The Lord and I are involved in a building project together. It’s an upgrade on me. The plans for the project are for the building of a temple. Imagine…a temple out of me…a place where the Father and the Son can one day have a permanent home.
Every tool necessary has been provided for the project. Prayer, meditation, scriptures, instructions from present day prophets, my journal and meetings are some of the most important tools in the box. These are most effective if they are on the job site being used every day.
Some days, for one reason or another I’m not able to use each of these tools. My tendency is to be frustrated over not using this or that tool. I’m tempted to berate myself and act out in negative ways that harm me. One day I was giving myself a scotch blessing (as my great-grandmother would have called it) for not getting on my knees until after lunch and not getting to my scriptures at all and not getting to the temple yet this month, when suddenly it occurred to my how sad it must make the Lord when I take a tool meant for temple building and use it to beat my self up.
Sometimes a little picture helps straighten out my thinking in moments of discouragement. Next time I’m tempted to rail on myself over my inconsistent daily use of the tools in God’s temple building toolbox, I’m going to imagine picking up the Book of Mormon and whacking myself on the head with it. Pretty ridiculous! Maybe there should be instructions on the outside of the box: “Not to be used as a weapon! Use only for building up, not tearing down!”
By Nannette W.
Posted Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All right reserved.
Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit. This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.
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