Deciding to focus on your love for the Savior during the Sabbath day means you will be blessed with a stronger relationship with Jesus.

I love it when blessings look a lot like natural consequences of our choices.

God has set up a beautiful system where some commandments lead to specific blessings.

The very end of section 89 has some of the most beautiful and real blessings I’ve seen in all of the Doctrine and Covenants. ⁣

Read through these four verses and let me know which phrase stands out to you the most:⁣

“And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;⁣

“And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;⁣

“And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.⁣

“And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.” ⁣(D&C 89:18-21⁣)

Aren’t those beautiful blessings and promises?! ⁣

Powerful, specific protections are promised us as we “keep and do these sayings” in section 89. ⁣

One thing I’ve discovered is that when I am choosing foods that are really nourishing for my body, I feel more alert in my mind. ⁣

That wisdom, that knowledge, it comes much more easily. ⁣

I also recognize that following the direction in section 89 doesn’t mean you’ll be immune from health problems your entire life. ⁣

But that doesn’t negate the real, tangible blessings that come from obeying the Word of Wisdom. ⁣

I want to keep the Word of Wisdom even better than I am now. ⁣

Not because I love keeping lots of rules. ⁣

But because I have a testimony that there are promised blessings waiting in store for me when I obey the laws on which those blessings are predicated. ⁣

What blessings have you seen in your life from obeying the counsel found in section 89? What promise stood out to you from reading section 89?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Word of Wisdom first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was talking with a student who had just called a classmate a bad word during work time.

It’s a tough lesson to learn as a 6th grader, and so I launched into my tried and true explanation:

“I’m so sorry that she was being rude to you. I can deal with that separately.

“But at the end of the day, what’s going to serve you best in life is if you can understand that you always are responsible for the choices you make.

“If she had pushed you, and you fell down, you would not get any consequences for falling down because that is a natural reaction that would happen to anyone.

“If she has been rude to you all class, you can’t really control how frustrated you feel. But you could have chosen to come and talk to me, or you could have moved to a new seat, or you could have talked to her in a respectful way.

“You still made this specific decision, and so you’ll need to deal with the consequences for this choice.”

I had given this same talk to countless other middle schoolers whose first reaction to getting caught doing something was to put the blame on someone else.

It’s one of the most powerful life lessons that both Adam and Eve demonstrate beautifully for us.

Eve could have put all the blame on the serpent, and Adam could have put all the blame on Eve.

But they both, after giving explanations for their motivation, took full responsibility for their actions:

“I did eat.” – Adam, Genesis 3:12

“I did eat.” – Eve, Genesis 3:13

When I’m praying, I notice how tempting it can be to put the blame on someone else:

My kids were so crazy that they made me lose my patience and yell today!

And yet it is so much more empowering to realize that I still made the choice:

My kids had a lot of energy today. And I chose to yell when I couldn’t handle my emotions anymore. I feel badly about this, and I want to do better at dealing with all that frustration when it happens.

Personal accountability makes it so much easier to repent, to change, and to improve!

How has personal accountability been a blessing in your life?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Personal accountability with Adam and Eve first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.