My sister was playing with a toy that I wanted, and I took it out of her hands. ⁣

Immediately, I knew I had done something wrong, and I felt so badly! ⁣

I had already messed up.

I had made a promise at baptism to always remember Jesus, and now I had forgotten. ⁣

Aaaaand I’m pretty sure this was the evening after I got baptized, so I hadn’t lasted very long at all. ⁣

The Israelites made such an eager promise when Moses read what the Lord had taught him: ⁣

“All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” (Exodus 24:7) ⁣

Spoiler alert: the Israelites did NOT keep this promise. ⁣

They broke it many times, just as each of us break the promises and covenants that we have made. ⁣

But the good news? ⁣

Repentance and the sacrament make it possible to re-commit to those promises.

So have you re-committed recently? ⁣

Have you thought about what covenants you’ve made, and decided to keep them again?⁣

Do you trust in the Savior’s ability to really cleanse?⁣

And can you draw on the Savior’s strength to re-commit over and over?⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My sin after baptism  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

There was no way what my HR director was telling me was true. ⁣⁣

“But I’ve signed up for short-term disability for the past three years!”

“Oh,” the HR director said. “But did you also fill out the physical application for it each year, too?”⁣⁣

I had no clue about a physical application. ⁣⁣

I’m a fairly competent, intelligent person who had attended the employee benefits meeting every year. ⁣⁣

And I truly, honestly did not remember hearing about this extra step. ⁣⁣

I was frustrated, devastated, concerned for our financial situation…⁣⁣

But nothing could change that. I hadn’t paid into the insurance, and so I didn’t get it. ⁣⁣

It was one of the worst feelings in the world:

The feeling of being punished for something that you truly had no clue you were doing wrong. ⁣⁣

Real life is rough like this sometimes. ⁣⁣

Honest mistakes and innocent oversights can have devastating impacts. ⁣⁣

I can hardly even imagine a loving Heavenly Father who would hold something over my head that I did not knowingly do. ⁣⁣

Instead, “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.” (Article of Faith 2) 

I think of silly times, like when I thoroughly enjoyed a cake at a neighborhood party, just for my mom to realize it was filled with coffee afterwards, and I felt so guilty. ⁣⁣

Or more somber times when I believed I was helping someone out, only to discover that I had unknowingly harmed their spiritual progress. ⁣⁣

I am grateful that I will be punished— or held accountable— for my own sins.

In order to sin, I have to have a knowledge of the principle against which I am sinning.

This seems totally fair to me.

I won’t be held accountable for anyone else’s transgressions, whether it’s Adam’s, Eve’s, a leader’s, or a friend’s mistake.

God will only hold me accountable for the sins I choose. 

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My honest mistake  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“We all sin.”⁣

All of us. ⁣

Me. You. The last person you spoke to. The person you think that has a perfect life. Your loved one. Your church leader. The prophet. ⁣

Save our Savior, every single person on the earth has sinned and commits sins. ⁣

So… what sets righteous people apart?⁣

There’s a giant spectrum of righteousness, so how do we move closer and closer to our Elder Brother’s example, if we are all sinning anyway?⁣

Saints are sinners who repent. ⁣

People who feel remorse from a sin and then have a desire to never do that again.

And their desire is so strong… that they change their nature. They refine that rough edge just a little bit more. ⁣

As Joseph was returning from his mission to Missouri, there was drama and contention between some of the men. ⁣

And, in a surprisingly transparent moment, the Lord told the men about Joseph:⁣

“He has sinned.” D&C 64:7⁣

It interesting to see that written out about the prophet of the Lord, huh?⁣

Joseph sinned. ⁣

But what allowed Joseph to still hold the keys of the kingdom and not be removed?⁣

“Nevertheless, he has sinned; BUT verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, forgive sins unto those who confess their sins before me and ask forgiveness”. (D&C 64:7⁣)

So what made Joseph unique?⁣

He would sin. And then he would bring that sin to the Lord through confession. And then he would ask for forgiveness. ⁣

The Lord wants to help us to change, so this sounds like the ideal situation. ⁣

He asks us to talk about sin with Him in our prayers. ⁣

And then He asks us to leave that sin behind as we ask for forgiveness in return. ⁣

Everyone sins. ⁣

So do we let the sin fester? ⁣Do we enjoy and indulge?

