I have written to
you previously about something very dear to my heart– the art of rebuilding.
Here’s the [link] to my old article about it. Today, I’d like to go a little
further into the same topic.
I was reading in
Preach my Gospel today (which I have affectionately nicknamed “PMG”) when I
came across this on page 92 under “The Power of the Spirit in Conversion”:
“Be edified and have your mind enlightened
as you search the scriptures and teach the doctrine.”
Edified. I like
that word. The English thesaurus says that edified means “enlightened,
informed, educated, etc.” However, my mind works like a Hispanic and in Spanish
“edificio” means “building”.
Like an edifice in English. Although we could spend many blog posts about what enlightenment
truly is, I’d like to dive into my special definition of edification – to be
built.
So, let’s insert
that little definition in along with our own names… “Julie/Your name will be BUILT and have her mind enlightened as Julie/your name searches the scriptures
and teaches the doctrine”.
So what does it
mean to be built? Does it mean we’re going to get super big abs or add on a
second wing? No. To be built can mean to be developed, encouraged, joined,
erected, or constructed.
In my previous
post, I mentioned how sometimes we fall apart. Our cities crumble to the
ground. Perhaps it is though guilt, pain, depression, illness, or sin. But
chances are most of us will someday look at our lives and see a pile of broken
dreams and shattered hopes. We will all someday kneel weeping at the feet of
our broken city and cry out, “God, why did you let it crumble? I had it all
down!! I had it all nailed down! Why couldn’t you just let me enjoy it?!”
Well, we discussed
why earlier in my other post. Each time we are torn down, we have a choice to
make: we can either sit there and mourn for the rest of our lives, or we can
rebuild and rebuild stronger.
One way to
rebuild, as mentioned in the PMG quote above is to be edified through the scriptures. However, you cannot expect that as
soon as you flip open to 1 Nephi 1 you’ll suddenly have a city of gold before
you. No, it takes time. Bit by bit as you study those precious passages, you’ll
feel yourself being built up. The things that were hard will still be hard, and
the building will still be tedious, but you will feel the hand of God in your
life. You will feel angels lifting those tattered remains and gods helping you
build stronger foundations. Gods, my
friends, gods will be helping you rebuild that shattered life you call yours. And
who can doubt that a life rebuilt by Deity is going to be stronger than one
built by man with his limited perspective.
So read your
scriptures. Study them. Devour them. They are your blue print to a successful
city and joy-filled life. But know that just because you read your scriptures
doesn’t mean storms won’t come. Being rebuilt doesn’t mean that Satan won’t
send storms and that at times your buildings won’t start to crumble. But being
rebuilt means that you know who to turn to. Being rebuilt means that your
foundation is stronger. Eventually, you will find yourself becoming stronger.
It took forty years to build the Salt Lake Utah Temple. It will likely take a
lifetime or more to build a child of God.
Please don’t get
down on yourself for breaking, but don’t deny your abilities either. You are
stronger than you think you are. And sometimes being strong just means having
the strength to cry out, “God, oh, God. Help me. Heal me.” Remember that you
are infinitely more than your limitations. You are infinitely more than your
broken dreams, shattered windows, and scarred past. So just because you have
fallen in the past doesn’t mean you must fall again.
So, STUDY YOUR
SCRIPTURES.
The second part of
the PMG quote is being edified by “teach(ing) the doctrine”.
So share the
gospel. I can guarantee you that there are a lot more demolished buildings out
there than just yours. It may be the boy who sits by you in biology, the young
woman in Mia Maid’s that never talks, or perhaps even your siblings. Regardless
of who they are or what they look like, build them. You are given the tools to
not only rebuild yourself, but to help rebuild others. Although you cannot
apply the Atonement to their wounds or force them to the bishop’s office, you
can help them along the way. Because who is better to understand the broken than
the broken?
Perhaps that is why
Christ was broken. So He could help rebuild the broken.
Share the gospel.
Share the message of healing. Share a smile, share a hug, share what you have.
For while you serve and help rebuild others, at one point you may look back at
your own building and it will also have been worked on. As you build others, you
build yourself.
I love you all. Don’t
forget that God loves broken people. Don’t stop praying. Don’t stop loving. Don’t
stop building. Don’t stop trusting. Please.
In the name of the ultimate builder, our Savior, even Jesus
Christ, Amen.
-Julie
“There’s a crack in
everything. That’s how the light gets in.” -Leonard Cohen
I hope you all are doing well. I don’t know you, but I love you, and not just because you read our cute little blog. ;)
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