Is it easy or hard.

[Traveler]

What would you think and say?  Is being a Saint of G-d (Devoted Disciple of Christ) difficult (hear impossible) or easy (anyone can do it)?  I would be most interested in what is found to be difficult or easy and for how long have you been at it?

 

The Traveler

[askandanswer]

Short answer - it varies. Nothing always stays the same, so sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is hard. And sometimes what is hard for one person will be easy for another and vice-versa. And sometimes, for the same person, what was once easy can become hard, and vice-versa. 

[CV75]

On 3/6/2021 at 11:02 AM, Traveler said:

What would you think and say?  Is being a Saint of G-d (Devoted Disciple of Christ) difficult (hear impossible) or easy (anyone can do it)?  I would be most interested in what is found to be difficult or easy and for how long have you been at it?

 

The Traveler

It most certainly takes faith and work (Alma 32), which can be easy and hard, depending. But as they say, always worth it!

[Anddenex]

On 3/6/2021 at 9:02 AM, Traveler said:

What would you think and say?  Is being a Saint of G-d (Devoted Disciple of Christ) difficult (hear impossible) or easy (anyone can do it)?  I would be most interested in what is found to be difficult or easy and for how long have you been at it?

 

The Traveler

I would say how "easy" and "difficult" depends on what you are referring to, and the circumstances a son or daughter of God may find themselves within. Overall, keeping the commandments, as a result of your love for God, is much easier than following the ways and theories of humankind (which are driven with the wind and tossed). The easiest example, it is much easier to never touch drugs then to try to overcome an addiction. Freedom is much better than captivity.

Difficult would be looking at the life of Christ. Does anyone truly think what Christ went through was easy? Difficult would be looking at the life of Nephi when trying to retrieve the Brass plates. Is getting beaten with a rod easier than going back home to Dad and saying we tried -- but -- this is what Laban did so we don't have the plates?

Difficult would be definitely receiving command to offer up your firstborn -- an only -- son, while exercising faith that God would possibly resurrect him (as with Lazarus) after he was dead.

Difficulty is facing the barrage finger of scorns from the Great and Spacious building for keeping the commandments of God.

Difficulty would be knowing you have a temptation in this life that goes against who we are spiritually and temporally (remaining faithful), and having the world tell you that your choice is OK and anyone who doesn't think so is phobic.

Overall though, generally speaking, freedom is better than captivity. In that light, the gospel in the long run is much much easier than a life that leads to captivity.

Edited March 8, 2021 by Anddenex

[Carborendum]

It is both easy and hard.

All things in consideration here are really about choice, priorities, values.  Humans by our very nature want to choose the path of the natural man.  So, it is much easier to do that which our nature tells us we should do. 

To change is really difficult. 

But once you change such that the path of discipleship is your new nature, then the path becomes easy.  And the thought of returning to the natural man is frightening/disgusting.

As far as consequences, it would probably be fair to say that we get material and carnal rewards for choosing the path of the natural man.  But by choosing said path, we suffer for eternity. 

The path of discipleship makes no material promises, but spiritual ones.  And whether we see those rewards depends upon where our hearts are at the time.

Edited March 8, 2021 by Carborendum

[Traveler]

Some thoughts from my upbringing and experiences:

I am a direct descendent of pioneer ancestry and was raised by parents that lived through the Great Depression.  I was taught that wealth was not about money.  That true wealth comes from not only willing to do the work that others will complain about doing (think of as hard or demeaning) but more so learning to love and enjoy doing it.  The key, according to my parents, was not so much doing "difficult" things that others dislike or hate doing - it is disciplining yourself to find great joy in accomplishing such tasks.

I was also taught that happiness is never achieved through getting what you want or fulfilling your dreams.  Rather happiness comes from devoting one's self to a cause greater than themselves and disciplining one's self in that cause (disciplining and devoting one's self being essentially the same thing). 

It seems to me that the more unhappy someone is (especially with themselves) the more everything becomes difficult.  The happier an individual is (especially with themselves) the more everything becomes (or seems to become) fun and easy.

I have come to the conclusion that living the principles (laws and covenants) of the Gospel are easy - not by the nature of being easy but in comparison to all other alternatives.  But above it all living as a Saint is difficult (even impossible) to those attempting to serve two masters - trying to keep one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of G-d.

 

The Traveler 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Traveler

[mrmarklin]

The people that do not live the gospel are doing it the hard way.  This is true, no matter how it seems. 

[Phineas]

It’s all about attitude.  If you heart is in it and you find joy in it, then it’s easy.