Today, as I promised, we’re discussing unnecessary pain. The reason it is called unnecessary pain is because it is UNNECESSARY. When you catch on to this it is absolutely amazing to realize how much pain you’ve clung to in your life that you didn’t need to suffer! There are four causes of unnecessary pain. 1. Unnecessary pain is caused by our own misuse of agency. Our own hearts will tell us what we should do concerning right and wrong, and if we go against what our heart tells us our conscience is pricked and we will suffer guilt and usually much greater pain. As much as some people try, they cannot go against their own hearts and feel good.
2. Whenever we fight against the truth of a telestial world we experience unnecessary pain or, as we talked about recently, we experience anger. To review: Anger is an emotion that occurs when something or someone violates our expectation of what should be. Anytime we find ourselves thinking things like: “This shouldn’t be happening to me. I shouldn=t have fallen and broken my arm. He shouldn’t have done that. Why is God doing this or allowing this?” We are creating unnecessary pain.
3. Whenever we try to avoid the necessary pain of spiritual growth we will experience unnecessary pain. There is a great irony here. We are in pain either way, but the unnecessary pain accomplishes nothing.
4. Unnecessary pain is caused by denying Christ. How do we do that? By feeling like we have to do it all ourselves. By feeling like we can never be forgiven no matter how sincerely we have repented. By comparing ourselves to others and trying to be like them instead of discovering what God want us to do and be. By thinking we’ll never be good enough.
Choosing any of these is the path of fear—the opposite of faith. But the most important thing to realize is that there is no blessing attached to enduring unnecessary pain. It is totally UNNECESSARY. All we need to do to escape it is to drop the thoughts that are causing the pain.
I knew when I started reading this post it was going to be what I needed. All I can say is WOW! That one hit me this time like a ton of bricks. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this concept. (And this is my favorite picture yet!) :D The first time I'd ever heard it was during your Women's Conference talk last month. It's beginning to permeate the way I think. And I appreciate these extra details about it. Thank you so much for your continued insight. :)
ReplyDeleteLaresa, I'm glad you liked it. I hope it helps you. Realizing these things has changed me. xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteWendi, It takes awhile, but when you think about this daily it begins to change how you think and act. I'm very grateful for what it's done for me. Thanks again for you kind words!
ReplyDeleteHi Sister Johnson! I'm so glad to have gotten your update letter and to find you in the blog world. I have been deeply moved by all your experiences and your documentation of life has truly inspired me. Thank you so much for that. I'm so grateful to read your thoughts and to learn and grow from them. Thank you for sharing!-Bernice
ReplyDeleteBernice, It is so nice to hear from you! I hope all is going well with you and your family. Thank you so much for your kind words. You are wonderful1
ReplyDeleteWOW, this is so true. I am especially touched by the explanation of when we try to avoid the necessary pain of spiritual growth, this is so profound. Great joy and gratitude can be found in the pain of spiritual growth. Thanks Sherrie
ReplyDeleteCathy,It is amazing how necessary pain can be turned to joy. It is what I experienced with my Grizelda adventure and the intensity of the resulting joy surprised me.
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