FDRL213 Week 4 Unit 1: Be Thou An Example of the Believers

"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;" "But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works."--1 Timothy 2:9-10

Paul's emphasis on dress standards are much different than the standards that are popular in today's world. He emphasizes modesty and sobriety, not going too extravagantly fancy or worldly. Our good works help us profess our true godliness and Paul advises us to focus more on our deeds than our appearance. While in these verses he is speaking directly to women, his words apply to all members of the church. As we learn in both verse 18 as well as verse 36 in section 61 of Doctrine and Covenants, "what I [the Lord] say unto one I say unto all". Men should take Paul's counsel on dress standards.

We learn in the church that are bodies are sacred and place a lot of emphasis on respecting our bodies. As we read in Moses 6:9, we have been created in the literal image of God--our bodies were created to look like He does. In Mosiah 2:37, King Benjamin warns his people about disobeying the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord does not dwell in unclean or unholy temples. So if we are choosing to do evil rather than doing what we know to be right, we cannot have the Spirit with us because we are ourselves. Our bodies are the temple for the Spirit to reside in. In Alma 41:2, we come to understand that when we are resurrected, we believe our soul will be restored to our bodies. From these three verses, we understand more about why we need to respect our bodies: we're created in the image of God, our bodies are temples for the Spirit to reside in, and at the Resurrection we will need our bodies to be reunited with our souls. Once we understand why we believe our bodies are so important, we don't want to exploit them or dress in ways that showcases our bodies to be less than holy. Alma 1:32 lists 'wearing costly apparel' as one key indicator that separated those who didn't belong to the church from those that did. If we believe in Christ, our actions and all that we do in our lives should reflect that belief. That includes the way that we dress.

Later on in 1 Timothy, Paul is discussing the apostasy that will happen in the latter-day times. Some of the evidences of this apostasy that he mentions are:

• Listening to 'seducing spirits'
• Listening to the 'doctrine of the devil'
• Being hypocritical 
• Spreading lies
• Very intense feelings of guilt
• Choosing not to get married

"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."--1 Timothy 4:12

The above verse was used to as a theme for the youth of the church when I was a laurel and has been one of my favorite verses ever since. Paul is very clear: no one should scoff at your beliefs because of your age. I know several close friends who have felt very inadequate as they have gone to serve their missions. If we have strong faith in Christ at a young age, that is all the more reason to be joyful and is nothing to feel ashamed about. We should be proud of our beliefs and feel confident as we live a life that others can see and follow our example.

Paul is very blunt when it comes to money and the love of money. Many people have fallen away from the truth because they have been too distracted and preoccupied trying to get more money. We are born with no money to our name and we will have no money when we die. The love of money can be very dangerous to our eternal salvation. We must be careful to be moderate and strive more for the things of the Lord rather than for financial gain. Paul gives good guidelines that we can check to see where we stand when it comes to the desire for money. We must trust more in God than we do in money and we must be willing to help those in need as often as we are able. Good works will do more good for us in the eternal scheme of things than a fat wallet will.