12 names of christ.

so today i was thinking about something one of my companions told me on my mission. she said while she was at the mtc, and it was christmas time, elder holland came and spoke and talked about 12 names of christ. i don't remember what they all are, although i think i have them written down somewhere, but he picked 12 names and invited the missionaries to take 12 days before christmas to exemplify each of those names. 


what a cool thing. and i dont remember if i got this from myself or my companion but the one and only december of my mission, i guess that was 2009, i thought of 12 different names of christ and found 12 different scriptures, and focused on one each month of the year 2010. it was such a neat experience, and i felt that as i prepared the scriptures and things i wanted to focus on for each month that they all ended up being what i needed.


so anyway, lately, and this is kind of a personal thing, but i've been thinking about things that i struggle with--like those things that ultimately keep me from giving everything, from being so one with christ. one thing is this false idea that i have to be this perfect person in order to be special or of worth. most of the time i think i don't believe that and know it's a lie, and i feel comfortable with myself--imperfections and all--bc i know i'm trying, and i know the lord isn't asking me to be perfect, but that life is such a process and the things we struggle with keep us coming toward christ. BUT sometimes! it just isn't that clear to me and i find myself getting lost in pressures i put on myself to be this perfect person in ways that just aren't realistic. and it is something that i struggle with.


but this morning, while i was studying, i had this great thought. i love great thoughts! and new ideas! they are wonderful and so special to me. but i was thinking about the names of christ and also about the principle of replacing bad things with good things (like the example of removing weeds and doing nothing and the weeds come back vs. removing the weeds and planting flowers and the weeds dont grow back but flower blossom). so i thought about the same thing but involving this name of christ thing. i started looking up names of christ and thinking about this issue and i found a few scriptures. i think i came up with about 3 but ended up feeling really good about this one. it's in romans 15:8.


"now i say that jesus christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of god, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:"


now in all honesty, i don't know exactly what that means, but it really stayed with me, and i especially liked the part about him being a minister for truth, which confirms these promises he has made to our fathers and ultimately to us. and so that is the scripture i'm picking, with the purpose to replace a false lie "i'm only special by the things i do" with this name of christ about a truth that confirms promises.


anyway, i wanted to share that as an invitation to anyone else who would like to also do the 12 names thing. i don't know if i'm doing it all year next year; my plan was to just do it up until christmas, and i think i may do more than just one day for each scripture bc i'm starting before dec. 12. 


i love christmas!!!!!