In Senior Primary today, I felt prompted to share something that I found online recently. It was a chart taken from the 1978 Ensign.
I started out by telling the children about Sister Beck saying that learning to recognize the promptings of the Spirit and act on them is the most important and valuable skill you can acquire in this life. I firmly believe that if our children can learn this skill, they will be okay, no matter what situation they find themselves in. More than okay, in fact - happy and successful.
When you have the Spirit:
You feel happy, calm, and clear-minded.
You feel generous.
Nobody can offend you.
You wouldn't mind everyone seeing what you're doing.
You feel like praying.
You feel in control - you don't overeat or sleep too much; you don't feel uncontrollably drawn to sensational entertainment, lose your temper, or feel uncontrollable passions or desires.
You are glad when others succeed.
You feel confident and are glad to be alive.
You wish you could keep all the Lord's commandments.
You think about the Savior often and lovingly; you want to know him better.
When you don't have the Spirit:
You feel unhappy, depressed, confused, and frustrated.
You become secretive and evasive.
You don't want to pray.
You avoid people, especially members of your family; you are critical of family members and Church authorities.
You get discouraged easily and wonder if life is really worth it.
You find the commandments bothersome, restricting, or senseless.
You don't want to go to church, or take the sacrament. You wish you had another church job or no job at all.
You hardly ever think of the Savior; he seems irrelevant to your life, or worse, part of a confusing system that seems to work against you.
I really hope that our discussion helps them to recognize when they have the Spirit and when they don't, and it is a great refresher for me as well.
4 comments:
They are so lucky to be learning this while they're young! I don't remember learning this until just these last few years! It alarms me to think how different some of my choices could have been if I had been seeking the guidance of the Spirit regularly!
I love it when things are put in lists. It makes the contrasts so much easier to see. Thank you.
Hi Michelle, its been a long road for me to find the spirit within but now that I have, my life is so much better than I ever thought it would be.
Thank you for taking the time to share this on your blog! I think it's wonderful. I'm glad I found it so that I can use this to share with my family.
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