Week 17 is scheduled for study April 17-23, 2023. Gaining eternal life is never easy. We must learn to love, to forgive, to prioritize, and to be considerate of others.

Day 1

As you prayerfully read and ponder Matthew 18 and Luke 10, pay attention to the quiet promptings of the Holy Ghost. He will tell you how these teachings and stories apply to you. Record the impressions you receive.

Matthew 18:21-35 – I must forgive others if I am to receive forgiveness from the Lord.

Forgiving one another is not just a good idea. Forgiveness is actually part of the criteria used for our judgment. In these verses the Lord first says that we need to forgive over and over again. The big numbers he uses (seventy times seven) is so ridiculously large that he could only mean that there is no upper limit to the number of times we should forgive. He then follows that statement up with a parable about an unwise steward. The steward was unwilling to forgive even the most paltry of sums owed him by one another, when he had just been forgiven for an unimaginably large sum he owed himself. The Lord declared this unwillingness to forgive another person to be a sin for which the steward would be punished.

I wrote an article I recommend you read about how forgiveness is connected to the final judgment. I used Alma’s explanation on the judgment he gave to his son Corianton to do it. I hope it helps.

Connecting Forgiveness and the Final Judgment

Day 2

Luke 10:1-20 – Who are the Seventy?

There are three governing quorums in the Lord’s church. First is the quorum of the First Presidency. Second is the quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Third is the quorum of the Seventy. All three are “equal” in weight when it comes to priesthood authority. In practice, the quorum of the First Presidency gives the marching orders to the quorum of the Twelve Apostles and, if I am not mistaken, to the quorum of the Seventy as well.

The Twelve’s responsibility is to travel the world testifying of the risen Lord, to regulate the Church, and to find the “one” that Christ wants them to minister to at that moment in time. The various quorums of the Seventy normally serve at or near their own home. They are not asked to travel the world like the Apostles are.

We may sometimes think that the leadership of the Church is heavy at the top, but remember that with nearly 17,000,000 members in most of the countries of the world, it takes a lot to regulate the church and keep things running smoothly. They not only help with the physical coordination of the members, buildings, and programs of the worldwide church, but they also make sure the doctrine stays pure all over the world at the same time. Big job.

Day 3

Luke 10:25-37 – To obtain eternal life, I must love God and love my neighbor as myself.

In the world, greatness is defined by what we possess or have control over. In God’s kingdom greatness is defined by what we have become. The more like Christ we become, the more liberally God can love us. The home we are aiming to live in for eternity requires that we must be able to love and behave like God and Christ do. If we can’t even love our neighbor we will never be happy living in the presence of our Lord.

The measure for success in God’s kingdom is what we are able to personally achieve in learning to live and be more like Him. This is why we can’t really say we love God if we don’t love our neighbor, for how can we hate someone He loves and say we love Him? That is contradictory. We need to learn to love what He loves, and whom He loves. We keep the first great commandment through our observance of the second great commandment. As they say, the proof is in the pudding. It simply isn’t enough to talk the talk. We must be able to walk the walk. Remember that our neighbor is everyone who is not our self.

Day 4

Luke 10:38-42 – We choose “that good part” by making daily choices that lead to eternal life.

At no time did Jesus say that what Martha had chosen to do was not a good thing. His point was that some things in our lives are better for us than others. Martha was being a good hostess. She was seeing to the comfort of her guests. That is noble and worthy. But her sister was sitting at the feet of the creator of the universe and learning from him personally. Surely Martha’s todo list could be temporarily set aside so she could join her sister at the feet of their Messiah to learn from him.

One of Satan’s tools of distraction in the latter days is to keep us thinking we need to be so busy with doing things that we don’t take time to think about what is most important in our life. This means that even spending all our time doing good, without prioritizing what we do or thinking about when we do it, can be harmful to our soul. Have I neglected my family by going to the temple to serve others when I haven’t made sure they have dinner to eat, or someone to help the children with their homework? Do I sometimes get so wrapped up in my list of chores around the house that I forget to watch for the signs that my spouse or one of my children is depressed or falling behind in what is important to them? Wisdom is the key.

There is rarely a single right answer to most “what should I do?” questions. We won’t always be as wise as Mary. Sometimes we will be the Martha of our own story. That’s life. The question is, are we thinking about what our daily or momentary priorities should be? Are we considering what will bring us closer to others and to the Spirit by the choices we make? The Lord is always pleased when we choose to do good things. But I am sure He is more pleased when we use wisdom in making our choices so we are doing what is best, not just “something good.”

FHE/Personal Study

Matthew 18:15 – Personal interactions

Sometimes it is just easier to deal with strangers than with those closest to us. So often with those with whom we are most intimate, we make assumptions based on the faulty notion that we “know them.” Often we don’t know them as well as we think we do, so we make assumptions about how they do or will feel about something and act and respond according to our assumption. These assumptions are often incorrect, then we are surprised by the reaction of our loved one and can’t figure out what “their problem” is.

What the Lord is telling us we need to do here is to be open and clear in our communication one with another. If we have been offended, we need to take that person aside and let them know how hurt we are. Chances are good they don’t even know we are hurt. Sometimes someone tells us that we stepped on their toes socially or personally, and we don’t think we did anything wrong. The hope here is that openly challenging what someone has done will cause that someone to question their motives or methods, and hopefully put your relationship with them in a higher priority than we thought they considered our relationship to be. If they do then, as the Savior says, you have “gained thy brother.”

Personal interactions can be complicated. So much is put on the line depending on how it is approached, that we have to work hard to make sure we all feel safe in the relationship, no matter how great the pain or hurt. My mother used to use the same platitude over and over with us. “When it comes to relationships the answer is always love.” This means that no amount of social maneuvering or political jockeying is going to fix an offense. We must feel love toward and love from the other person in order for the situation to be amicably resolved.

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NT17-2023 – What Shall I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?

Week 17