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Reverence


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Sacrament meeting is the most important hour of the week. It is the reason we attend church. And yet, it seems to be when we are the most irreverent. During sacrament meeting, people are talking, texting, sleeping, eating, preparing lessons, reading scriptures, and playing with babies. What's worse is when these things go on during the actual passing of the sacrament, the time we should be thinking of Christ, His Atonement, and the covenants we made. It is the time to reflect on our week, repent of our mistakes, and promise to improve.

We should also be reverent during the talks. You all know how daunting it is to go up there. We should give the speakers our respect and attention, no matter how boring or "bad" the talk is. As John Bytheway notes in his talk "The Best Three Hours of the Week," we decide what we get out of church. There is no such thing as a bad talk; we can always come away with something if we are listening with the Spirit.

Reverence also applies to the rest of church, the temple, FHE, scripture study, and gospel discussions. It means being respectful through our words, actions, and appearance. When we are reverent, we show respect and love to Heavenly Father and invite the companionship of the Spirit, which in turn leads to personal revelation and strengthened testimony. This Primary song says it best:

Rev’rence is more than just quietly sitting:
It’s thinking of Father above,
A feeling I get when I think of his blessings.
I’m rev’rent, for rev’rence is love.
When I’m rev’rent, it shows in my words and my deeds.
The pathway to follow is clear.
And when I am rev’rent, I know in my heart
Heav’nly Father and Jesus are near.

("Reverence Is Love," Children's Songbook, 31).

Challenge: Be reverent and set the example for others.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Good article. Many of our meetings need more reverence. Members need to start by showing more respect for the building itself. Look up an article in the March, 1990 Ensign by Shirleen Meek. It is called "How We Improved Reverence". It has wonderful ideas from a variety of sources on how to accomplish this.
Mom
December 27, 2010 at 6:39 PM
Mrs. Sanchez said…
Love that children's song. We don't typically use the term "heavenly father," but love the concept and lyrics still.

Think of how many circumstances we show love through respect in relationships as well.

Our actions convey so much of our attitude towards a person.

Great insightful post!! *MWAH*
December 28, 2010 at 2:51 AM
Anonymous said…
we did our primary sharing time today- the theme was on reverence and reverence songs-DAD
January 24, 2011 at 12:06 AM
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