That stoplight had a sign that said “no right turn on red”. ⁣

I despised that sign so much, because I couldn’t see any purpose for it. ⁣

Plus, the light took what seemed like forever to change every time I went to turn right. ⁣

I noticed something interesting about myself, though. ⁣

Whenever I got to the light and there was another car behind me, I would patiently wait until the light turned green. ⁣

But if I got to the light, and there wasn’t a car in sight, I would make the right turn whenever I wanted. ⁣

I thought about this pattern one time, and I realized that I only cared about following that traffic rule when someone was watching me that would judge me. ⁣

But when I was on my own, I did whatever I wanted! ⁣

I had no “integrity” when it came to following that traffic rule. ⁣

I only cared about whether or not other people THOUGHT I was following the rules. ⁣

This reminds me of the Israelites.⁣

They sometimes got a little more righteous because a good judge was with them! ⁣

But then… ⁣

“And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers”. (Judges 2:19) ⁣

As soon as the judge was gone, they went back to their wicked ways. ⁣

They KNEW what was right the whole time, but they only turned to the Lord when someone was there with them. ⁣

Do we only do the right thing when others are watching? ⁣

Do we only say our prayers if our spouse will see?⁣

Watch media that won’t drive out the Spirit if someone is in the room? ⁣

Or do we have integrity to keep the same standards, no matter who is there?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Red light integrity first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And like honestly, I was a pretty good kid.

But I also realize that maybe I shouldn’t have participated in that prank, or I wonder why I felt I was justified in being rude to someone. ⁣

I can just totally see now that there was a disconnect in my integrity—⁣

My actions did not always line up with my beliefs. ⁣

And I didn’t even always realize it in the moment

When I read about Noah, he is spoken of so highly in the scriptures: ⁣

“Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations”. (Genesis 6:9)⁣

Perfect?! ⁣

Well, I’m a big fan of footnotes, and when I looked at the footnote attached to “perfect”, I noticed something:⁣

The Hebrew meaning could also translate to, “complete, whole, having integrity”. ⁣

Now THAT makes sense to me. ⁣

Noah must have been a man of great integrity. ⁣

When he said that he loved God, his actions aligned with making God a priority in his life. ⁣

When he said he would be obedient, he didn’t purposefully cut any corners. ⁣

When he said he would love and care for those around him, he didn’t make exceptions for anyone. ⁣

He was consistent in each area of his life to the best of his abilities.

This is what makes Noah such a great example and disciple of God.⁣

And it makes me want to consider:

How does my integrity measure up? ⁣

Not my perfection, but my degree of integrity?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Noah’s integrity  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“Blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord.” (D&C 124:15⁣)

This verse is just so tender and personal. ⁣

God really knows our heart. ⁣

Like, He REALLY knows. ⁣

Deep down, He knows what we love most and what we want. ⁣

He knows the good intentions and the selfish intentions. ⁣

He knows the true weaknesses, and He knows the continued excuses. ⁣

He sees us as we really are. ⁣

That is… a vulnerable realization, right?⁣

Like, there isn’t hiding a thing from Him. ⁣

(Just a reminder that He sees all this and still loves you completely and isn’t expecting a perfect heart right now.)⁣

But I think that’s what makes the Lord’s comment about Hyrum Smith so beautiful. ⁣

He could see that Hyrum wanted to do what was right. ⁣

He had good intentions, he had integrity. ⁣

And he loved, truly truly loved, righteous things. ⁣

Yet, I haven’t heard any reports that Hyrum was a perfect man. ⁣

The Lord isn’t saying that everything that Hyrum DID was good. Or that everything he SAID was good. ⁣

His intentions and his heart were always good. ⁣

(Good and perfect are very different.)

So how can I become focused on turning my heart to be a little more righteous today? ⁣

How can I get rid of the things in my heart that I know aren’t the best for me? ⁣

What do I truly love?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

The 2,000 young men that Helaman called his sons were described as:⁣

“true at all times in whatsoever things they were entrusted.” (Alma 53:20)⁣

“firm and undaunted” (Alma 57:20)⁣

And they did “obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness.” (Alma 57:21)⁣

They weren’t looking at their neighbor, waiting to see if he would do what was right. ⁣

They each had that conviction of integrity. ⁣

Which is interesting for me to reflect on. ⁣

Do I sometimes only do things because I know other people are watching?

Or because they would notice if I didn’t? ⁣

Ugh. Unfortunately, sometimes, yes. ⁣

But, more often, I think I’m building up my integrity. ⁣

I’m not looking to cut spiritual corners. ⁣

I’m not looking for praise. ⁣

I’m just fulfilling my covenants with the best integrity that I can. ⁣

When no one’s paying attention to me, I still watch the same shows and listen to the same music.

I still read my scriptures and pray. ⁣

My standards don’t change based on who I am with. ⁣

And I feel like I am in the great company of the sons of the Ammonites when I make these commitments. ⁣

I’m not sure what the Ammonite daughters were doing, but I imagine they were using their strong integrity to serve and support their brothers, to take on the jobs their brothers would have been doing at home while they were out fighting. ⁣

I am always drawn to people with integrity.

