t you drink?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“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

The post The grievous commandments  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

When is a kite the most “free”?⁣

Growing up, we would go to the beach a lot. ⁣

If it was windy enough (and let’s be real, it’s always windy at the beach in Northern California), we would throw kites into the air, hold on to the spools, and slowly turn the handles until we could barely see the kites flying way up high! ⁣

I remember thinking that I was holding this kite back. ⁣

The string was restrictive!

I wanted to let go of that spool so the kite could fly as high as it possibly could.

That string was just tying the kite down. ⁣

But what happened when I let go of the spool?

The kite nose dived, crashing into the sand.

I wanted to “free” the kite by letting go of all restrictions.

And yet when the kite had nothing to hold onto, it fell to the ground and stumbled along in the wind. ⁣

It turns out, the tension of the string was exactly what was holding the kite up.

Sometimes, I hear people talking about how much more “free” they are without the commandments to follow. ⁣

And listen— sure, there is more literal freedom when you don’t “have to” follow this set of rules and commandments.

But I have learned that it is the “tension” and “restriction” from these commandments that Christ uses to truly let us be FREE.

There is not-so-obvious-to-others and undeniable-to-ourselves FREEDOM when we partner with Jesus Christ and willingly make covenants that bind us closer to Him.

Eternal, emotional, spiritual, peaceful, joyful freedom.

Christ knows our full potential, and He knows the “tensions” that we need in our life in order to actually keep us afloat, as much as we think we might be more “free” without them. ⁣

Bondage is NOT being tied by a string to a masterful kite-flyer.

Bondage is NOT having anything to pull us up, leaving us to be dragged every which way by the wind. ⁣

We are free BECAUSE we are bound to Christ.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The kite analogy  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had this question come to my mind recently, and it has completely reframed how I, an already devoted Christian, have seen some issues in my life.

Do I really, really believe that following commandments, keeping covenants, and living by certain principles will make me a better person?

Or do I sometimes think that I know better?

We talk a lot about this idea of having the law “written upon our hearts”.

Really believing Jesus with our whole heart.

Jeremiah taught the same idea:

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

But what does it really mean to have the law, the commandments, our covenants, written in our hearts?

I think it means being able to wholeheartedly answer that first question with a resounding YES.

Believing that 5 more minutes of being in the scriptures and communing with God is better for my life than 5 more minutes of sleep.

Trusting that taking that first awkward step toward reconciliation is better than sitting in contention.

Knowing that turning off that TV show will be better for my soul than the few fleeting moments of entertainment.

Hoping that attending the temple will far outweigh anything else I could be doing during that time.

I would bet that the majority of people “know” with our minds that it’s good to keep the commandments.

It’s good to follow God’s law and keep our covenants.

But Jeremiah is encouraging us to think…

Do we REALLY, deep down, in our hearts, believe that life is better with Jesus?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Better with Jesus? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

God loves us so much.

He wants us to become more like Him and His Son.

That can seem a bit vague and overwhelming, so He also gives guiding commandments that help keep us on the right path of truth.

Most of us start our gospel journey because we realize how much we love God.

Whether you realized that as a young child, learned it as an adult, or anything in between, most of us have felt love and wanted to give love.

So then we start keeping the commandments to make sure that our “love” is actually developing us closer and closer into the Divine.

And then we sometimes get stuck here.

Keeping the commandments.

Just keep the commandments.

Tick those boxes. Get a perfect score.

Ahhh, totally fell off the track there. Try to keep the commandments even better.

And we slowly start to lose sight of the WHY.

Why are we keeping commandments?

Why are we given commandments?

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)

He wants our heart. He wants our soul. He wants our might.

But only if we are ready to willingly give them to Him.

Just to be clear, commandments are amazing and absolutely necessary, and doing our best to keep them is essential in molding our character.

But we’ve gotta keep that WHY in mind.

Does your heart really want to do what Jesus asks you to do?

Does your whole soul desire to be able to enter God’s presence?

Do you use all your might to listen to the Spirit and follow revelation and commandments?

THESE  are my life goals. To be able to firmly answer “YES” to all three of these questions.

It’s a huge, lifelong task, but what God really wants is my heart.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The commandment pattern first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Well… I use the phrase “play a soccer game” very, very loosely.

