Today, when we had some free time in school I was scrolling through old pictures and screen shots I had on my phone. As I was reading some old texts I saved, one brought me to tears.
This caused me to start thinking about the things people say to me. If someone tells me something important, or it effects me in some way, I'll usually remember it. A lot of the time I can picture where I was when it was said, too. I'm sure I'm not the only person that experiences things like this.
For example....
One of my first Sunday Schools the teacher separated us into groups and we all got assigned different topics to teach the class about. I got prophets. I had no idea what a prophet was, and I had been coming to church for a couple months. So I think everyone assumed Ben had taught me. Nope... I stood up there, alone. Trying to teach the class what a prophet was even though I had no idea what he was, myself. The teacher explained and Savannah said "Well do you know who the prophet is?" and I said no, she told me his name was Thomas S. Monson.
Another time I was at the Book of Mormon read a thon (the first one) and Sister Thunell told me she was impressed with how much I was marking in my Book of Mormon and that she had been watching me.
And how Sister Patterson (Elder Christensen's wonderful mom, who is seriously one of my absolute favorite people) bore her testimony in a letter and explained how if she didn't know this church was true she wouldn't give up her son for 2 years for it.
I've had so many wonderful things told to me. Testimonies, words of encouragement, advice, compliments. But, like many other people, I've had some horrible things said to me.
I've been called many names.
I've also been told that I don't have a testimony in the church, and that my testimony is in Ben/Elder C. I've been accused of this many many times.
People have also gotten to the point that they have told me to kill myself.
I know we all remember things that others have said. And I know that at some point someone has said something that hurt your feelings. Think about how Heavenly Father felt when his little girl/boy was crying because of how someone treated you.
We are accountable for what we say to others around us. Remember, they are His children, too! He cares when they're hurt, too.
So why do we speak in such an awful way to our fellow man?
Here's President Uchtdorf's thoughts on the subject...
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/bullying-stop-it?lang=eng
From now on, I'm going to speak to others as if I was standing before Heavenly Father. I mean, what gives me the right to gossip, make fun of, or hurt another one of His children.
Even better, what if each of us took the time to show Christlike love and compassion towards others? What if we stopped that stranger on the street to tell her how beautiful her hair is? Or thank the janitor that cleans up your school everyday? What if you stopped to tell your parents how much you appreciate them?
How you communicate should reflect who you are as a son or daughter of God. Clean and intelligent language is evidence of a bright and wholesome mind. Good language that uplifts, encourages, and compliments others invites the Spirit to be with you. Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith, hope, and charity. (For the Strength of Youth: Language)
See that? Good language that uplifts, encourages, and compliments others invites the Spirit to be with you. I know that when I think of the language section of the FTSOY I think of "no swearing", "no gossiping", and so on. The bad language. I never really thought about what the good language did.
Like I said, Elder C's little compliment of me being his role model brought me to tears. In a good way, of course. It uplifted me, and encouraged me. The opposite happens when insults and anger are used.
I'm challenging myself to brighten up my language. I know my language isn't bad, but according to the FTSOY it can be so much better!! :) I will sparkle my language up with compliments, testimony that uplifts, and encouraging advice.
I know that if we challenge ourselves to become better each and every day, we will become more like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. What are you doing to better yourself today? :)
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