Its not About the Clothes

After going through my closet full of clothes one day I say to my husband “ I don’t have anything to wear” the irony in that sentence made my husband laugh. He says, “well then what is all of that in your closet” I shrug it off, because I know he is joking with me, “I need new clothes honey”  he goes, “ Didn’t you buy a shirt two months ago, you should wear that” “ yeah, but I need more clothes, I feel like I wear the same things over and over again”  

I believe as simple as this experience was, after reading Poduska Bernards Till Debt Do Us Part, I realized that I was spending money on things that were not valuable such as clothes, because I was never really satisfied. I could have gone out shopping for ten shirts that day and in a couple months get bored of them and want to buy more. Poduska’s principal four on under the ten financial principles says “ Money spent on things you value usually leads to a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. Money spent on things you do not value usually leads to a feeling of frustration and futility.”

That was just one of the principles that I believe I have a hard time grasping because we live in such a materialistic world, I believe that, that can be one of Satans tricks for us to risk our financial security. By understanding the the ten financial principles, which are;

1) Financial problems are usually behavioral problems rather than money problems.

2) If you continue doing what you have been doing, you will continue getting what you have been getting.

3) Nothing (no thing) is worth risking the marital relationship for.

4) Money spent on things you value usually leads to a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. Money spent on things you do not value usually leads to a feeling of frustration and futility.

5) We know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

6) You can never get enough of what you don't need, because what you don't need can never satisfy you.

7) Financial freedom is more often the result of decreased spending than of increased income.

8) Be grateful for what you have.

9) The best things in life are free.

10)The value of an individual should never be equated with the individual's net worth.

We are more able to remember what is most important to us. And use these principles to combat Satan's way of getting into our financial life. And want to leave you with a challenge from church leaders about finances 

“We encourage you wherever you may live in the world to prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. … If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts”

Resources: 

Till Debt do us Part Bernard Poduska 

(All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances). lds.org 

Unity in Marriage

Why is it that at times we feel opposite and distant from those that are closest to us? Shouldn't it be the other way around, where we feel the most united and one with those people? It is because Satan likes to interfere with those relationships. I have always been told, during courtship, Satan wants us to get too close, but after we get sealed, he wants us to tear us apart. One thing that Satan and God know is that when two people get sealed and are ready to live their lives, they are to learn to become one and united while enduring to the end together, and that is where he interferes, its not always an easy journey, there will be hardships, challenges that may come but we can either stay united through those times or we can feel apart.  

The Lord tell us how we should be united  “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:18–21). Elder Henry B. Eyring expands on the Lords words by saying  "In those few words He made clear how the gospel of Jesus Christ can allow hearts to be made one. Those who would believe the truth He taught could accept the ordinances and the covenants offered by His authorized servants. Then, through obedience to those ordinances and covenants, their natures would be changed. The Savior’s Atonement in that way makes it possible for us to be sanctified. We can then live in unity, as we must to have peace in this life and to dwell with the Father and His Son in eternity." 

Now that we know how we are to be united, Elder Eyring gives us two things to look out for, 

"First, the Holy Ghost remains with us only if we stay clean and free from the love of the things of the world. A choice to be unclean will repel the Holy Ghost. The Spirit only dwells with those who choose the Lord over the world. “Be ye clean” (3 Ne. 20:41; D&C 38:42) and love God with all your “heart, … might, mind, and strength” (D&C 59:5) are not suggestions but commandments. And they are necessary to the companionship of the Spirit, without which we cannot be one.

The other warning is to beware of pride. A unity which comes to a family or to a people softened by the Spirit will bring great power. With that power will come recognition from the world. Whether that recognition brings praise or envy, it could lead us to pride. That would offend the Spirit. There is a protection against pride, that sure source of disunity. It is to see the bounties which God pours upon us not only as a mark of His favor but an opportunity to join with those around us in greater service. A man and his wife learn to be one by using their similarities to understand each other and their differences to complement each other in serving one another and those around them. In the same way, we can unite with those who do not accept our doctrine but share our desire to bless the children of our Heavenly Father."

I know if we do this, we will be able to feel at peace and live in harmony with our spouse. 

Resources: 

That We May Be One Elder Henry B. Eyring 

 (D&C 59:5)

(3 Ne. 20:41; D&C 38:42)

(John 17:18–21)