Hello and welcome to the Latter-day Ladies podcast . I am your host and your , J ennie Moss . Today , on episode 102 , we are going to be talking about President Nelson's latest conference address , entitled Peacemakers Needed . I have learned that I do indeed have anger and need peace in my life .
We're going to talk a little bit about how we can manage that anger and be able to replace it with peace , but I just want you to know that if you are listening to this podcast and thinking , oh no , he's describing me , don't worry , we talk about the antidote of anger , which is spoiler alert charity .
President Nelson starts his talk off with a story about him in his residency and a surgeon got angry at someone in the operating room and he threw a scalpel with infectious gangrene on it gross which landed on President Nelson's arm . He said this quote I promised myself that whatever happened in my operating room , I would never lose control of my emotions .
I find myself wondering if the contaminated scalpel that landed in my arm was any more toxic than the venomous contention that infects our civic dialogue and too many personal relationships today . End quote . After hearing those quotes , I wondered what happens in our bodies when we feel anger or when we see anger in other people .
There's a place in our brain called the amygdala , and the amygdala is responsible for identifying threats to our well-being and then it sends out a response or an alarm to the rest of our body to let us know that we need to protect ourselves .
The amygdala is so efficient at warning us about threats that oftentimes we will react before the cortex , or the part of the brain that's responsible for thought and judgment , can check on the reasonableness of our reaction . So first our body reacts and then our mind reacts .
To manage anger and the brain's responses , we must practice and teach our bodies how to react differently than the instinctual response .
Knowing that the physical response to anger is fight or flight , depending on the person or the past experiences or trauma and the current threat that they face , we can see that we need to consciously and consistently choose our response to override the body's natural reaction .
President Nelson then said this quote as disciples of Jesus Christ , we are to be examples of how to interact with others , especially when we have differences of opinion . One of the easiest ways to identify a true follower of Jesus Christ is how compassionately that person treats other people . End quote . So what is compassion ?
The dictionary defines it as consoling and concern for the suffering of others . Seeing the compassion in others experiences is a binding agent to help us build and develop our relationships on this earth . When we focus on that love and concern , we will see contention diffuse .
One thing that my therapist always says is God loves everyone in the story , and I truly believe that God loves everyone on this earth and if we are contending with someone , even if we feel like we are in the right , god still loves the person we are contending with .
Finding a way to bridge between what we are saying and what they are saying in a calm , collected and compassionate way is truly acting as the Savior would . President Nelson then says this quote the Savior's message is clear . His disciples build , lift , encourage , persuade and inspire , no matter how difficult the situation .
True disciples of Jesus Christ are peacemakers" . I did a little deep dive on this quote this week because I wanted to know what all of these words that he uses to describe true disciples truly mean . He starts with the word build . Build means to make stronger or shape .
We are asked to build others in Christ and help their faith become fortified against the spiritual whirlwinds that will come . The next word he uses is lift . The word lift denotes movement . It also takes effort to look down to those who need help being lifted . I've had the voice of the adversary lie to me many times , saying that I was unable to help others .
That voice is incorrect , for me and also for you . We have gifts and talents and experience and understanding that can be very helpful to those around us . It is our job to look for those opportunities and then to choose to lift Encourage . Encourage means to give support , confidence or hope to someone , to fortify or rally with them .
We do not have to agree with others to encourage them in areas of life that they need help . Every person is a child of God and there's always going to be a truth that we can build our foundation of relationship on .
I have seen so many times that when I pull a specific truth that someone is saying and encourage that , it builds a strength in our relationship and I may disagree with the other things that they are saying , but if I'm willing to build , lift and encourage them in this way , we are able to maintain our relationship in a way that Jesus Christ would have us do .
The next word is persuade . Persuading is to cause someone to do something through reasoning or to influence . In 1st Nephi , 6.4 , it reads For the fullness of my intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham , the God of Isaac , the God of Jacob , and be saved .
We can use our reasoning and testifying of simple truths to influence others for good . Often that's setting an example , answering questions when they come and being willing to live the truths that we know , no matter what happens in our life . The next word that President Nelson uses is inspire .