To the people who do what they say they will do, and who will do it in an honest way, or communicate if they can’t get something done. ⁣

Whenever I want to make grand statements about, “The world needs more people with integrity”…⁣

… I stop and bring it back to myself. ⁣

Where can I be filled with integrity even more? ⁣

How can I make sure my beliefs and my actions align at all times?⁣

How can I be just as proud of what I do when no one is watching, as I am when everyone is watching?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

That stoplight had a sign that said “no right turn on red”.

I despised that sign so much, because I couldn’t see any purpose for it.

Plus, the light took what seemed like forever to change every time I went to turn right.

I noticed something interesting about myself, though.

Whenever I got to the light and there was another car behind me, I would patiently wait until the light turned green.

But if I got to the light, and there wasn’t a car in sight, I would make the right turn whenever I wanted.

I thought about this pattern one time, and I realized that I only cared about following that traffic rule when someone was watching me that would judge me.

But when I was on my own, I did whatever I wanted!

I had no “integrity” when it came to following that traffic rule.

I only cared about whether or not other people thought I was following the rules.

This reminds me of the Israelites.

They sometimes got a little more righteous because a good judge was with them!

But then…

“And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers”. (Judges 2:19)

As soon as the judge was gone, they went back to their wicked ways.

They KNEW what was right the whole time, but they only turned to the Lord when someone was there with them.

Do we only do the right thing when others are watching?

Do we only say our prayers if our spouse will see?

Watch appropriate media if someone is in the room?

Or do we have integrity to keep the same standards, no matter who is there?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Integrity with the Israelites first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And let me preface this by saying I was a good kid!

I had a super strong testimony and was active in church.

But I also realize that maybe I shouldn’t have participated in that prank, or I wonder why I felt I was justified in being rude to someone.

I’m not saying I was a bad kid, but I can totally see now that there was a disconnect in my integrity—

My actions did not always line up with my beliefs.

When I read about Noah, he is spoken of so highly in the scriptures:

“Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations”. (Genesis 6:9)

Perfect?!

Well, I’m a big fan of footnotes, and when I looked at the footnote attached to “perfect”, I noticed something:

The Hebrew meaning could also translate to, “complete, whole, having integrity”.

Now THAT makes sense to me.

Noah must have been a man of great integrity.

When he said that he loved God, his actions aligned with making God a priority in his life.

When he said he would be obedient, he didn’t purposefully cut any corners.

When he said he would love and care for those around him, he didn’t make exceptions for anyone.

He was consistent in every area of his life.

This is what makes Noah such a great example and disciple of God.

And it makes me want to consider: How does my integrity measure up?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Noah’s perfection and integrity  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“Blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord.” D&C 124:15

(Besides pregnancy hormones, I’m crying at everything right now to be honest.)

It is just so tender and personal.

God really knows our heart.

Like, He REALLY knows.

Deep down, He knows what we love most and what we want.

He knows the good intentions and the selfish intentions.

He knows the true weaknesses, and He knows the continued excuses.

He sees us as we really are.

That is… a vulnerable realization, right?

Like, there isn’t hiding a thing from Him.

(Just a reminder that He sees all this and still loves you completely and isn’t expecting a perfect heart right now.)

But I think that’s what makes the Lord’s comment about Hyrum Smith so beautiful.

He could see that Hyrum wanted to do what was right.

He had good intentions, he had integrity.

And he loved, truly truly loved, righteous things.

Yet, I haven’t heard any reports that Hyrum was a perfect man.

The Lord isn’t saying that everything that Hyrum DID is good. Or that everything he SAID is good.

His intentions and his heart were always good.

Good and perfect are very different.

So how can I become focused on turning my heart to be a little more righteous today?

How can I get rid of the things in my heart that I know aren’t the best for me?

What do I truly love?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Integrity and love first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

They had integrity.

My favorite definition of integrity is “doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”

The 2,000 young men that Helaman called his sons were described as:

“true at all times in whatsoever things they were entrusted.” (Alma 53:20)

“firm and undaunted” (Alma 57:20)

And they did “obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness.” (Alma 57:21)

They weren’t looking at their neighbor, waiting to see if he would do what was right.

They each had that conviction of integrity.

Which is interesting for me to reflect on.

Do I sometimes only do things because I know other people are watching? Or because they would notice if I didn’t?

Ugh. Unfortunately, sometimes, yes.

But, more often, I think I’m building up my integrity.

I’m not looking to cut spiritual corners.

I’m not looking for praise.

I’m just fulfilling my covenant with the best integrity that I can.

When no one’s paying attention to me, I still watch the same shows and listen to the same music. I still read my scriptures and pray.

My standards don’t change based off of who I am with.

And I feel like I am in the great company of the sons of the Ammonites when I make these commitments.

I’m not sure what the Ammonite daughters were doing, but I imagine they were using their strong integrity to serve and support their brothers, to do the hard labors their brothers would have been doing at home while they were out fighting.

I am always drawn to people with integrity. To the people who do what they say they will do, and who will do it in an honest way, or communicate if they can’t get something done.

Whenever I want to make grand statements about, “The world needs more people with integrity”…

… I stop and bring it back to myself.

Where can I be filled with integrity even more?

How can I make sure my beliefs and my actions align at all times?

How can I be just as proud of what I do when no one is watching, as I am when everyone is watching?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Filled with integrity first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.