Paul's improvement challenge: Counsel for Members

{1 Thessalonians 3:12-13}

• Increase in love with one another.

{1 Thessalonians 4:1-12}

• Stay pure. 
• Avoid lust.
• Do not take advantage your brother.
• Be honest and work hard. 

{1 Thessalonians 5:1-22}

• Don't "sleep" but be "sober"- but put on the the armor of faith, love, and hope.
• Warn the unruly
• Comfort the feebleminded.
• Support the weak.
• Avoid even the appearance of evil.
• Be patient toward all men. 
• Rejoice evermore.
• Pray without ceasing.
• Give thanks in everything.

 {2 Thessalonians 3:1-6,11}

• Pray for your leaders that the Lord may be able to use them freely.
• Have order and direction; don't be a "busybody."

My top 3:

• Be honest and work hard. 

Put your feet up, relax, you've earned this! I recently read this book about a woman raising a family in the Western U.S. one hundred years ago when survival meant real blood, sweat and tears hard work... or you starve. I think about them watching me how dependant I am on my microwave and minivan and smart phone. Do I really work hard? I can find ways to work harder, that's for sure. I want to improve on this. Work is so much more satisfying than unproductivity. 

• Give thanks in everything.

"Did I get the message God sent to me? Did I recognize his hand in my life?" I want to live up to President Eyring's challenge of finding the hand of God in my own life everyday. If I take just a minute to give thanks everything he's given me, I think I will find I have a Heavenly Father that really is taking care of me. He loves us so much. The things I get grumpy about are just not worth it!
 

• Have order and direction; don't be a "busybody."

When I was a single adult, I used to feel bad if I wasn't busy. If I didn't have every weekend packed full of important "stuff" to do, I wasn't reaching my full potential. President Monson reminds us that what matters most has very little the length of our to-do list and has everything to do with how we treat each other. As a mom of five little ones, it feels like I have the opposite problem. It's easy to get caught up with all the things I'm not doing when I should be just spend time with them. I really want to have my home be one of order and that my to-do list is full of doing things that "matter most."