Or do we immediately confess and ask for forgiveness?⁣

Because, I think that that decision makes all the difference.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post We all sin!  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

That fridge you keep saying you’ll clean out?⁣

That person you keep meaning to text?⁣

I do. ⁣

It’s like there’s this unpleasant list of all the things I don’t really want to do, that I need to do…⁣

And it just weighs me down!⁣

When I finally call and schedule that appointment, I always always always think:

“Man, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and I feel a million times better now.”⁣

And that’s basically what the Lord is telling us all the time. ⁣

“Release yourself from bondage.” (D&C 19:35⁣)

In this case, it was the Lord telling Martin Harris to just pay off the debts to publish the Book of Mormon, and move on. ⁣

In other words, release yourself from the mental “unknown” and anguish, and just get it done. ⁣

And in the kindest way possible, that’s what He’s inviting us to do all the time. ⁣

Whether it’s a big sin we’ve been carrying around on our backs, or a minor little task that we just can’t seem to do, He has lovingly already done His part. ⁣

And He’s ready for each of us to decide to release ourselves from the bondage. ⁣

The bondage of sin, yes, but I think that also includes the bondage of heavy mental loads, too many commitments, or a long to-do list. ⁣

As soon as we start to make the first move, to pick up that phone, to decide that today is the day, He is right by our side doing more than His fair share of the heavy lifting. ⁣

But we have to make that decision to release ourselves. ⁣

What will you release yourself of today?

“The fact that we can repent is the good news of the gospel! ….We can be freed from feelings of despair and the bondage of sin.” – Elder Renlund

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

“For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.” (D&C 1:31⁣)

Of course not. ⁣

Because immediately after telling us this in verse 31, the Lord gives us the most tender, personal, and hopeful principle in verse 32:⁣

“Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven;”⁣

Sometimes I wonder, “How am I ever going to be good enough?”⁣

I’m repenting of the same things over and over. ⁣

I’m trying to figure out a life filled with messy relationships in the most Christlike way that I can. ⁣

I’m trying to do what’s right, and I keep falling short. ⁣

But when I’m in the scriptures, I feel these tender little reminders often:⁣

“You are good enough.”⁣

“You are trying.”⁣

“You are keeping the commandments the best you can.”⁣

“You are trying to change every day.”⁣

I write these statements in the margins of my scriptures pretty often, because I think the Spirit needs me to remember these often. ⁣

I will make mistakes. I will fall short. ⁣

But all that I need to do in order to enter the presence of the Lord…⁣

All that I need to do in order to be in the presence of my God and Savior…⁣

Is to just try. ⁣

To keep the commandments. ⁣

And when I fall short – I just have to want to sincerely change. ⁣

And that’s it. ⁣

It’s difficult. And it’s a lifelong process – no matter how long we’ve got here on earth. ⁣

But to be able to dwell in the presence of my God?⁣

I’ll keep going.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post No sign of sin anywhere! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I wanted to improve my interactions with my family members and be more present.

And I felt like my phone was holding me back a bit from that. ⁣

So I decided to do better. ⁣

Notifications would pop up and I would ignore them. I let emails go unread. I stopped scrolling just because I had “down time”.⁣

I was doing it! I was resisting the temptation to waste my time on things that don’t matter.

But then…

I got a notification that looked really important. ⁣

And then I got an email that was super interesting and I just had to open it. ⁣

And then my phone was once again in my hand more often than it should be. ⁣

I wasn’t doing so well with my goal.

