Patience - 2 Corinthians 6:1-7

6:1-2 - After explaining the mechanics of how we are reconciled to God at the end of chapter 5, Paul implores the people to “receive not the grace of God in vain… behold, now is the day of salvation.” The IM notes, “the Book of Mormon contains similar teachings about the importance of repenting and remaining true to gospel covenants in this life (see 2 Nephi 22:21; Alma 34:31-33; 42:4). Individuals who do not honor their gospel covenants in this life should not assume that they will have a second chance in the life to come.” This is an interesting concept for me because I know that everyone will have an equal chance to accept the gospel at some point in their existence, in this life or the next. I have to wonder though, just how much do we have to know in this life to be considered fully aware of our choices to the point that we will not have the opportunity again to repent?

 

I would imagine that it is pretty unlikely that 99.9% of us who live this life on this earth will have enough knowledge or understanding to really decide that we will not ever partake of the ordinances of the gospel. Now, I feel that it would be fair for someone who had the chance to partake in the gospel here but rejected it in this life would have to wait longer or do some extra work to have the chance again. But then again, I think that that might be required for their further conversion, I don’t know, I just know that we are given what we need to grow, and it sometimes seems like we want results or blessings sooner than they come. But the master psychologist, God would have his prophets warn that there is a finite amount of time for repentance. I don’t know if that’s just to give a sense of urgency to the unrepentant, or because at a certain point people are so far gone that they will refuse to repent. Interesting.

 

6:3-7 - About verses 3-10, the IM comments, “Paul described the way he and his missionary companions endeavored to serve as ministers of God and alluded to many of the hard-ships they had faced… Similar lists are found in Doctrine and Covenants 4:5-6 and 121:41-44.” The list begins:

1.       “Giving no offense in any thing, that they ministry be not blamed.” – The article about this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com gives an account of a teenage girl who “enjoyed talking with her friends and being silly whenever she had a chance. On one occasion a teach finally got fed up and told her, ‘Leave the class and don’t come back until you can behave.’ My sister left and never did come back. That was 30 years ago.” We are human, we are going to say and do stupid things that hurt people’s feelings, that’s just the nature of interpersonal communication. And we are still growing as people, things that I didn’t think were offensive years ago absolutely were. I’ve said and done things that I’m not proud of and I hope to continue to grow as a person. 

      That said, I think that our responsibility in upholding this concept is to rely on the Spirit for guidance. I heard a church lesson once that said, “sometimes charity is just not saying what you want to say.” Then I had a woman come visit teach me and she was talking about her beagle having puppies and I personally don’t believe in dog breeding, I am a “adopt, don’t shop” kind of person and I almost said something, but I didn’t. I realized that this was not my hill to die on, that my comments would not change her mind and that it would only bring contention into my house. There have been many times like that, where I wanted to spout off my personal opinion but didn’t because I had the wrong motivations or I wanted to preserve peace. Jesus will tell us when and what to say or to not say, we just have to listen and do our best to want to be good servants.

2.       “Patience, in affliction, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings.” If anyone would know about suffering for the gospel, it would be Paul. I think about what the opposite of patience in affliction would be and to me it would be tantrums, it would be turning away from your covenants to relieve the pressure from yourself, it would be fighting back, anger, hate fueled words, and bad attitudes. Recognizing what the opposite would look like helps us understand what actual patience is. Honestly, I’m struggling with this super hard right now. Patience in affliction, I’m exhausted, I’m emotionally tired, there’s not a whole lot that makes me happy anymore. I’ve always struggled with depression and I’m actually medicated for it and have been for many years.

 

I think that quarantine, the racial issues, and some other personal stuff just hit all at the same time and it just feels like it’s too much. I haven’t been to jiu jitsu in 3 months and I miss it so much. They opened back up last week, but I just have too much contact with vulnerable people to go back just yet, and it’s painful. I feel very alone, very isolated, very frustrated, and trapped under crushing responsibility. So I guess I’m not having tantrums, but I could be doing better, making more of an effort to have a good attitude.

 

 

3.       “By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.” I took this to mean that these are ways that we can strengthen our ability to have patience in our afflictions. We can be strengthened by knowledge of the gospel and gospel principles. We can be strengthened by kindness, both that of others towards us and also our kindness to other people. We can focus on serving others and that always helps us with our own personal struggles. Pureness might mean the pureness of Christ’s love for us, or our process of becoming pure through keeping our covenants. We could reflect on the progress that we’ve made and that would help keep us focused on the road of progress ahead.

 

The Holy Ghost is the main player here, because it is he who can comfort us, protect us, and teach us. I guess life is just hard, and it can be harder when you’re trying to be righteous. But by the power of God, we can keep our covenants and have the Holy Ghost with us so that we can be patient in our afflictions. Then we can look forward to our time of rest and reward, which I’m hoping for me is a house by the beach in the next life.