Forced To Coexist

No, this post isn't about marital discord or squatters living in our apartment. Well. . . besides the dust bunnies. They won't leave no matter what I say. How rude.

Last night while my husband was busy slaving away at work, I decided to write in the 'ol journal. I love how thoughts come to me while writing by hand that is distinctly different than, say, blogging. I love how quickly I'm able to get what I want recorded on my laptop, but there's just something special about journal writing. Does anyone else have similar experiences, or am I just coo-coo?

Well, here is what I was able to scribble down. . . I hope it makes some sort of sense! And, as always, my thoughts are my own and could be completely off-base as far as being 100% doctrinally correct. These are just my feelings on the matter. :)

"I started re-reading Stephen E. Robinson's book "Believing Christ" today and something he said seemed to really jump out at me just now:

'My personal belief is that in the resurrection the opposition of the flesh will finally be overcome. In mortality, the spirit and the body are two separate entities forced to coexist in the same person. The mortal connection between them is both recent and temporary, hence they wrestle and fidget with each other."

I've never really thought of it quite like that before. It's so easy to think 'Okay. I'm 24 years old,' but that's only my physical body. I can't count high enough to put a number on my spirit. My personality {entity} has been around a loooooong time.

Literally.

Think about that for a minute. There is a part of you that has literally been before God.

Our mortal state is just a blip in eternity, but it's the determining factor for how we spend the third estate. It's a pretty big deal, I'd say! If you think about it from our spirit's point of view, it would probably be like being thrown into a poor-functioning-hard-to control piece of machinery and trying to learn how to master the controls in, like, 2 minutes {as far as eternity is concerned}.

Having the flesh constantly pulling a different direction than where our spirit would like to go is frustrating, to say the least. Is it necessary? Yes, in a way. We had to get a body. You can't very well get resurrected if there's nothing to pop your spirit back into. Our bodies must be submitted to testing so that our spirits can prove where their loyalties lie. The flesh is weak. We are ridden with weakness and sin. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is THE ONLY THING that could ever get the body and spirit to shake hands, play nice, and become a soul.

. . . I don't know what to say than what I've already said. It's real. Don't let your very inexperienced flesh tote your majestic spirit along for the ride. Let you spirit blaze the path and make your body follow! Focus on the things that matter in the grand scheme of things. Take time to slow down and remember who you really are. . . and how very much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you. . . literally!"

. . . . .

{source}

I know I talk a lot about life and the gospel and I'm sure it gets a little boring. But I think the reason I mention it so much is because it's so very important to remember, and yet so easy to forget!

I am absolutely full of flaws. Up to my eyeballs, in fact, but I won't bore you with the list. :)

What matters to Jesus Christ isn't how perfect I'm able to make myself. . . It's that I'm willing to join myself with Him and become perfect through HIS merit. What matters is that I'm willing to keep trying to do my best; every single day. What matters is that I continually try to get this unruly flesh to submit to the will of my spirit. It takes time and a lot of effort. It will take who knows how long after I die to get all of the kinks ironed out and become perfect; but the beauty of the gospel is that we know that we have forever.

Never discount yourself because of your weaknesses and flaws. It means your human! It means your just like the rest of us. None of us can become perfect merely by trying super hard, but Heavenly Father knew that before this whole thing started! Humanity is nothing new to our Father. He's seen it all.

We need to remember that though our bodies are weak, our spirits are not. That much I know. Give yourself a chance! Put the one in the driver's seat that you trust, and be patient. It will all work out in the end if we keep focused!