Finally, I decided I needed to tether it to a charger across the room with the sound on only for texts or phone calls – the actually important alerts. ⁣

And it worked. ⁣

I forgot about all of the missing notifications, and I was in the moment. ⁣

And when I intentionally picked up my phone later, all my notifications were still there for me to peruse on a timeframe that worked for me.

Resisting my go-to sin started out strong, but I kept finding “reasonable” excuses until I was back to where I was before. ⁣

Resisting my sin was really easy when I removed the temptation.

In fact, I didn’t really have anything to “resist”. ⁣

So yes, I am comparing my cell phone to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies’ swords. (Pretty similar, right?!)

“…we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth…” (Alma 24:16)

But you can fill in the blank with whatever your go-to sin is right now: anger, inappropriate media, word of wisdom issues, self-deprecation, pride…

What makes you want to indulge in your sin?⁣

A notification? A group of friends? A certain habit or routine? A social media account?⁣

Try removing it. ⁣

Or at least try changing it as much as you have the ability to change it.

“It is easier to avoid temptation than it is to resist temptation.” – Lynn G. Robbins

Although we can ask for the strength to resist our favorite sins, often Heavenly Father asks that we take the initiative and remove the temptation altogether (or as much as possible). ⁣

And if we have great faith, we can bury that temptation deep in the earth, never to dig it up again.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My distracting phone first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I loved it so much.

As the fast and athletic forwards were trying to score goals…

My attention was always on the other team and how they could try to steal the ball away. ⁣

I was constantly watching the ball and playing a game of “what if…” the entire time.

Even when it seemed like our team was rocking it, I was noticing where all the players on the other team were, ready to defend.

It takes a lot of work to intentionally defend.

“Constant vigilance is required to counteract complacency and casualness.” – David A. Bednar

I think sometimes we fall into the trap that if we talk about the temptations or sin in our lives, that it might invite more sin in. ⁣

Wouldn’t it just be easier to pretend like everything is fine all the time?⁣

But virtually every knowledge source, from child development experts to the scriptures, remind us that we HAVE to be up front and intentional about driving out bad habits and sins in our lives. ⁣

“For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock? And behold, if a wolf enter his flock doth he not drive him out? Yea, and at the last, if he can, he will destroy him.” (Alma 5:59)

When we see the wolf, drive it out!⁣

When we feel temptation to search for bad things on the internet, we talk about our struggles and set up safeguards. ⁣

When we see that poor communication is happening with our spouse, we call it out for what it is and try to improve together. ⁣

When we see that our self esteem is taking a hit and we start wallowing in our pride of being worse off than everyone else, we start unfollowing accounts that make us feel less-than, and we surround ourselves with things that remind us of our worth. ⁣

When we see the wolf, we have to call it a wolf. We can’t ignore it. ⁣

And then, with the Savior’s help, we can drive it out.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

How does this emotion play a role in your life? ⁣

Elder Uchtdorf taught: ⁣

“When someone opposes or disagrees with us, it’s tempting to assume that there must be something wrong with them. And from there it’s a small step to attach the worst of motives to their words and actions…⁣

“When we do so with anger or hate in our hearts—when we lash out at others to hurt, shame, or silence them —chances are we are not doing so in righteousness.”⁣

In Nephi’s record, he refers to ANGER quite often. ⁣

Usually, his brothers are angry at Nephi for their circumstances. ⁣

Other times, his brothers are angry because they have been rebuked. ⁣

And yet, even when Nephi was tied up and in dire situations, he never felt anger toward his brothers. ⁣

Do we attach “good intentions” to our actions while automatically assuming everyone else who disagrees with us is motivated by hate or selfishness?⁣

That’s what brews anger. ⁣

Or do we recognize that our own discipleship has pretty much nothing to do with the actions of people around us – that we have been commanded to love our enemies?⁣

