Scripture Power Series- 1 Samuel 16:7

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, four years of Seminary is a requirement for all teenagers ages 14-18.  Seminary in our church is not a college degree that you get, although we do receive a certificate of completion at the end of the four years.  In most areas of the country. Mormon seminary is usually held in the wee hours of the morning before high school starts. I remember always being tired in the morning as I went to seminary but every day as I walked out of the church building I felt uplifted and going to seminary gave me great strength to go throughout my day.  Part of the requirements for seminary is to try and memorize, or at least be able to find, certain scriptures, a total of 100 for the entire 4 years.  Each year focused on a different books that we recognize as scripture: The Old Testament, The New Testament, The Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants. You can find an explanation and digital downloads of these books and request copies here. The key scriptures we had to learn were what we called Scripture Mastery scriptures.  I only still remember a handful, but I can recognize them if I read them in my study.  So, I decided that a lot of what I would teach my children through our weekly scriptures would come through our scripture mastery scriptures I learned as a youth.

This week, I chose a scripture mastery scripture from the Old Testament. To give you a little context, at this time Samuel the prophet was trying to choose the next king of Israel.  He was commanded of God to call Jesse and his sons to sacrifice with him.  As Samuel looked on all of Jesse's sons he thought that Eliab the first born would be a good king, but the Lord said, "look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him:

Then each of Jess's sons came to Samuel and it wasn't until the youngest, David came, who was the youngest of the sons.  David was small and not very good looking, but the Lord wanted him because his heart was good.  So, what can we learn from that?

One of my biggest struggles is my size.  I care way too much about my weight (definitely working on that one), but as I read this it doesn't matter what I look like.  It doesn't matter how tall I am or how skinny I am. Heavenly Father made us different for a reason.  What matters is how I treat my body because it is my temple.  What matters is that I love my body for what it is.  What matters is my heart.  Outward appearance could be many things-what we dress, how nice our house is, how much money we have, whether we have pimples or not, how many crafts we do with our children in one week (I am good if I do any... we believe in free play over here... ;). What truly matters is what our heart looks like.  Are we coveting what others have, or are we working hard for we want, while still being happy with what we have in the moment.  Are we being selfish enough that you miss opportunities to help others? Are you spending way to much time caring about what your facebook friends and instafriends think of you (the struggle is real people. ugh.  oh how its real)?  This scripture has awakened a desire in my heart to improve my thoughts and feelings towards others and myself.  Which brings me to my quote of the week, which is also something I do with my family and it ties in so well with our scripture:

My mom has taught me on multiple occasions that when I am sad that I need to forget myself and go do something for someone else. Often time my own sadness occurs because of something I lack, either physically, materially, and even my down falls spiritually- remember what I said here about Nephi's psalm? Anyhow, I know I am happier when I focus on other people's successes, when I make an effort to pray for other people, and when I try to serve others.  This week I am going to work dispelling my selfish tendencies and improve my heart making it more selfless.  To start off I listened to a great discourse on being selfish by James E. Faust called "What's in it for me?" Check it out.  I will probably listen again.  It kind of put me in my place.

I hope ya'll have a good week.  Has anyone started doing their own scripture of the week yet? What are you going to work on this week?