Covenants = celestial credentials

Ever since I have been attending the Glendale 7th singles ward, I have been so amazed with the Spirit that resides during all three hours and the lessons that I have learned. I feel impressed to share a few thoughts from today's sacrament meeting. I believe that it was a few of the members of the stake presidency who spoke. They spoke about temples and the importance of attending the temple often. One thought really struck me and it is the idea that "covenants become our credentials for admission into the celestial kingdom." What a brief, but profound statement! As I continued to ponder this concept, I thought about all of the worldly degrees that many of us have or are attempting to obtain. Yes - it is important to bring all of the education with us from this life, but if we do not keep our covenants, then we cannot enter the celestial kingdom, even with two hundred degrees bearing us down.

It is interesting to hear other people (mainly girls) speak about their break-ups, flings, or relationships that went sour. Yes - this can be tragic and I can empathize, but I feel so strongly that we need to see the "big picture" of what our life is really about and how we are missing out on so many wonderful things if we sit around and cry for those that are long gone, never to come back. Let's remember our covenants when we have trials in relationships - let's remember that Christ will never turn His back on us and break up with us. Our covenants connect us to Christ. When we are connected to Him, our souls can become whole and our Spirits will remain alive. We must not allow our spirits to become coarse and empty; so often, we allow others to take over our emotions and thoughts (which can also be a good thing - there is just a right time and right place for these moments). We need to have the strength to remember that the one person who we should allow control of our thoughts and emotions is our Savior.

Our Savior is consistent. He is steady and will always remain so. I love these two terms: steady and consistent. These adjectives should define who we are and who we will become. When we are steady and consistent with our covenants, we will always be connected with our Savior. What greater blessing is there than that?