In Nephi’s tender lamentation, he mourns that he feels anger because of Satan’s hold in his life. ⁣

“And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?” (2 Nephi 4:27)

Anger at ourselves for our sins is a fruitless endeavor, too. ⁣

We can’t hate ourselves into righteousness, and Nephi recognized his own tendencies to feel anger because of his sins and temptations. ⁣

Nephi knew that eliminating anger in his life meant always showing love to his brothers, but also finding peace within his own mind. ⁣

Love for our enemies, and love for ourselves.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

“I really don’t want to go to church today.”⁣

“I should be kinder to my family members. I need to get my temper under control so there can be more peace at home.”⁣

All of these are little temptations we face each day. ⁣

And guess who faces temptation?⁣

ALL OF US. ⁣

I’ve noticed a pattern in other people that I also totally fall into:

We are pretty comfortable admitting mistakes we’ve already made.

Temptations we’ve faced in the past and how we’ve overcome.

But we have a hard time talking about our current temptations!

Our actual desires to do things wrong. ⁣

But we all are tempted.

In fact, often our “mistakes” or “weaknesses” come as a result of temptations we face.

Totally normal.

Satan doesn’t just stop tempting us because we’ve gotten “good enough”.

He’ll always put things in our path to try to make us lose focus, and sometimes, they work very well. ⁣

And I LOVE that Paul reminds us that we don’t have to defeat these temptations on our own. ⁣

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

We don’t have to get the desire to read scriptures back BEFORE we call on Christ to get blessings. ⁣

Christ was tempted, too!⁣

He knows EXACTLY how it feels to have such strong desires to do things contrary to what we may know better. ⁣

And He can help us in those moments of temptation. ⁣

“Help! I’ve stopped even wanting to read my scriptures! Can you help me get that desire back?”⁣

That can be a little scary to admit sometimes.

Don’t we feel like we want to hide any unrighteous desires from God?⁣

But He knows them all.

He wants to help us. ⁣

And our Savior can do EXACTLY that.

He can help us in the moments that our desires are not what they should be.

He can help succor us in our temptations, if we let him and humble ourselves to ask for that help.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Tempted like Jesus first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

What it is, and why it’s so detrimental.

Shame = you are bad because you did something wrong. ⁣

It’s not super helpful to feel SHAME.

And we really should aim to never be the cause of anyone else feeling shame.

“I am a bad person because I did something wrong.”

“Only bad people do things like that.”⁣

Do we feel SHAME when we make poor decisions or don’t do good things?

Do we automatically go to: “I am bad”?⁣

Do we knowingly or unknowingly SHAME those around us when we see them making poor decisions?

Calling a child “bad”, telling a teenager they are ruined because of a poor choice, telling a young woman she is bad for wearing certain clothing, showing less love to others when they make certain decisions. ⁣

Well that’s exactly what Paul said he was NOT doing!

He was trying to correct some pretty serious sins that these Corinthians were committing.

But he makes it clear that he is NOT shaming them. ⁣

“I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.” (1 Corinthians 4:14)

He is WARNING them.

Teaching them. Rebuking them. ⁣

What’s the difference?⁣

Love. Forgiveness. Direction on how to correct. More love. Pointing to the Savior. Building up true worth. ⁣

We do believe that there are “rights” and “wrongs”.

Which means, there are “wrongs” that we need to correct in our own actions, and in the actions of those we have stewardship over. ⁣

But warnings to others and commitments to do better ourselves should always be framed with our Savior in mind. ⁣

We are not bad people.

We are loved beyond belief. We have infinite worth. We are spiritual sons and daughters of God the Father. ⁣

We make bad decisions. But we can correct ourselves and repent. And we will make bad decisions again. And we can correct ourselves and repent again. ⁣

That’s the whole purpose of this gospel! ⁣

Continuous change. ⁣

Not through shaming ourselves or others.

But through kind and loving warnings and corrections.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Shame or warning? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.