Spiritual Strength: Spirituality & Worship

Objective: Understand how spiritual strength and worship contributes to self-reliance.

Principle 1. Spirituality is a condition of the heart, mind, and soul when, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we engage the Light of Christ.

Discussion: What does it mean when someone says, “There goes a very spiritual person.”?  To understand spirit and spirituality we must understand the components of spirituality.  The scriptures describe at least three separate and distinct spirit entities.

The first spiritual entity is our very own spirit.  The scriptures tell us: “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” Job 32:8 Elsewhere we learn that our spirit is what gives life to us. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”  James 2:26  So, inhabiting our body is a spirit born of God, placed in our mortal body, and composed of divinely pure material undetectable by the natural human eye.  Our spirit works with our body to give it life and light.  Our duty in this life is to constantly nourish our spirit by engaging spiritual things through worship, scripture study and service, among other things.

The second spiritual entity is the Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead.  In various scriptures He is called a Counselor, a Guide, and a Comforter.  He is a spirit-being who has been given power by God to control and regulate spirit matter.  In that manner He can influence us, guide us, comfort us, and reveal truths unto us.  He cannot be everywhere at once because He is a spirit person.  However, by another entity, he can spiritually influence and empower anything, anytime, anywhere, and everywhere. This spirit matter He controls has a name - the Light of Christ.

The third spiritual entity and the method by which the Holy Spirit empowers us, comforts us, and guides us, is known as  “the Light of Christ.” John 1:9  tells us, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”  The Light of Christ is pure and refined beyond what natural eyes can see or physical hands can touch - but often we can feel its presence.  It fills the immensity of space. It is in our souls – it is in nature- - it is in “all things.”  The Light of Christ is not Christ Himself, but a name given that honors and recognizes the presence from which spiritual matter comes.  The Light of Christ is not our personal spirit which is an individual spirit person inside our body born of a Heavenly Father and Mother – but the Light of Christ acts upon our personal spirit. It is not the Holy Ghost, but the Holy Ghost uses this power in His ministry among us.  Here is what the scriptures say:   D&C 88:7-13   “... This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made… (Skipping down a few verses….)  13  The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God ….” .

So, in answer to the question, what does it mean when we say, “There goes a very spiritual person.”?  Being spiritual involves the three elements or entities described above interacting in some fashion.  That is, the spirit body, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, is engaging additional spiritual substance known as the Light of Christ.  Generally, this happens when we seek to live by God’s commandments, seek inspiration, study the scriptures, and in other ways live according to truth and light.  Because part of us is composed of spirit and because we can feel God’s power through the Light of Christ under the direction of the Holy Ghost, we can sense spirituality both in ourselves and in others.

When all three elements are engaged, we “feel spiritual, ” or can feel the spirituality of another person.

Hence, the scripture in Alma 5:14."And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?”    What does it mean to “receive his image in your countenance?”

Discussion: Describe some behaviors that would be observed in a “spiritual person” (How would they be acting?)  Finish this sentence in your own words.  I know that I’m spiritual when……………….

Discussion: How does being spiritual increase self-reliance?

As we increase our capacity to receive the Light of Christ into our day-to-day life, we increase our ability and capacity to think and to feel and to act.  We know and understand things better.  For, as the Holy Spirit directs the Light of Christ to respond to our prayers, our worship, and our service to others, things are revealed to us.  In other words, our “spirituality” grows and we become more capable, more knowledgeable, more understanding, and thus, more self-reliant.

Principle 2. Worship increases our spirituality and provides a spiritual reservoir of self-reliance.          

             Discussion: What does it mean to worship?  Synonyms include adore, deify, glorify, revere, venerate; also admire, honor, regard, respect; dignify, exalt, magnify; extol, laud, praise; delight, gratify, please, satisfy – Webster Dictionary.  “The attitude of worship evokes the deepest feelings of allegiance, adoration, and awe. Worship combines love and reverence in a state of devotion that draws our spirits closer to God. “ (Dallin Oaks, Pure In Heart, p.125)

             Discussion: Given the previous definition, name and describe all the ways a person can worship. (Answers might include prayer, participation in sacrament and other church meetings, partaking of the sacrament, listening for the Holy Ghost, performing ordinances in the temple, and serving in callings and serving others.)

