Choice 4: 1 John 1–3.
That Ye May Have Fellowship with Us and with God
1 John 1:8–10
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
We can grow our relationship with
God by repenting and asking for help to live our lives in accordance with the
gospel. We can be happy when we repent.
1 John 2:3–6
3 And
hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that
saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him.
5 But
whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected:
hereby know we that we are in him.
We show God that we love him by
being obedient to the commandments, and being a disciple of Christ. As we do this we will progress in the gospel
and will prepare to live with Him in the eternities by keeping temple
covenants.
1 John 2:9–11; 3:11–19
9 He that
saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until
now.
11 But he
that hateth his brother is in darkness, andwalketh in darkness, and
knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
11 For this is the message that ye heard from the
beginning, that we should love one another.
12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother.
And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s
righteous.
14 We know
that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not hisbrother abideth
in death.
15 Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life
abiding in him.
16 Hereby
perceive we the love of God, because
he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But
whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth hisbrother have need, and shutteth up
his bowels ofcompassion from him, how
dwelleth the love of God in him?
Our relationship with God can
increase by serving others, having a positive attitude and loving
unconditionally. We will know God by
doing all of these things.
1 John 2:15–17
15 Love not the world,
neither the things that are in
theworld. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him.
16 For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
We can know God by not being of
the world. That means that we don’t succumb to the natural man and we live life
like a disciple of Christ and nothing else. Being of the world steers us away
from living our lives in accordance to the gospel and its teachings. By making
a goal to live our lives centered on Christ, we’ll be on our way to living in
righteousness.
1 John 2:20–21, 27
15 Love
not the world, neither the things that are in
theworld. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him.
16 For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
We will build our relationship
with God by following those who have been called as leaders over us and
following their counsel.
1 John 3:4–6
4 Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law.
5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away oursins; and in
him is no sin.
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoeversinneth
hath not seen him, neither known him.
We can not build our relationship
with God if we are not following the commandments and if we are sinning and not
repenting. The more we do these things
the Spirit lessens and it is harder to hear.
Choose one of the ways to have
greater joy and fellowship with God as you described it above, and write a
paragraph explaining how you can better implement those principles in your
life.
As we serve others and keep the
commandments we learn the love of God for us.
We learn to love to serve, and we love those we serve. We must serve everyone, even our
enemies. This can be and is difficult
for myself and all of us, but it will help us humble our hearts and love them
as God loves them. When we do this we
will begin to understand how we can accomplish the commandment to love one
another as He loves us. If I can remember to do this I will find the positive
in the person instead of what they lack.
