Sanctification

Today was my turn to give the presidency lesson in Relief Society. I was really struggling with my topic--should I talk about testimony? Service? Temples? Family? Agency? I finally settled on sanctification--that is, becoming as Christ. Wow, is that a weighty topic! And in only fifteen minutes, no less! (We always leave fifteen minutes for testimonies on Fast Sunday.)

Since my marriage eight years ago, I've spent most of my church service in Young Women and Primary. Only in the last 9 months have I been able to attend adult Sunday School and Relief Society. I adore the Primary, but we don't talk a lot about sanctification. In Primary, the focus is testimony: What is it? How do I receive my own? How do I recognize it? How can I strengthen my testimony? These discussions are perfectly for Primary-aged children.

But there is so much more for us to learn.

Elder Glenn L. Pace wrote a book titled "Spiritual Plateaus." In this book, he discusses the need for a strong testimony, but then continues by stating that having a testimony is only part of the process toward exaltation. Knowing that Jesus Christ completed the atonement for us, that God loves us, that Joseph Smith restored the true gospel to the earth--this is the first step. What we do with our knowledge is the true measure of our commitment to Christ--of our determination to become true Christians.

In my lesson today, I asked the sisters in our Relief Society class to discuss ways that we can become sanctified, using Elder Pace's ideas as a springboard. One sister brought up ordinances, both the ordinances within the temple as well as baptism and confirmation. We cannot progress without these sacred ordinances. Another sister mentioned scripture and conference talk study. In his book, Elder Pace brings up a very good point: how can we expect to be blessed by personal revelation if we are not reading the revelations God has already given us? Prayer was brought up--the way we communicate with heaven, whether in gratitude or begging for help. As is said in the Bible Dictionary, prayer is the way we try to bring our will in alignment with the will of God.

All of the actions we discussed to this point are inward-facing actions--ones that mostly enrich our own lives. But outward-facing actions--service, kindness, patience, and love for others--are equally important in becoming as Christ. We talked about serving even when we are tired, of being patience when all we want to do is scream, of listening even when we don't want to. Each of these actions bring us a little closer to sanctification.

For all that we only had fifteen minutes for the lesson, I really felt we had a good discussion. Certainly it gave me a lot of things to think about. It is so easy to get caught up in the everyday needs of young family life--I have been seriously slacking in my progress toward becoming as Christ. I can do better. I want to do better.