“The Lord Requireth the Heart and a Willing Mind”
- CFMCorner
- Jun 17
- 9 min read
CFM:
Videos, Podcasts, & Weekly Lesson Material
VIDEOS & PODCASTS
Media | Resource Links |
|---|---|
BYU RSC Library | |
Come Follow Church History with Lynne Hilton Wilson | |
Come Follow Me Kid | |
Come Follow Me Scott Woodward & Casey Griffiths | |
Come Follow Up | |
D&C Historical Background | |
Don't Miss This | |
Follow Him | |
Grounded with Barbara Morgan | |
Gospel For Kids | Not yet published |
Seminary Decks | Not yet published |
Hurricane Adult Religion Class | |
Latter Day Kids | |
Line Upon Line | |
Meridian Magazine Podcast | |
Our Mother's Knew It | |
Saving Talents | |
Scripture Study Central | D&C 64-66
|
Scripture Explorers | D&C 64-66 |
Scripture Gems | |
Scripture Insights | |
Talking Scripture | |
Teaching With Power | D&C 64-66 |
Thumb Follow Me | D&C 51-57 |
The Red Crystal | |
The Scriptures are Real | |
The Interpreter Foundation | D&C 64-66
|
Unshaken | D&C 64-66 |
CHAPTER & SECTION SUMMARIES
Resources and Insights for this Week's Lesson
Housekeeping
You've likely noticed some changes to our CFM Corner website. I have been working to make your scripture study experience more enriching and accessible.
What's New
Enhanced Section Summaries: Each section now has its own dedicated page, making it easier to find and reference specific sections and insights when you need them.
Integrated Scripture Passages: I'm now including relevant scriptural text directly in our discussions, but this isn't meant to replace your personal scriptures or the Church's official resources. The Gospel Library app and ChurchofJesusChrist.org offer invaluable cross-references, study aids, and supplementary materials that remain essential to your study. However, this integrated format is for practical use, as it allows me to embed lexicon and word study links directly into the scriptural text, giving you immediate access to Hebrew and Greek insights without interrupting your reading flow.
Why Ancient Languages Matter
When you explore these lexicon links, you'll discover something fascinating: many words offer multiple translation options. Take ἀφίημι (aphiēmi) from this week's lesson—it can mean "to release," "to let go," "to send away," or "to forgive." Additionally, you'll discover that there are several terms that can be used to translate "forgive." How do we know which translation is accurate?
This reveals one of translation's greatest challenges: capturing not just the correct interpretation of a word, but its essence—the full emotional and spiritual weight the original author intended. This is an impossible task, as so many of these words were intentionally chosen not only for their meaning, but for their poetic value, and how they interact with other words within the text. This is one of the reasons that so many beautiful Hebrew wordplays and Greek double meanings get lost in translation, often disappearing altogether in English renditions. These translational gaps often leave us with an incomplete and sometimes distorted understanding of what the text originally intended to convey. This is why these word studies are so valuable.
Learning to Navigate Multiple Options: Determining which translation best fits the context takes time and practice. The most reliable approach is examining how the same words or phrase appears elsewhere in scripture—this is where concordances become invaluable tools. This allows us to examine how ancient prophets used these terms. We can also examine how modern prophets and apostles have interpreted these passages. Using these sources as our guides can help us discern which meaning best captures the divine intent behind the text.
The Restoration's Unique Gift
This exercise continually amazes me because when we dig back to these ancient source materials, we discover extraordinary insights. The concepts revealed through careful study of Hebrew and Greek texts align precisely with Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants revelations. The accuracy of even the smallest details is remarkable—subtle elements like Hebrew naming patterns, linguistic structures, ancient agricultural practices, and cultural references that would be impossible to fabricate without advanced knowledge of Near Eastern civilizations and languages. These linguistic insights also illuminate and resolve many doctrinal questions that have puzzled Christian scholars for centuries.
To me, this harmony isn't coincidental—it's evidential. Joseph Smith, with limited formal education and no access to advanced biblical scholarship, received revelations that perfectly complement truths embedded in ancient languages he couldn't academically access. Yet through divine means, he did access them. Modern prophets and apostles continue this pattern, teaching principles that resonate with the deepest meanings found in scripture's original words.
This remarkable convergence demonstrates that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly built upon the foundation of restoration—not human wisdom, but divine revelation that transcends educational limitations and spans millennia. For me, this has become a powerful witness of the Church's authenticity and the reality of continuing revelation.
Your Invitation
I invite you to explore these lexicon connections carefully. Don't just skim past them—let them enrich your study. Notice how ancient truths illuminate modern revelation, and how modern revelation clarifies ancient truths. This back-and-forth dialogue between old and new scripture has strengthened my testimony immeasurably, and I believe it will do the same for you.
The Lord has given us tools for deeper understanding. Let's use them to dig more deeply into His word and witness the remarkable consistency of His eternal truths across millennia.
