The only permanent solution to the poverty of this world is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
October 2023
General Conference
Neil L. Andersen
Showing posts with label Poverty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poverty. Show all posts
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Saturday, October 9, 2021
When others receive benefits because of their diligent choices, we cannot rightly conclude that we have been treated unfairly when we have had the same opportunity.
To begin to make some sense of it, let us explore various types of unfairness. Consider a family in which each child received a weekly monetary allowance for doing common household chores. One son, John, purchased candy; one daughter, Anna, saved her money. Eventually, Anna bought herself a bicycle. John thought it was totally unfair that Anna got a bike when he did not. But John’s choices created the inequality, not parental actions. Anna’s decision to forgo the immediate gratification of eating candy did not impose any unfairness on John, because he had the same opportunity as his sister.
Our decisions can likewise yield long-term advantages or disadvantages. As the Lord revealed, “If a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” When others receive benefits because of their diligent choices, we cannot rightly conclude that we have been treated unfairly when we have had the same opportunity.
April 2021
General Conference
Dale G. Renlund
Saturday, October 26, 2019
He wants all to know there is nothing and no one He is unable to heal and deliver to enduring joy.
One of my favorite scriptures is John 4:4, which reads, “And he must needs go through Samaria.”
Why do I love that scripture? Because Jesus did not need to go to Samaria. The Jews of His day despised the Samaritans and traveled a road around Samaria. But Jesus chose to go there to declare before all the world for the first time that He was the promised Messiah. For this message, He chose not only an outcast group but also a woman—and not just any woman but a woman living in sin—someone considered at that time to be the least of the least. I believe Jesus did this so that each of us may always understand that His love is greater than our fears, our wounds, our addictions, our doubts, our temptations, our sins, our broken families, our depression and anxieties, our chronic illness, our poverty, our abuse, our despair, and our loneliness. He wants all to know there is nothing and no one He is unable to heal and deliver to enduring joy.
Why do I love that scripture? Because Jesus did not need to go to Samaria. The Jews of His day despised the Samaritans and traveled a road around Samaria. But Jesus chose to go there to declare before all the world for the first time that He was the promised Messiah. For this message, He chose not only an outcast group but also a woman—and not just any woman but a woman living in sin—someone considered at that time to be the least of the least. I believe Jesus did this so that each of us may always understand that His love is greater than our fears, our wounds, our addictions, our doubts, our temptations, our sins, our broken families, our depression and anxieties, our chronic illness, our poverty, our abuse, our despair, and our loneliness. He wants all to know there is nothing and no one He is unable to heal and deliver to enduring joy.
October 2018
General Conference
Robert C. Gay
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Often I have wondered why some people struggle from the moment they come into this life until the day that they die while others seem to breeze through life with few troubles and cares. How can this be fair?
Everybody is given a different lot in life. Often I have wondered why some people struggle from the moment they come into this life until the day that they die while others seem to breeze through life with few troubles and cares. How can this be fair? This question was ever present as I met babushky in Eastern Europe. There was always a sweet peace among these beautiful woman. They emulate Christlike attributes. They serve and lift others. Many of them lived through famine, war, occupation, oppression, revolution and economic collapse...multiple times. I found myself counting my blessings and wondering why my life compared to theirs what so much easier. How could lives lived at the same time in history be so different just because of the spot of ground in the planet they were born?
This morning while reading the scriptures, I read the following verses and had thought.
Jacob Chapter 5
21 And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard.
22 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit.
23 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Look hither; behold I have planted another branch of the tree also; and thou knowest that this spot of ground was poorer than the first. But, behold the tree. I have nourished it this long time, and it hath brought forth much fruit; therefore, gather it, and lay it up against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self.
21 And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard.
22 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit.
23 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Look hither; behold I have planted another branch of the tree also; and thou knowest that this spot of ground was poorer than the first. But, behold the tree. I have nourished it this long time, and it hath brought forth much fruit; therefore, gather it, and lay it up against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self.
My thought. There are different spots of ground where the Lord has planted His vineyard-some better and some worse. I love that the the Lord knew this and so He spends time in the poor spots—“I have nourished it this long time.” I believe God is always near especially where the most help is needed.
I also believe that where much is given, much is required. It is our duty to be instruments in God’s hand to help and lift others. I am so grateful to have been born in a family with a loving father and mother. I feel so blessed to live in a country of freedoms and prosperity. I am blessed to have had the opportunity for excellent education and work opportunities. I hope to wear out my life serving and lifting others.
Friday, June 23, 2017
The Lord Works from the Inside Out
“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ
“Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world.”5
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson, (2014), 76–88
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