Now, after you come back from Disneyland…

I think it is a fascinating question to ponder.

I’ve heard many people say something along the lines of:

“Having lots of money just makes you more of who you already were.”

Basically, if you are barely scraping by financially right now, but you still pay your tithing and help a neighbor out when they need a meal…

Then you would likely be a wealthy person who still pays their tithing and can help people in need in much more dramatic ways.

But if you are living comfortably right now, but stingy with giving away any money…

Then it’s likely that you would find reasons to be stingy with your money when you had a lot more of it, too.

The Lord says:

“Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls . . . Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite.” (D&C 56:16-17)

So, if both the rich and the poor receive warnings from the Lord here, what can we do to make sure we are doing as we should?

Rich AND poor people can be prideful with hardened hearts.

Rich AND poor people can be humble with broken hearts.

It doesn’t really matter what our bank account looks like if our hearts are pure, broken, and humbled before the Lord.

We might not be able to control how much money we have, but we can always control the state of our heart.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Rich and poor hearts first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve been there. ⁣

It’s rough. ⁣

But I’ve also come to believe that the trials we experience become our own specific superpowers to help us look out for those going through similar struggles. ⁣

They are little lessons for us. ⁣

You wished someone would have showed up on your doorstep with a treat and a hug? ⁣

Then we can be that person to someone else. ⁣

You wish your ministering sister would have at least checked in on you from time to time?⁣

Then we can check in on her often. ⁣

Life is so unbelievably unfair and difficult. ⁣

We can think about that all the time and wallow in self-pity for all the help we didn’t receive. ⁣

Or we can use that as fuel to become “that person” for someone else. ⁣

As the Saints in New York were asked to start making the journey to Ohio, they were advised by the Lord to especially look out for the poor and the needy. ⁣

This trip was going to take a lot of money and sacrifice, and the Lord didn’t want any of His children left behind due to financial hardship. ⁣

And so His counsel?⁣

“Let every man esteem his brother as himself”. (D&C 38:24)⁣

If YOU needed a place for your family to stay after selling your farm and before leaving for Ohio, what kind of help would you want?⁣

Then BE that kind of help for someone else. ⁣

Life is hard enough without spending time and energy on thinking about how unfair we have it. How forgotten we feel. How rough our hand of cards is. ⁣

And so I’d rather treat others the way that I wish that I had been treated. ⁣

To allow my trial to be my specific training for how to serve those around me even better. ⁣

We can be the change that we wish to see.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I’ve been forgotten  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Now, after coming back from Disneyland I think it actually is a really interesting question to ponder.

I’ve heard many people say something along the lines of:

“Having lots of money just makes you more of who you already are.”

And I think I agree with this.

If you are just barely scraping by financially right now, but you still pay your tithing and help a neighbor out when they need a meal, then you would likely be a wealthy person who still pays their tithing and is able to help out people in much more dramatic ways.

And if you are living well right now, but stingy with giving away any money, then it’s probably likely that you would find reasons to be stingy with your money when you had a lot of it, too.

The Lord says something along the same lines in D&C 56:16-17:

“Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls….

“Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite”.

So, if both the rich and the poor are getting warnings from the Lord here, what can we do to make sure we are doing as we should?

The Lord answers that in verse 18:

The “pure in heart, whose hearts are broken, and whose spirits are contrite”.

In other words, we need to have a soft heart!

If our hearts are broken and humbled before the Lord, then it doesn’t matter what our bank account looks like.

Rich and poor people can be prideful with hardened hearts.

And rich and poor people can be humbled, with soft hearts.

The status of our bank account doesn’t matter nearly as much as the status of our heart.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Rich and poor, pure in heart first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.