It’s adorable.

No one keeps score, and no team is declared the winner.

It’s a laidback environment focused on giving these cute little kids exposure to the sport.

It made me think of the contrast in emotions to much higher stakes soccer games I had watched before.

We loved attending BYU soccer games when we lived there, but the emotions were so much more dramatic.

The games were long, the skills were insane, and the anticipation was intense.

There was always a winner, and there was always a loser.

In real life, different people, teams, parties, or groups prevail at different times.

In Noah’s time, the flood waters prevailed against the earth.

They prevailed against every person, every creature.

Total defeat.

“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth”. (Genesis 7:19)

But who did not fall to the waters?

Those who were in the boat.

AKA those who were obedient.

“Keep the commandments. In this there is safety.”

When the waters seem like they are going to prevail, we can find safety by clinging to the commandments of our loving God.

Because God will always prevail.

So when we cling to God and His wise and all-knowing commandments, we can prevail, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Safety against the waters  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

We often don’t receive a testimony of a principle until AFTER we have lived the principle.

I mean, it makes sense.

But it also is very difficult to do.

To learn a new principle, not understand it, but still live it wholeheartedly.

Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, and God told them to take their firstlings of their flocks and sacrifice them for the Lord.

Keep in mind that they had no prior concept or understanding of animal sacrifices— this was the first time that God had made this commandment.

AND THEY DID IT!

They had no clue what they were doing, or why they were doing it, or if it was really worth all the effort, or if it really had to be the firstling…

And they obeyed. Why?

Well, an angel asks this couple the same thing: “Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord?”

Adam’s response: “I know not, save the Lord commanded me.”

Blind obedience? No. Adam and Eve already knew they could trust the Lord and His promises, so if He commanded something else, their faith that it would be important and worthwhile overtook any blindness they had.

BUT MY FAVORITE PART COMES NEXT.

The angel teaches them the “why”!

They don’t have to stay in this unknowing trust with God; they get to learn the truth.

The angel teaches them why sacrifices are important and what they are symbolic of.

AND THEN

Adam and Eve finally understand, bear their own testimonies of what they’ve learned, AND THEN TEACH THEIR KIDS.

This is just my favorite pattern ever:

Receive a commandment that doesn’t make sense at all.

Obey the commandment because of prior trust in God.

After time has passed, be taught the “why”.

Fully understand and embrace the “why” and form a testimony.

Teach others what you’ve learned.

It takes time. It takes patience. It takes true faith and trust in God that it will be worth it.

It’s tough to sometimes sit in that middle phase for a long time.

But you can find comfort with knowing you are in the company of our first mother and father who also admitted, “I know not [why], save the Lord commanded me.” Moses 5:6

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I don’t know why first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

My sisters and I all got brand new kites, and we spent the day flying them on the always-windy beaches in Northern California.

My dad would run and throw the kite up, and if it caught the wind correctly, I would have to dig my feet into the sand in order to hold the kite.

It always amazed me how tight I had to hold on to my handle.

As I would turn the handle and give the kite more string, the kite would fly higher and higher, until the string stopped.

And, as a kid, I would look up and think, “Man, this string is just holding the kite back from flying even higher.”

It seemed like that string was restrictive.

The kite could fly so much higher without me.

And so, one time, I let go.

The kite turned every possible way before nose-diving into the sand far down the beach.

It turns out, the string that I thought was so restrictive was actually the only thing helping the kite reach its highest point.

This is what the commandments look like to many people, right?

People are shocked when they find out we give 10% of our income as tithes. That we abstain from alcohol. That we don’t do playdates on Sundays.

What foolish ways to bind ourselves down! Just like a silly, restrictive kite string!

And yet, I have found that while these “restrictions” look like they would hold us back, they create the perfect amount of tension to let us reach our highest potential.

In D&C 95:11, the Lord promises the saints who didn’t think they could build a temple: “If you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it.”

The commandments were going to give them power.

And the commandments continue to create power in our lives.

So to me, this “restrictive” religion is actually creating the greatest freedom I can imagine!

And I’m grateful for the tension on the string, even if others view it as holding myself back.

Because I know that without it, my “freedom” wouldn’t help me get to become the person I know I can be.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The kite analogy and power first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.