"I am Hans""Und I am Franz"
"Und ve just vant to PUMP YOU UP!"
Many of us are familiar with the insanely buff pop icons Hans and (und) Franz from Saturday Night Live, with their outrageously bemuscled bods and their intolerance for any and all "girlie men". As a young teenager (and even today, I'll admit), I wanted nothing more than to get as ripped as these two fictitious Austrian weightlifters. But I wasn't willing to pay the price. Instead of going to the gym, I'd play video games; instead of eating healthily and working on building lean muscle, I was into burgers and shakes. Now I'm not saying all this to have you laugh at me or to hang up my dirty laundry for all to see--I merely mean to illustrate the point that you can't get something for nothing.
God knows it's the same way--we are here to learn to become like Him, to develop His attributes ("godliness"), and be happy--and it doesn't come easily. We have to work at it! The Savior said, "Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). Have you tried being perfect? It's really difficult! Even impossible! But that's what He's commanded us to do. So how do we get there? How do we eschew weakness, strip the flabbiness from our spirits, and not be "girlie men"? Here's what a prophet said:
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ... (Moroni 10:32)
Obviously that's a lot easier said than done, but it is possible through the grace of Jesus Christ. We have the scriptures and the prophets as our guidelines (like a weight-training book); when we are baptized, we have the Holy Ghost's companionship (He's our personal trainer); and we have our Elder Brother Jesus Christ as a model (the Perfect Paragon). So don't give up! Christ is going to PUMP YOU UP! Let Him change your weaknesses into strengths! And above all, in the immortal words of Hans und Franz: DON'T be a [spiritual] GIRLIE MAN!
Much love,
Elder Spendlove
PS for more about not getting bogged down by weakness, check out Elder Menasco's blog!
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