Discussion:  Read or have class members read each of the following statements of Bruce R. McConkie from the December, 1971 Ensign.  Afterward, ask a few class members to pick out one of these points and show how that point can increase our self-reliance.

1.      To worship the Lord is to follow after him (2 Ne. 31:10; 3 Ne. 27:21; Matt. 4:19), to seek his face (D&C 93:1; 130:3), to believe his doctrine, and to think his thoughts.  It is to walk in his paths, to be baptized as Christ was, to preach that gospel of the kingdom which fell from his lips, and to heal the sick and raise the dead as he did.

2.      To worship the Lord is to put first in our lives the things of his kingdom, to live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God, to center our whole hearts upon Christ and that salvation which comes because of him. 

3.      It is to walk in the light as he is in the light, to do the things that he wants done, to do what he would do under similar circumstances, to be as he is.

4.      To worship the Lord is to walk in the Spirit, to rise above the carnal things, to bridle our passions, and to overcome the world.

5.      It is to pay our tithes and offerings, to act as wise stewards in caring for those things which have been entrusted to our care, and to use our talents and means for the spreading of truth and the building up of his kingdom.

6.      To worship the Lord is to be married in the temple, to have children, to teach them the gospel, and to bring them up in light and truth. It is to perfect the family unit, to honor our father and our mother; it is for a man to love his wife with all his heart and to cleave unto her and none else (D&C 42:22).

7.      To worship the Lord is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27).  It is to work on a welfare project, to administer to the sick, to go on a mission, to go home teaching, and to hold family home evening.

8.      To worship the Lord is to study the gospel, to treasure up light and truth, to ponder in our hearts the things of his kingdom, and to make them part of their lives.  It is to pray with all the energy of our souls, to preach by the power of the Spirit, to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving.

9.      To worship is to work, to be actively engaged in a good cause, to be about our Father's business, to love and serve our fellowmen.  It is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to comfort those that mourn, and to hold up the hands that hang down and to strengthen the feeble knees.

10.  To worship the Lord is to stand valiantly in the cause of truth and righteousness, to let our influence for good be felt in civic, cultural, educational, and governmental fields, and to support those laws and principles which further the Lord's interests on earth.

11.  To worship the Lord is to be of good cheer, to be courageous, to be valiant, to have the courage of our God-given convictions, and to keep the faith.

             Discussion: How does praying build self-reliance. (It strengthens our relationship with Heavenly Father. From that strengthened relationship we derive additional strength materially and spiritually.)

             Discussion: How does partaking of the sacrament, participating in sacrament meeting and other church meetings build self-reliance? (When we renew our covenants, we covenant to remember God and live His commandments.  In turn, He blesses us with His strength.  We can also learn new principles and receive revelation and inspiration. All these things  build our spiritual self-reliance.)

             Discussion: How do performing temple ordinances build self-reliance? (By “pondering” the ordinances we increase our Light of Christ and we can receive revelation that will help fill our reservoir of spiritual strength and increase our spiritual self-reliance.) Have someone read the following quote from S. Michael Watson.  “To effectively ponder the temple ordinances, we must be familiar with them. If we want to ponder the scriptures, we can read and reread them, focusing on each word or phrase and how it relates to other truths found elsewhere in the text. We can do this with the temple ordinances only if they are written in our minds and in our hearts, for we cannot study them on a printed page. This occurs the more frequently we participate in them. It is next to impossible to ponder something we are not familiar with.

At times, while listening to the endowment, we may want to pause and reflect about some insight we are discovering. We must learn to hold the thoughts in our minds and then, in quiet moments in and out of the temple, ponder them and let the Spirit teach us. The more we attend the temple, the more permanently the phrases and words of the endowment rest securely in our minds, where they are available for future pondering.”

Principle 3. Following Christ’s commandments increases our spiritual self-reliance.  Consider concluding with this video. https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-032-sermon-on-the-mount-the-beatitudes?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng  . 

Discussion: What do the Beatitudes tell us about how to increase our spiritual self-reliance?