"The temple and the ordinances of the temple are the ultimate application of the gospel of Christ. I say to people that one of the blessings of the temple and its ordinances is the perspective that it provides. When we go to the temple, we leave all of our cares and problems and issues and concerns at the door. And when we come back out, they’re still there. We have to pick them all up and they haven’t changed, but what has changed is ourselves. And we’ve added spiritual strength, I think, and capacity and a truer perspective on life and what it all means, and maybe the big problems don’t seem so big anymore and the little ones that we thought didn’t matter, we better deal with it before it does become something too big.
"The other thing, though, I think, is there is a divine power associated with those covenants. The Doctrine and Covenants says that in the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and I would think particularly those of the temple, the power of godliness is manifest. And among other things, I believe that means there’s a godly influence, a divine power that flows into us when we make those covenants and keep them.
"So it’s a place of renewal. It’s a place of revelation. Temples can only fulfill their purpose really if we are prepared. People are sometimes critical about our temple worship, claiming it’s unduly secret. But the access is limited not for secrecy, but just to assure preparation. We really need to be prepared and mature spiritually to make those covenants and then to keep them. They’re very sacred."
- D. Todd Christofferson in "The Gospel Answers Life’s Problems and Challenges," in Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting Broadcast, February 11, 2012
Click here to read or listen to the full discussion
Elder Christofferson's insights on the blessings of the temple ring true to me. I've never found that attending the temple just makes problems go away; but as he vividly describes, we can leave our worries and concerns at the door, go inside to be taught and inspired, then come back out to pick our challenges back up with renewed strength and perspective:
In addition to the perspective on life the temple helps provide, we also find a very real endowment of "divine power" that comes to us as we humbly participate in sacred ordinances and focus on our covenants. And we can truly receive revelation to help answer our questions and concerns. As we prepare ourselves for God's most sacred blessings, we find find fountains of wisdom and strength that come to us through our temple worship.
(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2018)
Thanks David!
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