Our Relationship With God

Here's the talk I gave in church today:

During the holiday period, there's a great silent emphasis put on relationships. This period is a time when families are brought together. It is a time when most try to be a little more loving to strangers. And, it is a time that for many, a solemn realization of loneliness occurs. 

So often, when we feel like something is wrong in our lives, we spend all of our time searching for a solution rather than making the necessary changes to mend the pain. On the subject of relationships, we often exert a majority of our efforts towards asking for advice or reading articles, searching for answers that will never really be found.

My advice (ironically), rather than looking for an online solution guide, is to turn to God for comfort. Turn to prayer. Turn to the scriptures. Turn to being a disciple through service. Turn to the temple for the strength and support that you desire. 

Now, when I say "turn" to God, what am I meaning?

I am suggesting that you develop a very close and personal relationship with Him.

Nephi's introductory sentence on the first page of the Book of Mormon shares that he "had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God"

That great knowledge of goodness and the mysteries of God could have only come through first developing a relationship with Him. 

Whenever I have been advised to build a relationship with God, I've imagined a very distant and formal scenario taking place. 

Such is not the case. 

A relationship with God should be like unto a relationship with your best friend. 

This type of relationship, which is a good relationship, entails having three main things:

absolute honesty

open communication

and

being unified. 

One psychologist said, "Like some people, you may find that you need to learn to be more honest and vulnerable in a relationship, and that you need to learn to believe in your own lovableness."

Personally, I think that a majority of people throw up a wall when approached by the idea of allowing yourself to be entirely vulnerable to someone else. We have this fear that we will never be perfect enough and as was just quoted, that we are not capable of being as lovable as we would hope. 

Who better then to open up our lives to than God who will never let us down or abuse that growing trust? 

The psychologist continues, "It feels good to invest in a relationship. To care. To want to share. To want to give. You may find that the best preparation you can make for marriage [and I'll add-- for any relationship] is to learn to love God and to love yourself. When you have a secure, spiritual knowledge of yourself as a child of God, you will find a sense of personal confidence and identity that makes a good relationship possible.

As we invest in a relationship with God, we will learn to trust in the safest of environments. Not only will we learn to trust in others and love ourselves, but we will be enlightened with the knowledge of the mysteries of God. 

The best part is, we can be closer to God any time we want. 

How beautiful is that? 

How wonderful is it that such a fulfilling opportunity is available to us every single moment?

One of my favorite quotes that unfortunately, I cannot remember where I picked it up from, is:

"If you pray you make God your partner. With a partner like God you cannot fail."

Think about that guarantee- "With a partner like God you cannot fail."

On this New Years Day, I invite everyone, myself included, to turn to God. I invite everyone to open up your lives to Him and turn to Him for love and guidance and by doing so, inviting the greatest opportunity in your life to take place more fully than ever before. 

Allow Him to fill any voids or pains of loneliness in your life. 

Trust God and open your soul to Him as He teaches you of an ideal relationship in which you are loved and have the confidence that you too, are indeed entirely lovable. 

President Faust suggested five ways in which we can invite this relationship:

1st: Prayer. 

2nd: Selfless service.

3rd: "A daily striving for increased obedience and perfection in our lives."

4th: "A daily acknowledgement of His divinity."

and 5th: "A daily study of the scriptures."

President Spencer W. Kimball added: “I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns”

To end, I'd like to share a scripture that I discovered a few days ago. It is not from the King James version of the Bible but is still beautifully worded and true:

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the LORD. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'" (Jeremiah 29:11)

I have a personal testimony of the joy and strength that can be found in our lives as we have a close and personal relationship with God. 

Let that joy and strength radiate into your life too.