Sunday, March 1, 2015

When do you have the spirit....


Today in Sunday School our teacher, Jay Jankowski, taught a about the Sermon on the Mount as well as a few other things.  
He shared with the class a handout 
"How to Discern When You Do and Do Not Have the Spirit".
As always it got me thinking...(I know its a scary thought...me thinking again!)

As I went through this list it gave me a lot of food for thought.  
I've felt a lot of the things on this list over the years...I hate to say on both list.  In fact I'm sure I'm not alone...I think we all have our struggles at times when it comes to having the spirit in our lives and recognizing when we do.  


Heres the list...


WHEN YOU HAVE THE SPIRIT: 

~You feel happy and Calm. 
~You feel full of light.  Your mind is clear. 
~Your bosom burns.  You feel generous.  Nobody could offend you.  
~You feel confident in everything you do. 
~You wouldn't mind if everyone is seeing what you are doing. 
~You are outgoing, anxious to be with people. 
~You are glad when others succeed. 
~You want to make others happy.  You bring out the best and see the best in others. 
~You gladly and willingly perform church ordinances.  You'd like to be in the temple everyday. 
~You feel you can magnify your church calling. 
~You feel like praying. 
~You wish you could keep all the Lord's commandments. 
~You feel you have control of your appetites and emotions; food and sleep in moderation, diversion that is wholesome and moderate; calm and controlled speech; no anger, etc. 
~You're generally just glad to be alive. 

WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE THE SPIRIT:

~When Satin is prompting you, you feel unhappy, depressed, confused, frustrated. 
~You feel heavy, full of darkness, your mind is muddled. 
~You feel empty, hollow, cold inside.  You feel selfish, self centered, possessive. 
~Everything anyone does bothers you.  You are always on the defensive. 
~You easily become discouraged. 
~You become secretive, sneaky, evasive. 
~You want to be alone.  You avoid people, especially members of your family. 
~You are envious of what others do and of what they have. 
~You are critical of what others, especially of family members and of authority. 
~You feel hesitant, unworthy to perform church ordinances; you don't want to go to the temple. 
~You wish you had another church job, or no job at all.  You don't want to pray. 
~You find the commandments bothersome, restricting, or senseless. 
~You become a slave to your appetites:  your emotions become passionate; overindulgence in food, sleep, stimulating entertainment, strong anger, outspokenness, etc.  
~You wonder if life is really worth it.  

Now that we have a list to help us recognize when we DO or DON'T have the Spirit, lets start being aware of when feelings or things might be affecting you...I know I will be!! 

2 comments:

Kathleen Goodrich said...

Love your thoughts (and the title of your blog:) So if I write about what I learned in one Sunday School class, will it make null and void what happened in my other "Sunday School" class?

Suzi said...

LOL Kathy! I don't think it works that way! I figure if I can write something every now and then that I learn in one of my classes that maybe people will think I'm good and not well...ME! LOL