"Before you can master yourself, my precious one, you need to know who you are."
-Russell M. Nelson
"There will always be voices telling you that you are foolish to believe that you are swans, insisting you are but ugly ducklings and that you can't expect to become anything else. But you know better." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.”
-Leonardo da Vinci
We need to know who we are before we can develop self mastery.
For, how do we master our "self" if we do not know the "self" we are seeking to master.
For, how do we master our "self" if we do not know the "self" we are seeking to master.
So, who are we?
We are spirit sons/daughters of God with divine potential.
We also have a physical body and therefore are "natural" men and women.
"You consist of two parts—your physical body, and your spirit which lives within your body. You may have heard the expression 'mind over matter'. That’s what I would like to talk about—but phrase it a little differently: 'spirit over body.' That is self-mastery."
Self mastery is not about controlling the "natural man/woman", but rather it is about making a conscious choice; it is choosing to strive for our divine potential.We know that the "natural man is an enemy to God"..."unless he yields to the enticings of the spirit." (Mosiah 3:19) We also know that each human being suffers similar temptations. (1 Corinth 10:13)Nevertheless, for each individual, certain temptations are more difficult to resist than others.It is important to ask ourselves, in honesty:
What are our weaknesses? What are we easily tempted by?
This is the "self" we are seeking to master.
We are spirit sons/daughters of God with divine potential.
We also have a physical body and therefore are "natural" men and women.
"You consist of two parts—your physical body, and your spirit which lives within your body. You may have heard the expression 'mind over matter'. That’s what I would like to talk about—but phrase it a little differently: 'spirit over body.' That is self-mastery."
-Russell M. Nelson
Self mastery is not about controlling the "natural man/woman", but rather it is about making a conscious choice; it is choosing to strive for our divine potential.We know that the "natural man is an enemy to God"..."unless he yields to the enticings of the spirit." (Mosiah 3:19) We also know that each human being suffers similar temptations. (1 Corinth 10:13)Nevertheless, for each individual, certain temptations are more difficult to resist than others.It is important to ask ourselves, in honesty:
What are our weaknesses? What are we easily tempted by?
This is the "self" we are seeking to master.
A change of heart
What a wise thing it is to change our questions. To quit asking “How can I get control of my life, my children, my situation?” and start asking “How can I experience the mighty change of heart? How can I yield my will to His? How can I put God first in my life and trust Him totally? How can I remember that God is in charge, that all things happen for a purpose, and that all trials are tailor-made for our growth and individual instruction? The relief that comes from asking the right questions is transformative, comforting, freeing.
"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature." -Ezra Taft Benson
"Master, with anguish of spirit
I bow in my grief today.
The depths of my sad heart are troubled.
Oh, waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish
Sweep o'er my sinking soul,
And I perish! I perish! dear Master.
Oh, hasten and take control!"
Note the difference in the final two lines of the following poems. The first poem is entitled "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley. The second poem is a replica of the first, but replaces self-mastery with the Saviour's ability to captain one's soul. The second is entitled "My captain", by Dorothea Day.
"I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul."
Contrasted with
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"Christ is the Master of my fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul."
Christ is the Captain of my soul."
Some steps towards Self Mastery:
Observe the law of the fast
As funds are contributed from meals missed, the needs of the poor may be met. But meanwhile, through your spirit, you develop personal power over your body’s drives of hunger and thirst. Fasting gives you confidence to know that your spirit can master appetite.
Observe the Word of Wisdom
Remember, it contains a “promise, adapted to the capacity of … the weakest of all saints.” (D&C 89:3) It was given “in consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days.” (D&C 89:4)
Remember, it contains a “promise, adapted to the capacity of … the weakest of all saints.” (D&C 89:3) It was given “in consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days.” (D&C 89:4)
Exercise
“Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor. 6:20)
“Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor. 6:20)
I would not want you to neglect your body. It deserves daily care. Physical conditioning through regular exercise requires self-mastery too. But our motivation should never be to attain physical longevity. Our desires should be to serve God and His anointed. Those faithful in “magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become … the elect of God.” (D&C 84:33–34)
Serve others
President Spencer W. Kimball observed: “To be unselfish totally, always thinking of others before one’s self, is a great step toward self-mastery.”
President Spencer W. Kimball observed: “To be unselfish totally, always thinking of others before one’s self, is a great step toward self-mastery.”
Never give up
A small child learns to walk by falling and getting back up. Self-control often comes the same way. We must never get discouraged. Are our only two options perfection or failure? No! We need to be happy with progress, no matter how small.
Fill your life with goodness
We must make sure that we FILL our minds with goodness. It is not enough to merely cast out all evil thoughts, if our minds consist of nothing else. We must be "anxiously engaged in a good cause"! We must give our mind options of other thoughts to think! Our minds cannot survive without nourishment - thoughts. Emptying all negative thoughts, with nothing else to sustain our minds will lead to a natural resistance as an act of self-preservation. It is not enough for an ill person to cure themselves of disease, if they do not give their bodies all other life-sustaining substances. One who quits smoking by simply stopping breathing will die. Sure, they are no longer breathing in smoke, but neither are they filling their lungs with anything that sustains life. Thoughts of the Saviour are the most life-giving thoughts one can think, for he is the "life and the light of the world."
“May we be convinced that Jesus is the Christ, choose to follow Him, be changed for Him, captained by Him, consumed in Him, and born again” -Ezra Taft Benson
“May we be convinced that Jesus is the Christ, choose to follow Him, be changed for Him, captained by Him, consumed in Him, and born again” -Ezra Taft Benson
"Christ is the Master of my fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul."
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