But guess what the Lord says?

“Mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts.” (D&C 29:7)

What if the Lord isn’t just mentioning the characteristics that the already “elect” people have?

What if He is telling us what to do to become “elect”?

That means people are “elect” or “chosen” because they CHOOSE to hear the Lord’s voice and not harden their hearts.

How do we choose to hear the Lord’s voice?

To me, this looks like trying to listen to promptings, studying General Conference messages, and spending time in His holy house.

It means I actively seek more opportunities to hear His voice and learn His will.

And the “elect” children of God then choose to hear God’s word with humility!

To me, this looks like asking, “Lord, is it I?” instead of thinking about how other people should change.

It looks like hearing something I’m not doing great at and softening my heart so I can improve instead of just growing bitter.

God pours out extra blessings and gives bounteous service opportunities to those who hear Him with a soft and willing heart.

“It takes conscious and consistent effort to fill our daily lives with His words, His teachings, His truths.” – President Nelson

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Are you elect?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

That’s a difficult phrase for me to believe sometimes.

I’m a fixer. I solve problems. I come up with solutions and implement them. I take charge and plan.

So when I am reminded of my weakness, I like to put a plan into place.

I want to fix it.

And sometimes I do!

For a little bit. And then it comes creeping back in.

Again?!

And then every Sunday, I feel like my sacrament pleading is the same. For the same weakness. For the same help. For the same promises to do better this next week.

It feels like something is wrong.

But… nothing has gone wrong.

I was given the weakness of being a fallen human being on earth.

And that weakness will manifest itself in many different ways, from being lazy to being rude to being judgmental to being selfish…

It’s all part of being a human.

It’s easy to get bogged down by our imperfections.

In fact, prophets throughout time have mourned their own imperfections and weaknesses.

But the point of seeing weakness is to humble ourselves.

Not just humble us to the dirt – but to humbly turn ourselves to the Savior.

Our weakness in the flesh was designed to turn us toward the Savior over and over. To bring us to the sacrament table with broken but determined hearts.

Our Savior wants us to turn to him constantly, and that’s why we are in this fallen and weak state.

Nothing has gone wrong.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Nothing has gone wrong first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

What does “humble” really mean?

Many of us know “humble” and “humility” as the opposite of pride.

So if you think of “pride” as considering yourself better than everyone else, you start to think that “humility” means considering yourself worse than everyone else.

But pride really means seeing all of God’s children at different lengths from God’s love – some being “more worthy” and thus closer, and others being more distant and thus less worthy.

So the opposite of pride is really seeing all of God’s children lined up in an equal line – all equally distant and equally worthy of His love. No matter what we do/say/accomplish/earn.

Isn’t that powerful?!

We are all equal. We all are equally loved by God.

Literally everyone on this earth.

Including the people you don’t like. And the people you admire. And the people who annoy you. And the people who have made choices that have brought them to terrible situations. And the people who are filthy rich and powerful. And the people who are doing amazing, inspiring things with their time.

We are all equally loved.

And we all require God’s strength to do anything.

When we realize this, when we recognize that no one is better than anyone else, and that we all are given our breath from God…

It is transformational.

Alma taught, “He that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed”. (Alma 32:15)

True humility leads us to repentance, because we realize that we can not do anything without Him.

And so we give our hearts and our wills to Him.

We gain humble hearts.

But living in this pride-sick world, this has to be an ongoing process, right?

Rooting out the pride that creeps in, most of the time unintentionally, as jealousy, pity, division, anger, envy, hatred…

And humbling ourselves constantly by turning to God, remembering our utter dependence, and falling back (or stepping up) to our equal place in the realm of His love.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post In humility first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And that we all have access to His love, inspiration, and power.

It’s tough to get to true humility, because we learn that in order to be “successful” in this world, you need education, experience, money, and great possessions.

And if you don’t have those things, you should feel badly about it.

There’s not a single thing wrong with wanting to gain more education and make more money.

But, it doesn’t make you a better person or bring you more of God’s love than someone who doesn’t do that.

And there’s not a single thing wrong with living life the same exact way that you are right now.

But, it doesn’t make you a better person or bring you more of God’s love than someone who wants something different.

Because we already all matter. We all have worth.

It’s the opposite of “pride”, with different playing fields for different achievements.

It’s true humility.

I think of Zoram, someone who had earned the job title of “Chief Captain of the Nephite Army”.

I’m going to assume this guy had wartime and strategy experience, was a great decision-maker, and had a commanding presence.

So when the Lamanites launched a surprise attack in the borders of the land, he and his troops were ready to spring into action to rescue their citizens who had been captured.

And yet, Zoram wanted Alma’s input after seeking guidance from the Lord.
And then Zoram followed the guidance.

He was in charge of the armies. And yet he sought spiritual guidance from the man that he knew had a special gift for communing with God.

Zoram didn’t let his job title keep him from spiritual guidance. He didn’t let his knowledge keep him from spiritual guidance.

I imagine it wasn’t even that big of a deal for him to seek help. There was no fragile ego to maintain. He just knew someone else could guide him, and he went for it.

Because true confidence and power come from true humility.

And today especially, I’m grateful for men and fathers who work every day to demonstrate this Christlike attribute. 

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post True humility first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.