Inspire means to exert an animated , enlivening or exalting influence on something , or to draw forth or bring out . I love this description of inspiration and inspire because every soul on earth has known Christ . At one time they even chose him .
One of the most powerful things that we can do is provide an opportunity for others to remember choosing him , remember who he is . Through the Holy Ghost , we can inspire the incredible souls in our neighborhood and circles to remember and act upon that simple knowledge .
All of the words that President Nelson uses to describe true disciples build , lift , encourage , persuade , inspire , no matter how difficult the situation . All of these words take intentional action . They take us choosing to direct our emotional reactions into intentional choices , to be like the Savior and not just act out of impulse .
President Nelson then continues , quote the Savior's Atonement made it possible for all of us to overcome all evil , including contention . Make no mistake about it contention is evil . If a couple in your ward gets divorced , or a young missionary returns home early , or a teenager doubts his testimony , they do not need your judgment .
They need to experience the pure love of Jesus Christ reflected in your words and actions . If a friend on social media has a strong political or social view that violates everything you believe in , an angry cutting retort by you will not help . Building bridges of understanding will require much more of you , but that is exactly what your friend needs .
Contention drives away the spirit . Every time . Contention reinforces that false notion that confrontation is the way to resolve differences . But it never is . Contention is a choice . Peacemaking is a choice . You have your agency to choose contention or reconciliation . I urge you to choose to become a peacemaker , now and always .
End quote we have all seen reactions in ourselves and in others that are rooted in the fight or flight , physical reaction that we have . We will continue to see contentious behavior in this fallen world , but we can choose to be peacemakers , to build and inspire , to uplift and encourage and to become masters of our bodies .
As we choose to change the reaction of a physical sensation , we will become true disciples of Jesus Christ . Now you may ask how is it done ? How can I possibly do this thing ? President Nelson gives us the answer . Quote charity is the antidote to contention .
Charity is a spiritual gift that helps us cast off the natural man who is selfish , defensive , prideful and jealous . Charity is the principal characteristic of a true follower of Christ . Charity defines a peacemaker . When we humble ourselves before God and pray with all of the energy of heart , god will grant us charity .
Those blessed with this supernal gift are long suffering and kind . They do not envy others and they are not caught up in their own importance . They are not easily provoked and do not think evil of others . I have talked before about praying for the charity and love of Jesus Christ .
When dealing with people who may have rubbed me the wrong way , and as a victim of abuse , my fight or flight response gained momentum throughout my life , and it was a physical reaction to the experience that I had as a child . I have had to first gain awareness of how anger manifested itself in my body and then come to terms with the fact that it existed .
I didn't realize how much pent-up resentment had been buried from my abuse , and in the last six months I have worked tirelessly to rid myself of those burdens . I can testify with my whole heart that the Lord , jesus Christ , wants to partner with us in this work .
He has helped me identify the places where bitterness and resentment were intrinsically connected to my relationships and has helped me let them go . It has been such a magnificent gift to see the relief and release from Jesus Christ , being able to walk into a situation where I may disagree with someone or it may trigger a reaction inside my body .
I have learned that I get to choose how I react to that . I get to choose what I do when those reactions come into my brain . I know that God cares about our relationships and he cares about our mental health .
Loving others and choosing to be a peacemaker will help us so beautifully see the love of Christ in our own life and also in others as we connect in a more charitable way . President Nelson ended with this quote if you are serious about helping to gather Israel and about building relationships that will last throughout the eternities .
Now is the time to lay aside bitterness . Now is the time to cease insisting that it is your way or no way . Now is the time to stop doing things that make others walk on eggshells for fear of upsetting you . Now is the time to bury your weapons of war . If your verbal arsenal is filled with insults and accusation , now is the time to put them away .
You will arise as a spiritually strong man or woman of Christ . That is an incredible promise , blessing from the prophet of our day , that if we are willing to lay down these weapons of war through our action and our word , that we can arise as a spiritually strong woman of Christ .
I know that this promise is true and as I continue on with this work , I pray that the Lord's power of charity can flow through my life and relationships . I love you guys . We can do this together . Let us be the peacemakers that our prophet is pleading for us to be . Have a wonderful week , bye you .