I will not leave you comfortless

We studied a couple of chapters in John this week that record some of Christ's words to His disciples as He walks to Gethsemane. One topic that really stood out to me from these passages was the Holy Ghost. We talked about how when we discuss the Holy Ghost we have questions like "will he ever get a body?" or "is he our brother too?" or other things like that. We don't have clear answers on many things, but one thing we do know is that the Holy Ghost is a gift to us. And really, that's the only thing that matters right now. And He is such a great gift because as this scripture tells us:

"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me" (John 15:26) 

So whenever we need the Spirit in more abundance in our life, it is clear that the Holy Ghost will be with us when we are learning about our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, through prayer, through scripture study, through taking the sacrament. The Holy Ghost doesn't draw attention to Himself. His purpose is to bring us closer to the other members of the Godhead. 

I love that the name "Comforter" is used to describe the Holy Ghost, because there is truly no greater comfort than knowing of the reality and love of our Father and Jesus Christ. Whenever we feel insignificant, hopeless, in despair, uncertain, we can be lifted up by the Holy Ghost as we remember our Savior and His loving sacrifice for us, and that God wants us so much to return to Him with joy.

There is no replacement for the feelings of the Spirit. There are other temporary sources of happiness or comfort, but the Holy Ghost helps us feel the promises of eternity and He is there to help us along and to remind us of our infinite potential.

I will make thee ruler over many things

In New Testament class this week we studied Matthew 25 which contains some parables taught by Christ in answer to the question: what is a faithful and wise servant? One that stood out to me, even though I've heard it plenty of times is the parable of the talents. Often we think of this parable as just applying to talents, as in skills and abilities, but Brother Griffin suggested that the talents symbolize everything God has given us. All of us have different strengths, situations, and opportunities and those allow us to serve and grow here on Earth. Comparing ourselves to others, feeling down that we aren't as capable as people around us doesn't do any good because as this parable shows, our Heavenly Father intended for us to be different and he doesn't expect us all to produce the same things. He just wants us to do the best we can. The only thing that really matters is the level of our faith. When we have faith we are able to multiply His gifts and use them to bless others and increase our conversion. That is the only difference between the servant with the 10 talents and the 1 talent. One of them had faith and one had fear. 

Another notable thing is that the servants that had 10 and 5 talents given to them both had faith and were able to accomplish what their master wanted them to. He says to both of them the exact same thing: "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord". That is what we can look forward to. If we do our part and rely on Christ's grace and mercy, we will be rewarded and have joy knowing we did what we could. This reminds me of a poem by Meade MacGuire that President Monson once quoted. It goes: 
“Father, where shall I work today?”

And my love flowed warm and free.
Then he pointed out a tiny spot
And said, “Tend that for me.”
I answered quickly, “Oh no, not that!
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done.
Not that little place for me.”
And the word he spoke, it was not stern; …
“Art thou working for them or for me?
Nazareth was a little place,
And so was Galilee.”

Even if we feel like we don't have many gifts or we aren't good enough, this shows that we can become much more than we think we can. That is the example and gift Christ gave to us. 

Render unto God the things that are God’s

I have learned that everything Christ says has multiple layers of significance. This is one reason it's so important to study the scriptures regularly, and prayerfully. Depending on where we are in life and what we specifically need, there is always something new and relevant for us to learn. An example of this is in Matthew 22. The Pharisees are trying to trick Jesus by asking him if it is lawful to give tribute to Caesar. He answers by showing them a coin and telling them to "render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s".
To take that a little deeper, in the scriptures we learn we are created in the image of God... not in the image of Caesar or some other random person. We are God's. And Jesus tells us in Matthew 22 that we should render ourselves unto Him. I looked up the definition of render. It has two meanings.
1. provide or give.
2. cause to be or become; make.

I love that second definition... we can actually become or be made into something much, much greater than we are now. And how do we do that? By providing our whole hearts, by giving up the things that aren't of God. This scripture reminded me of a chapter in the Book of Mormon that I always go to when I want to evaluate myself. Alma 5. Verse 14 in particular asks some poignant questions. "Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" Questions like these help us to see if we really are rendering ourselves unto God.

I know that it is possible for us to become like our Heavenly Father. Jesus showed us that. And we have many other examples of lives of service and consecration. One Brother Griffin mentioned is John R. Moyle. He walked 22 miles to the site of the Salt Lake Temple every week to help with the construction. Then he lost his leg. Then he made a new one and again walked 22 miles every week so that he could carve "Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord" on the temple walls. So yes, it is possible. It definitely isn't always the easy way, but it is the best way.