Scripture Study - Whole/Wholly

 1/29/24 – Whole/Wholly

And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out. (2 Nephi 25:29) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand. (Eph. 6:11)

… Jesus … saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Mark 2:17) … Jesus turned him about and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. (Matt. 9:22)

The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single (dedicated), thy whole body shall be full of light. (3 Nephi 13:22) And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. (D&C 88:67)

And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved. (Omni 1:26)

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. (Ps. 119:2) Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting (progress) may be manifest in all. (1 Tim. 4:15) And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thes. 5:23)

Insights: When contemplating on the word “whole” I can’t help but think that it is another form of the words “complete,” “finished,” and “total.” These are each all-encompassing ending words, meaning that there is nothing that comes after. This is the final answer we give on who and what we are and have become in this life. When looking at it like this, I recognize that the decisions made in this life are very simple. Do we believe in God? If we believe in God, do we love Him? These are yes or no questions. If we believe in God and love Him, then we show that love by following Him. It is just that simple. This ultimate question and answer colors all that we choose to do in each day.

I was recently in a jury selection room and the same question was asked of all 60 individuals. The question was whether you felt that the purpose of a prison sentence was to punish, detain (keep from further harm happening), or rehabilitation of the individual. I was torn on my answer but we were only allowed to give a single response. As I sat listening to the answers given by others, I realized that I needed to look upon the question as I would imagine my Heavenly Father desires when we, His beloved children, make mistakes and what His ultimate goal for each of His children is. He wants us to be complete or whole. He doesn’t find joy in bringing us pain because we made a mistake; the last thing He wants for us is to heap even more weight upon our shoulders, crippling us from making the turn back to Him. He doesn’t pre-judge us – that there is no future hope because of a mistake made. He has ultimate hope in our ability to choose to change and return to Him, even when we don’t share that same hope in ourselves. He only wants to help us along the path to peace and joy. He wants to show us how to choose wisely and live a life that allows us to progress freely and become the most complete or finished version of His child. He wants to give us guidelines that will protect us from the worst of the worst in life.

I recall a presentation I gave in college where I compared laws and their purpose to the handrail of a skyscraper balcony. The rail isn’t there to block our view or to force us to comply to someone’s grand scheme of control. The rail is there to protect us. It gives us safety without force. We can still look out while standing at the rail and have the whole view; and if we choose, we can climb over that rail and ignore the safety provided. It is completely in our hands what to do with the protection provided. So too are the commandments of God. He isn’t trying to force dominion over us, just as that is not the goal of any good parent. He only wants to provide the best opportunities for the greatest rewards possible.

I must admit, I wasn’t expecting my study to go quite in this direction when I originally placed these passages within the pages of this year’s study schedule. I am infinitely grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me, has hope for me, and doesn’t ever give up on me; because I fail myself all the time by making mistakes, losing hope in my abilities, and internally berating myself. I need to remember and be more like Him in being gracious and loving to myself and to others who are going through challenging life experiences. One of my favorite quotes I came across years ago says, “Be the woman who fixes another woman’s crown without telling the world that it was crooked.” Take care of yourself, and then quietly share that same love with others.