Reverent with a Sense of the Sacred

Reverent with a Sense of the Sacred

It's March and I am studying Reverence this month.  I just finished reading "House of Learning: Getting More from your Temple Experience" by M. Richard and Kathleen H. Walker who are a widow/widower couple who served as temple president and matron of the Salt Lake City Temple.  One of the chapters focused on Reverence.  I referenced two talks mentioned in this book by Elders Christofferson and Packer and studied those as well.  

Reverence is the display of love to the Lord.  

It is 'profound respect mingled with love and devotion.' -Marion G. Romney 

Thus the more we love God, the deeper will be our reverence for Him.  Acting according to love or reverence for God will help us to align ourselves with His will and the Holy Ghost will then be able to be our constant companion.  In considering meekness, the trait of reverence helps us turn our will to God.

When [we] develop a deepening reverence for sacred things, the Holy Spirit becomes [our] frequent and then constant companion.  [We] grow in understanding and truth - Christofferson

As we avoid 'loud laughter, evil speaking' and 'every unholy and impure practice.' We display reverence and invite the Holy Ghost to be with us always.  It is in that stillness and purity that He can abide and be heard. We must remove ourselves from the world to receive that spiritual communication.

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continuity in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." D&C 50:24

Reverence open Spiritual Channels 

"Irreverance suits the purposes of the adversary by obstructing the delicate channels of revelation in both mind and spirit... The Holy Ghost- our comforter, our teacher- will come to us if we will maintain a spirit of reverence."- Boyd K Packer

We Show Reverence by Treating our Bodies as Sacred. 

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. [1 Corinthians 6:19–20]

“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Corinthians 3:17). “I beseech you therefore . . . , by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). 

It is the living sacrifices that sanctify us and purify us.  The qualify us for greater light and knowledge because we prove ourselves trust worthy.  We demonstrate control over the natural man and the elements from which we are made.

The most distressing act of irreverence is sexual immorality—One cannot imagine a more fundamental defiling of God’s creation than to profane its most sacred use. You simply must not do anything of the kind. Don’t even skirt around the edges. “Flee fornication. . . . He that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). “Flee also youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22). “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8). “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Keep your body holy as a living offering to God (see Romans 12:1). - Christofferson

We should be careful how we speak His name 

Although we have authority to use the name of Jesus Christ, we must do it carefully. His name and “that which cometh from above is sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit.” We should remember this when we are called upon to speak in church or when we bear testimony. -Christofferson

With the greater light and knowledge that we have come a greater responsibility to treat such as sacred.  Christofferson cautioned,

Having been blessed to receive what we have received, we can advance spiritually as no other people, but we are also at greater risk than any others. We cannot commit the sins they do without coming under a greater condemnation, for if we sin, we sin against a greater light. We cannot trifle with the sacred things committed to our care and be considered innocent as those who know not God. 

God is feeling after us to see if we will prove faithful, and if we have the integrity and sensitivity to honor sacred things, we will receive even more. But if not, our blessings will turn to our condemnation. The right attitude or pattern is that stated by the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants: 

Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances.He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances.And again, he that trembleth under my power shall be made strong, and shall bring forth fruits of praise and wisdom, according to the revelations and truths which I have given you.[D&C 52:15–17]
 

Every moment, every choice is being recorded in heaven to see if we will do all things whatsoever God commands.  How we approach these choices and where our hearts our determines the amount of trust He can place in us.  In the scripture above, meekness is connected to obedience, humility and a deep reverence for the things of God.

We should take care How we speak of Sacred experiences 

Christofferson explains how a deepening reverence will lead to greater and greater spiritual experiences.  It is the path of the acientsand the path to seek the Face of the Lord.

With a deepening reverence for sacred things, your understanding grows. The scriptures speak of it as a light that grows “brighter and brighter until the perfect day” (D&C 50:24). That process is also described as progressing from grace to grace. The Savior Himself progressed in that way until He received a fulness, and you may follow in His footsteps (see D&C 93:12–20). 

That is where a sense of the sacred will lead you.

Always remember, however, as holiness grows within and you are entrusted with greater knowledge and understanding that you must treat these things with care. We read earlier the scripture affirming that that which comes from above is sacred and must be spoken with care and by constraint of the Spirit.  

Be wise with what the Lord gives you. It is a trust. You would not, for example, indiscriminately share the content of your patriarchal blessing. 

President Boyd K. Packer once counseled:  

I have come to believe also that it is not wise to continually talk of unusual spiritual experiences. They are to be guarded with care and shared only when the Spirit itself prompts us to use them to the blessing of others.

I am ever mindful of Alma’s words: “It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. (Alma 12:9.)” 

I heard President [Marion G.] Romney once counsel mission presidents and their wives in Geneva. “I do not tell all I know. I have never told my wife all I know, for I found out that if I talked too lightly of sacred things, thereafter the Lord would not trust me.” 

We are, I believe, to keep these things and ponder them in our hearts, as Luke said Mary did of the supernal events that surrounded the birth of Jesus. (See Luke 2:19.) [“That All May Be Edified” (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982), 337]

What ways can I focus on greater reverence?

1. Preparation for spiritual learning in my personal study and prayers, at church and in the temple.
1. Repentance
2. Fasting
3. Prayer and Studying the scriptures to pre-open the channels
2. Dress and behavior
3. Respecting and Preserving the Sanctity of the Body
1. Not indulging lustful behavior
4. Keeping Sacred Things Private
1. Restraining myself from sharing unless prompted
2. Avoiding the desire to 'show off knowledge,' 'be the authority,' or 'prove my point.'
3. Keeping and Pondering things in my heart as did Mary.

Christofferson, D. Todd, "Sense of the Sacred" BYU Speech 2004 

Packer, Boyd K. "Reverence invites Revelation."Oct, 1991

Hailstorm, Donald L."Living a Reverent Life." BYU Speech 2013