My current New Testament class has inspired me to expand on and continue this blog. Over the last year since I last posted, a lot of learning experiences have occurred in my life including, being a relief society president in a student ward, working in the temple, and meeting and marrying a man who encourages me to be my best self, continue pursuing my dreams, and live a faithful and righteous life. Over the last year, I’ve learned that being a good person and a good wife and having a happy and successful family is dependent on more than theories and research. It is dependent upon good practices based on true principles and each individual in the family seeking to obtain Christ like attributes and become like Him and for my new little family it needs to start with me. 

        I have often struggled in my life with finding balance. I can never be comfortable; I am always hot or cold. I am often either sad or extremely happy and sometimes I eat completely healthy never allowing myself a treat and other times I find myself so busy and stressed that I can only find time for processed foods and things that can be purchased in a drive thru. I especially struggle trying to find a balance between having low self-esteem and being down on myself and being prideful and overconfident.

        I know that the optimum balance between low self-esteem and overconfidence is Christ like humility, but how do I obtain this? In my study this week I have found an amazing example of humility – John the Baptist. We learn in the third Chapter of Matthew, in the New Testament, that Christ goes to John the Baptist and requests to be baptized. John declines saying, “I have need to be baptized of thee and thou comest to me?” (Matthew 3:14) and as we know Christ responds in kind, “…Suffer it to be so now:for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.” (Matthew 3:15). Then we know that John goes ahead with baptizing the Savior of the world.

        It is amazing to me that Jesus Christ our Savior who was baptized to keep all of the father’s commandments, participate in an ordinance necessary for salvation, and to show us a perfect example was baptized by John the Baptist --  a willing, dedicated, and faithful servant. You might be asking, how is this showing great humility? John the Baptist shows humility three times in this passage. The first time- John, already knowing that he was sent to prepare the way for the Savior,  declined to baptize him showing the Savior and all of us that the Savior is greater than us all and should be respected as such. The second time – John questions why he should baptize the Savior and why the Savior needed to be baptized. Wouldn’t we have to be extremely humble to ask the Savior a question to His face and be willing to accept the answer? The third time –John acted. He used the Aaronic priesthood which he held to keep a direct commandment of the Savior to baptize him thus preparing the way for all of us to eventually follow in the Savior’s footsteps and be saved.

        In order to be humble I must put aside my personal fears, worries, and desires and become as Christ and John the Baptist encompasses all that is a humble follower of Christ. I want to be as humble as John the Baptist was in his ministry and in order to do that I must have these three goals: Recognize that there is someone much greater than I am –more specifically the Savior, ask questions and be willing to learn and accept truth, and act on faith in righteousness. And if I do this I will not only be more humble; but, I will be more like the Savior and will be another step closer to bringing my family toward the Him.