Pressing Forward

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men.” (2 Nephi 31:20; italics added.)

When Fidelity for Life experienced its conceptual genesis (i.e. when I got the idea for this blog), it was as a collaborative forum for different authors to encourage and strengthen interpersonal relationships in the digital age.  So imagine my delight when the below post came from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (or “Righteous Dutch,” as he’s known at FfL) of the Quorum of the Twelve!

Well…admittedly, he doesn’t know about his contribution yet.  It’s still pretty early, Utah time, to be checking his favorite blogs.  But a few years ago, at Brigham Young University, he gave a beautiful address entitled “Remember Lot’s Wife,” a talk as insightful as it was…um, salty, and an inspiring guide for anyone humbly seeking to strengthen relationships with his fellow man.

“Remember Lot’s Wife” inspires us to move forward with faith and trust in God, to live in the present, to hope for the future, and to learn from, but not dwell in, the past.  It speaks of forgiving and forgetting, encouraging repentance, enabling healing, and renewing relationships, both with others and with ourselves.  It reassures us that sometimes it is necessary to “step into the dark,” hopefully together, sometimes alone (i.e. in cases where relationships are weakening our moral standards or contradicting personal revelation), but never forgetting that God’s “word is a lamp unto [our] feet, and a light unto [our] path.” (Psalms 119:105) 

Some highlights from Elder Holland’s address:

• “I just want to talk to you for a few minutes about looking back and looking ahead.”
• “It isn't just that she [Lot’s wife] looked back; she looked back longingly. In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future.”
• “Faith is always pointed toward the future ‐‐ faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives.”
• “There is something in us, at least in too many of us, that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life ‐‐ either mistakes we ourselves have made or the mistakes of others. That is not good. It is not Christian. It stands in terrible opposition to the grandeur and majesty of the Atonement of Christ. To be tied to earlier mistakes ‐‐ our own or other people's ‐‐ is the worst kind of wallowing in the past from which we are called to cease and desist.”
• “It is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound which the Son of God Himself died trying to heal. Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change, and improve. Is that faith? Yes! Is it hope? Yes! Is it charity? Yes!”
• “God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are, and with His help, where you are willing to go.”
• “Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ is the ‘high priest of good things to come’…Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant, and live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, trust and divine love transform your life today, tomorrow and forever.” (Remember Lot’s Wife, Jeffrey R. Holland, 13 January 2009).

You can find the full text of the address here: http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=12522.

So best wishes as you move forward this week, trusting in the “great things” that God has in store for you and those you love.  Enjoy the ride!  Dance with your wife/girlfriend.  Draw with your kids.  Read a good book with your husband/boyfriend.  Share some cupcakes while dodging law enforcement.  And if you have no idea what I’m talking about... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adZPYnacx4I

After all...why should "pressing forward" keep us from some unabashed innocence and fun?!*

*Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to chop some wood, change some car oil, and engage in other various manly pursuits to balance out my choice of hyper-links.