Do we see the commandments as grievous and an irritant?
“When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” – President Ezra Taft Benson
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” (1 John 5:3)
Or are they our quest and our desire?
I think this is a HUGE step in our spiritual maturity.
For me, my spiritual maturity has followed my physical maturity.
As a teenager, I remember seeing the commandments as lists of things that I can’t do and things that I should do.
I can’t see that movie. I have to go to church. I should be reading my scriptures. I shouldn’t listen to that music. I should be nice to everyone.
For me, I feel that each commandment has taken its own journey.
Watching bad movies slowly moved from being something I shouldn’t do to something that I have no desire to have in my life because I don’t want certain images or words in my mind. It’s literally not even a temptation for me anymore.
It ceased to be grievous and an irritant and began to be something I naturally and willingly do.
But there are other commandments where I still know I need to build my spiritual maturity.
I should reach out naturally and willingly to the people around me. And sometimes I do! I feel pure love and concern and reach out and serve!
But other times, I turn into a spiritual teenager and revert back to doing things because I should.
What a great concept that John asks us to reflect on!
Which commandments are grievous to you right now?
How can we build that spiritual maturity and learn to love and seek after these commandments?
As with many things, I think the answer is Jesus Christ. And I think John would agree with me in these chapters.
When we turn to our Savior more and more often, we gain His love for the people around us and we lose the desire to be “of the world”.
The Savior is our answer to building that spiritual maturity.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