The Sacred Journey to Zion: From Forgiveness to Covenant Song
This week's revelations invite us on a transformative journey—one that begins with the some of the hardest gifts we'll ever give and culminates in the most beautiful song we'll ever sing. The Lord maps out the sacred pathway to Zion through three interconnected movements: the freedom of forgiveness, the embrace of accountability, and the joy of covenant living.
Movement One: The Great Release (D&C 64)
"Of you it is required to forgive all men" (D&C 64:10). The Lord doesn't suggest forgiveness—He requires it. But this isn't cruelty; it's liberation.
In this week's materials, we learn that the Greek word for forgive, ἀφίημι (aphiēmi), means "to release, to let go, to send away." When we forgive, we're not declaring that wrong was right. We're transferring the burden to the only One who can carry it righteously. As Isaiah testified, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows" (Isaiah 53:4).
Think of forgiveness as unlocking a prison—but discovering that you were the one behind bars. The offense created chains that bound you to the offender, forcing you to carry their debt. Forgiveness doesn't erase the debt; it transfers it to Christ, who has already paid for it.
🕊️ The Lord honors our healing process. Notice that in this very section, He calls out multiple elders by name—some repent, others don't. They each face consequences accordingly, and their lives are shaped, for good or ill, based upon their choices to repent and learn. Forgiveness doesn't eliminate accountability, it does not let the unrepentant "off the hook"; it establishes divine justice while freeing us from carrying burdens that were never ours to bear.
This release becomes our first key to opening the gates of Zion. We cannot enter the city of peace while carrying the chains of resentment.
Movement Two: The Sacred Responsibility (D&C 64-65)
Once our hands are freed from the chains of bitterness, the Lord places something sacred in them: the responsibility of choice. These sections emphasize that agency is both gift and stewardship.
The Lord reminds us that "he that is faithful shall be made strong in every place" (D&C 66:8). Our weakness, surrendered to Him, becomes strength (Ether 12:27). But this requires our active participation—choosing daily to "take up [our] cross and follow [Him]."
Here we discover the beautiful union between justification and sanctification:
Justification is God's declaration that we are righteous through Christ's merit alone
Sanctification is our ongoing transformation to "holiness" through covenant living
We are justified by grace, but sanctified through faithful choices and opportunities to serve, as we faithfully strive to develop the characteristics of our Master. The Lord saves us, but we participate in our own becoming, we are active agents in our eternal destiny.
These sections teach us about the responsibilities of stewardship and sacred boundaries. Even the temple and Kingdom of God has boundaries. Church discipline isn't punishment—it's protective and progressive. Compassionate and intentional guidance is essential for eternal growth. Righteous boundaries preserve and develop individuals and communities. The Lord does not expect us to be perfected overnight, he offers stage specific guidance to those who are willing and humble enough to receive it.
The Lord is acutely aware of our specific circumstances and concerns, his revelation regarding William McLellin's personal concerns clearly demonstrates this. To God, no soul is too small for divine care and instruction. For William, his counsel came through Joseph Smith, and today we each have the opportunity to receive similar and personal counsel through patriarchal and priesthood blessings.
Movement Three: The Covenant Song (D&C 66)
Once again, we see the journey culminate to a musical refrain: "songs of everlasting joy upon their heads" (D&C 66:11). This echoes Alma's stirring question: "Have ye felt to sing the song of redeeming love?" (Alma 5:26).
But these aren't mere hymns—they're lived testimonies. Every act of forgiveness adds a note. Every choice to follow Christ contributes to the harmony. Every covenant kept strengthens the melody.
The Lord tells Emma that "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me" (D&C 25:12). Our lives become worship when we breath life into the principles and patterns that these sections teach. The song of redeeming love isn't just something we sing—it's something we become.
🎵 This song becomes our witness, our crown, our spiritual signature—a harmony of trust, justice, and divine love, engraved into our hearts, that prepares the world for the return of the King.
The Complete Journey: Keys, Crosses, and Crowns
Examine how this journey connects?
The Key of Forgiveness and Repentance unlocks our prison and opens Zion's gate
The Cross of Accountability shapes us through sacred choices and covenant living
The Crown of Joy emerges as our transformed lives become a song of redemption
The Lord's counsel to "make straight His paths" connects us to John the Baptist and every forerunner of Christ. We prepare His way by removing obstacles (for ourselves and others)—through faith, repentance, mercy, covenants, teaching, good works, and testimony.
As we take up our crosses to follow Him, we learn to sing the song of redeeming love. His law becomes engraved into our hearts as we join His chorus, singing "songs of everlasting joy." This sacred music becomes our witness, our covenant, and our crown—a halo of light, truth, experience, wisdom, and grace that represents our transformative hero's journey.
The pathway to Zion isn't just about reaching a destination. It's about becoming the kind of people who belong there—those who have learned to release, to choose righteously, and to live in such harmony with divine will that their very existence becomes a song of praise.
Questions for Reflection
What burdens might the Lord be inviting you to transfer to Him?
How does understanding the difference between justification and sanctification change your approach to spiritual growth?
How can your life become a "song of redeeming love," a witness of your faith and discipleship?
Maps:
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