I recently was part of a conversation with a bunch of moms. ⁣

One mom told a story about how frustrating it was that so many people wanted to come see her baby right after she gave birth.

She said the visitors brought sicknesses, drained her energy, and didn’t respect her need to heal. ⁣

And then later in the conversation, a different mom talked about how she actually LOVED having visitors right after having babies.

The visitors lifted her spirits, gave her a break from holding her baby, and made her feel less lonely.

Differences of opinion are normal, right?

But I thought this was actually a beautiful example of how we impose our own intentions and meaning on others!

When someone comes to visit the first mom after giving birth, she’s thinking:

“Oh they aren’t very considerate. Do they realize how many sicknesses they are carrying?!”⁣

And when someone DOESN’T visit the second mom after giving birth, she’s thinking:

“No one cares about me. No one is thinking about me or how I’m doing right now.”⁣

This is clearly a low-stakes example, but don’t we do this all the time?!?⁣

Someone does something and we have negative thoughts because we assume their intentions. ⁣

Someone DOESN’T do something and others have negative thoughts because they assume their intentions. ⁣

The men who crucified the Savior did a TERRIBLE thing—

BUT they didn’t necessarily realize they were actually crucifying the Savior of the world.

They thought they were neutralizing a blasphemous threat. ⁣

Once again, we have a perfect example from our Savior of how to forgive others. ⁣

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Pres Eyring said, “We do not know the hearts of those who offend us”. ⁣

And yet, in our fallen state, we think we know everyone’s intentions.

We think we know that they should know better.

We think everyone has had our exact experiences and education.

We think we know that they are wrong and we are right. ⁣

But from my experience, I’ve noticed that most people don’t realize they are offending someone else.

When we practice stepping back and assuming that everyone around us actually has the best intentions and mortal weaknesses, inner peace becomes available.

Jesus forgave the people ending His mortal life while hanging on the cross, and we can do better at forgiving others, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Visiting new moms  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Recently, I’ve been praying for better opportunities to serve other people.

And I got a super clear impression of what to do.

But things kept coming up and getting in the way.

And then I got sick and needed to stay away from other people.

And it just kept snowballing into roadblock after roadblock!

Finally I thought to myself: Am I really being delayed, or am I just using this as an excuse not to follow my prompting?

Pretty clearly, I felt the Spirit’s warmth.

“I know your intentions. You want to serve. Life is just messy right now.”

I felt this peace that God knew completely that my heart was in the right place, and He also knew all the honest obstacles I kept facing.

The people around at Noah’s time were not good.

And it wasn’t just because of their actions.

We learn that “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

So they did bad things, but they also had evil intentions!

And God knew what the thoughts of their heart were.

Now sometimes, this is so comforting, like my current debacle with trying to fulfill a social service-related prompting that keeps hitting roadblocks.

I get credit for having good intentions!

But on the opposite end, God also knows when I do things with bad intentions.

He knows if that rude comment was said ignorantly or purposefully.

He knows if I decided to skip something important because it was too much for me mentally, or if I just wanted to get out of it.

Of course, our actions matter!

But only God knows the intentions behind our actions.

For better, and for worse.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The thoughts of my heart  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.