Look to God and Live

These days, self-love often gets mistaken for pride. We might think that liking or loving ourselves means we’re being arrogant. But Jesus calls us to love everyone, including ourselves. Let’s take a look at what true self-love means and the positive impact it can have when we understand it through God’s word.

In a day of modern science and technology, it may seem odd that people continue to follow religions that originate from thousands of years ago. We'll discuss how the Christian lifestyle remains relevant and even necessary.

Mental health is an increasingly relevant topic in today's world, but it may be confusing how it fits in with our religious beliefs. We are taught to rely on the Savior for help, but are we allowed to also receive help from therapists and other resources? We'll discuss how God is involved in all aspects of our lives and how He reaches out to us in many different ways.

Pain is a universal experience. It comes in many forms from physical to emotional. We'll discuss how coming unto Jesus not only helps us heal from the pain but also help us know Him better.

Life is full of choices and possibilities making it daunting to know what your purpose may be. We'll discuss how we are children of God and it's through Him that we find purpose.

Studying the scriptures can be daunting. They use old language, strange metaphors, and print in tiny letters. Seth will discuss different study principles that he finds helpful for reading the word of God, that also may help you overcome said obstacles.

Making friends can be daunting in today's world especially since there's so many new ways to make friends with our devices and social media. We'll discuss how pattering our relationships after our relationship with God can help us be more confident in making friendships.

Mothers are excellent examples of the character of God and how He loves us. We can come closer to God by learning about our mothers.

As Latter-day Saints, we typically don't talk much about Holy Week as much as we talk about Easter. We share our thoughts on Jesus's last week on the Earth and what that means for us as His followers.

We take a break from our traditional questions to share our thoughts from the most recent General Conference.

We'll discuss the definition of compassion and how a more full understanding can also provide a more full understanding of who God is.The Bible Project (Tim Mackie and Jon Collins)

During difficult times, we may wonder to ourselves, "Does God really love me? Is He even aware of who I am?" We can feel pretty small living in a world so big that it may seem God can't truly love us. We'll discuss how God is perfect and how His love for us is also perfect.

We'll discuss the definition of grace and how a deeper understanding of it can improve our relationship with God.Resources:His Grace is Sufficient (Bradley R Wilcox)Relational Grace (Brent J Schmidt)

Receiving an education is an important aspect of life but it can be very difficult. Some people may wonder, "How can God help me in school even if it's secular? Surely God is only in the spiritual parts of life." We'll discuss how God is in ALL parts of life because He is concerned for our well being and growth.

We live in a world full of lots of different people. Sometimes it can be hard to get along with others who have different opinions, lifestyles, or standards. We'll discuss how seeing others as God sees them will help us love everyone.

Life can be challenging and difficult to find lasting happiness. It's not that people don't want it, they just have a hard time finding it. We'll discuss how turning to God and trying to live like Him brings us lasting joy.

One of the most difficult parts about life is navigating relationships. Whether it's family, friends, or romantic, good relationships can be difficult to develop. We'll discuss how our relationship with God can help us model our relationships with others.

We live in a world where we seem to have more questions than answers. At times we may feel confused on what we should trust. We'll discuss how God can help you find lasting truth.

With the beginning of the new year, we are changing up the format of our podcast. We aim to create shorter episodes, select scriptures that are more impactful, and as always be more Christ-centered.

We just wanted to share our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and what we learned over the course of the year reading it. This is the last episode of the year.

In the scriptures, faith, hope, and charity often appear with one another. Of course each of them individually are good traits to develop, but it still doesn't answer the question of "Why those three?" We'll discuss how faith, hope, and charity lead into each other and strengthen our relationship with God.

Some people may say, "I'm a spiritual person but I'm not very religious." Unfortunately, sometimes church leaders may be untrustworthy or congregations may be unfriendly. Whatever the reason may be, we are sometimes disillusioned with the structure of the church. We'll discuss how the Church was organized by Jesus Himself as an expression of His love for us.

Disappointment is a feeling that all people experience. It generally comes when we face unwanted results that we cannot change. Disappointment may be paralyzing. We'll discuss how turning to God can help us move past our disappointments and find joy in new opportunities.

Sometimes, we don't always make the best decisions. We almost always know what we *should* do but sometimes we choose to go against it for what seems to be a more fun or appealing option. We'll discuss the reason why we don't always make the best choices and how we can turn to Jesus to guide our decision-making processes.

Praying to God is often easy but hearing what He has to say back can be a bit trickier. We may not know how to recognize His answers or expect how He will answer. Whatever the challenge may be, we'll discuss different ways we can hear His voice and receive answers for our most burning questions.

A lot of Christians agree that miracles in the Bible happened but no longer happen today. It may be difficult to see miracles in a world that seems so mundane or ordinary. We'll discuss how God is a God of miracles and He continues to perform miracles today just as in ancient times.

It seems that the world is becoming more chaotic every day. From wars to pandemics to social tension, there seems to be contention everywhere. It may feel hard to be a Christian in a world where Christian values are seldom found. We'll discuss the example of Mormon who was constantly surrounded by contention but still found the goodness of Jesus.

We talk often about how we should be more like Jesus, but we may not know what that looks like in practice. He instructed that we should live His Gospel, but we may not even know what that means. We'll discuss the end of the teachings of Jesus in the Americas when He taught how to lead a life centered on Him.

