Charity is Not Easily Provoked

Not Easily Provoked

I didn't "translate" Not Easily Provoked into 2013-ese at the beginning of the discussion. I felt it was exactly the point I wanted to get across--that we should not be easily bothered, angered or upset I did this segment more as help for getting along with your companion.

When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense.

True? True. Continue quote, next slide.

However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false.

Uh oh, that quote started out so reasonable and now you're telling me this? Seriously? Fundamentally false? What kind of nutjob said this quote? Next slide

To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.

Elder David A. Bednar

Thwarted by an Apostle. Here's the talk, if you are tough enough to take it (and I know you are :) And Nothing Shall Offend Them  And for a second witness, here's Elder Robbins Agency and Anger

A cunning part of [Satan’s] strategy is to dissociate anger from agency, making us believe that we are victims of an emotion that we cannot control.

                                                          Elder Lynn A. Robbins

We had a good discussion on this topic. We talked about Elder Bednar's quote in context of "she made me so mad" and similar expressions. Personally, I think this is one of the most diffficult concepts to learn--it is completely opposite Natural Man. I took some of the coping devices from Family Services Strengthening Marriage manual.

Coping Statements

•I’m not going to gain anything by getting mad.

•If I get angry, I’ll pay a price I don’t want.

•I can’t assume the worst or jump to conclusions.

•I can reason this out.

•Anger doesn’t solve anything. It builds nothing, but it can destroy everything. (Thomas S Monson)

Once we went through all of the Not Easily Provoked aspect, we turned it around to Forgiving (which is also anti-natural man) And of course, no discussion on forgiving is complete without President Uchtdorf. I used a clip from his conference talk instead of reading it because I am just that cool. She says humbly. Since it is not a youtube Mormon Message we'll see if I can get it on the blog. If not, you can watch the whole thing at lds.org The Merciful Obtain Mercy

Forgiving