The Truth About Relief Society Part 4: More Teachings in the Navoo Relief Society

If you have not yet read Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3 of this series I recommend reading them first before proceeding with this post.

Joseph Smith at the Nineth Meeting

Joseph Smith addressed the Sisters next in their Nineth meeting.  All their meetings between his talk in the sixth meeting and in the ninth were rather more business oriented than spiritually oriented, aside from some talks about avoiding evil in one of the meetings.  Again quotes in this post will be taken from the Navoo Relief Society Minute Book.

In his talk in the ninth meeting Joseph Smith warned the Sisters to avoid some pit falls he could see in the church as a whole, and some within the Society as well.  "Prest. J. Smith rose, read the 14th Chap. of  Ezekiel— said the Lord had declar’d by the prophet that the people should each one stand for himself  and depend on no man or men in that state of corruption of the Jewish church— that righteous persons could only deliver their own souls— applied it to the present state of the church of Latter-Day Saints— said if the people departed from the Lord, they must fall— that they were depending on the prophet hence were darkened in their minds from neglect of themselves" (p. 51)  We should only rely on God and whenever we put a man between us and God we are inhibiting our own progress.  But to rely on God means you actually have to be responsible to build your own relationship with Him.  It takes real work.  Thus why it is the narrower and less followed path.

The rest of Joseph's Talk was largely focused on avoiding gossip: "the tongue is an unruly member— hold your tongues about things of no moment, — a little tale will set the world on fire."  And later in the talk,  "I do not want to cloak iniquity— all things contrary to the will of God, should be cast from us, but don't do more hurt than good with your tongues— be pure in heart— Jesus designs to save the people out of their sins. Said Jesus ye shall do the work which ye see me do— These are the grand key words for the Society to act upon." (p. 52-53)  Let us use our words to uplift, and inspire one another.  Learning the sin of another is only helpful insomuch as it gives us an opportunity to forgive, and to learn not to make the same mistake ourselves; any other purpose is not of an uplifting nature and should therefore be avoided.

Bishop Whitney at the Tenth Meeting

At first, I was only going to focus on Joseph Smith's teachings, but as I read the talk presented by Bishop Whitney at the tenth meeting I was moved to include some of it here.  He says, "We must humble ourselves and live by the rule given for our practice— we must lose sight of vain things and  remember that the eye of God is upon us. If we are striving to do right, altho’ we may err in judgment many times yet we are justified in the sight of God if we do the best we can according to our judgment. We need not go astray if we will strive in all the energy of our souls to do right." (p. 58-59 emphasis added)  He did not teach to rely on his judgment or even Joseph's judgment, but each on their own judgment, but that is not enough, once you have made a judgment about a thing you must act with all the energy of your soul.  Any who act with this kind of energy will soon find out through such an experiment whether or not they are acting right on the matter, if they are humble enough to be willing to learn whether they err.  Later he continues, "We must prove all things and hold fast that which is good.  There are blessings lying before which are worth striving to obtain. It is our duty to humble ourselves— it  is our most reasonable service to do it— must proceed to receive grace for grace, light and intelligence— if  we have intelligence we have power."  Humility is the willingness and desire to learn; line upon line, and grace for grace is the way to learn. 

He continues on to talk about unity saying, "We may have different views of things, still there is some criterion which all may come to, and by bringing our minds and wills into subjection to the law of the Lord, may come to unity. It is impossible while finding fault with one another to be united." (p. 59)  When we concern ourselves with our own path to God and allow others to worry about their own paths without fear of judgment, that is the beginning of unity.

Joseph Smith at the Eleventh Meeting

At the next meeting Joseph Smith addressed the sisters again this time on the importance of fellow shipping one another with kindness and of avoiding self-righteousness.  "Christ was condemn’d  by the righteous jews because he took sinners into his  society— he took them up on the principle that they repented of their sins. It is the object of this Society to reform persons, not to take those that are corrupt, but if they repent we are bound to take them and by kindness sanctify and cleanse from all unrighteousness, by our influence in watching over them. . . . Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what pow’r it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind." (p. 61-62) The importance of using kindness and love in helping others is a simple matter of human behavior and our natural tendency to get defensive when accused.  To give kindness to those we perceive as being 'not as worthy' gives us the opportunity to grow a friendship and perhaps learn they are not so unworthy as we think, and we might learn of our own deficiencies through the challenges of being kind to someone in whatever way different from us.  Joseph continues,  "All the religious world is boasting of righteousness — tis the doctrine of the devil to retard the human mind and retard our progress, by filling us with selfrighteousness— The nearer we get to our heavenly Father, the more are we dispos’d to look with compassion on perishing souls— to take them upon our shoulders and cast their sins behind our back. I am going to talk to all this Society— if you would have God have mercy on you, have mercy on one another." (p. 62) He continues, "We are full of selfishness—  the devil flatters us that we are very righteous, while we  are feeding on the faults of others— We can only live by worshipping our God— all must do it for themselves—  none can do it for another." (p. 63)  Knowing we are each on our own path to God and that none can do it for another should be a very humbling thought.  We should be seeking knowledge for ourselves, and kindness and patience for others as they seek it for themselves.

Final Thoughts

I hope this series has been uplifting and enlightening for my readers.  As I've read these Minutes I've had a sort of idea formulated of just what Zion might be like and what Joseph wanted for the early Saints that they collectively didn't seem to fully grasp.  I don't know if I fully grasp it myself, but I sure am closer than I was before.  As we fill our hearts with Love and not judgment, with humility and not self-righteousness, with patience and long suffering and not anger, as we make our focus our own relationship with Christ and not focus on man, we will each be that much closer to establishing the Kingdom of God again on the Earth.  It can happen!  God has made it possible through the grace of Christ's atonement.  And Blessed be the name of the Father forever for giving us the power of deliverance through His Son Jesus Christ.  My God bless you on your journey wherever it takes you!