Latter-day Saints talk about "gathering Israel" a lot. It's a phrase that may be confusing to others or even misunderstood in light of recent events. There's obviously a lot of questions surrounding this topic. We'll discuss how gathering Israel is simply teaching others of Jesus Christ and His Gospel and inviting them to be a part of a faith community.

The Book of Mormon was translated from a record written by the peoples of the ancient Americas. At times, the book's messages may feel outdated or irrelevant since they apply to people who lived hundreds of years ago. We'll discuss how the Book of Mormon contains the teachings of Christ, which can apply to anyone in any time.

There's lots of people in life that have expectations of us such as teachers, bosses, parents. At times, those expectations may feel like to much pressure to handle. One of the biggest pressures we face may be the expectations that God has for us. We'll discuss how Jesus did not give us high expectations (also known as His "higher law") to give us stress but instead to help us reach for true joy.

Sometimes, God will tell us what we should do and other times what we should not do. However, other times He won't answer us right away and wants us to wait. One of the most difficult parts about waiting is uncertainty, which can make waiting patiently difficult. We'll discuss how God uses the time we are waiting to teach us valuable lessons.

Sometimes it's hard to accept the fact that God chastens us for our mistakes. We want God to love us for who we are and leave us as that. However, the truth is that God truly loves us as we are but loves us too much to leave us as we are. We'll discuss how God chastens us because He loves us and wants us to be the happiest we can be.

Latter-day Saints are one of the few denominations of Christianity that believe in modern prophets. Many people question why we need them if religion is about a relationship between just you and God. We'll discuss the role of prophets through scriptural history and discuss why they are still needed today.

Everyone defines success differently. Some think it's in wealth, others think it's in a career, and others may think it's in a family. Wherever you find success, you might also find it difficult to obtain. We'll discuss how coming closer to God will help us find success in all aspects of our lives, even the non-religious parts.

The world seems to be growing more spiritually dangerous. It's filled with temptations and distractions that could lead us to sadness if we are tricked by them. Learning from the war chapters of the Book of Mormon, we'll discuss the valiant attributes of the stripling warriors and how we can apply the same to our lives.

Many Christians may wonder why the scriptures talk about war if it's a book about loving others and coming closer to God. Specifically in the Book of Mormon, a large portion is dedicated to war. This episode features guest KC Knoop who served in the US military for 20 years and offers a unique perspective on being a Christian in the military. We'll discuss how no matter the situation, Christians can always stick by their beliefs in Christ.

Shame is a generally misunderstood topic. While guilt is feeling bad for your actions, shame is feeling bad about yourself. We may feel shame because of our past mistakes, unmet expectations, or comments from others. Whatever our reason may be, God wants us to overcome our shame. We'll discuss how embracing our divine heritage will help overcome our shame.

We'll discuss the scripture that inspired our podcast. We feel that sometimes we think of real life and religion as two separate worlds and tend to live and then look to God. We'll discuss the importance of looking to God first then living and the importance of centering our lives on Jesus Christ.

If you grew up Christian, you may think that you've relied on your parents' testimony or what you've heard from others. You may be reaching a point where you want your own testimony but you don't know where to start. We'll discuss how strengthening your faith is an integral part in having personal experiences with God and in doing so will make you happier.

Not everyone believes as Christians do meaning that they can be confronted with questions, accusations, and insults. Many of these interactions can be overwhelming for most people and may not know how to respond while remaining Christlike. We'll discuss various principles for approaching those who criticize us.

There's plenty of things in life that feel out of control. The way others treat us, whether or not we're accepted to a job, and natural disasters are all occurrences that can happen without warning or reason. We may think how can we live happily if we can't control what happens to us. We'll discuss how we can control our decision to live a life with God who ultimately makes our life better than we can.

Behavior is a tricky subject. Sometimes it feels we can't just break a habit in ourselves and sometimes we just wish other people could change. Whether it's in ourselves or others, change is hard. We'll discuss how lasting change, not just breaking a few habits but recreating behavior, comes through God and His love.

It's just a fact that life is unfair. We lose loved ones too early, people take advantage of us, or we're not rewarded despite our efforts. We never earn what we deserve. We'll discuss how Jesus Christ can make any of our circumstances better and even consecrate them for our benefit.

There's lots of different reasons why it may be difficult to share our beliefs about God. Maybe we feel nervous how our friends may respond, maybe we feel discouraged that no one seems to be receptive, maybe we just don't feel motivated. We'll discuss why we may feel this way and ways we can overcome those feelings by letting God prevail.

You may have asked yourself the question, "If I were to die right now, would I feel ready to meet God?" Many might feel inadequate or that they're not good enough and such a question may seem terrifying. We'll discuss the immense love that Jesus Christ has for us and how even if we feel ashamed to meet Him, Jesus is never ashamed to meet us.

The world is full of voices, opinions, and ideas. We seem to be constantly hearing a stream of information from politicians, scientists, and scholars. At times, they seem to all contradict one another and we don't know who's right. We'll discuss how all good things come from God and we can discern His voice from the right people.

Sometimes we stray off the path and we feel like we've everything messed up. We may feel like others will judge us or that we don't even deserve to be loved any more. We'll discuss the guilt for mistakes we make but also the forgiveness that Jesus Christ offers us. We know that no matter how many mistakes we've made, Jesus has more forgiveness than we have sins and will always try to help us be better.

Covenants are promises made between us and God that strengthen our relationship with Him. However, we sometimes misunderstand their true significance, seeing them as a checklist. We'll discuss the purpose and importance of covenants, discussing how they bring us closer to God.