Genesis 3:1–7; Moses 4:22–31; Moses 5:4–15

 

Who doesn't need hope? Who doesn't need second chances? 

"1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." (Genesis 3:1–7)

"22 Unto the woman, I, the Lord God, said: I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

23 And unto Adam, I, the Lord God, said: Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the fruit of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying—Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed shall be the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

24 Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.

25 By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou shalt return unto the ground—for thou shalt surely die—for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou wast, and unto dust shalt thou return.

26 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living; for thus have I, the Lord God, called the first of all women, which are many.

27 Unto Adam, and also unto his wife, did I, the Lord God, make coats of skins, and clothed them.

28 And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten: Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil; and now lest he put forth his hand and partake also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever,

29 Therefore I, the Lord God, will send him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken;

30 For as I, the Lord God, liveth, even so my words cannot return void, for as they go forth out of my mouth they must be fulfilled.

31 So I drove out the man, and I placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life." (Moses 4:22–31)

"4 And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence.

5 And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.

6 And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.

7 And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.

8 Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.

9 And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will.

10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.

11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.

12 And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.

13 And Satan came among them, saying: I am also a son of God; and he commanded them, saying: Believe it not; and they believed it not, and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish.

14 And the Lord God called upon men by the Holy Ghost everywhere and commanded them that they should repent;

15 And as many as believed in the Son, and repented of their sins, should be saved; and as many as believed not and repented not, should be damned; and the words went forth out of the mouth of God in a firm decree; wherefore they must be fulfilled." (Moses 5:4–15)

And here's the commentary entitled: "Jesus Christ offers hope and redemption." :

"Adam and Eve’s story is one of hope and redemption through Jesus Christ. To see why, you might start by searching for the results of the Fall in Genesis 3:1–7; Moses 4:22–31 and marking or listing what you find. How do these results affect you? Then you could search Moses 5:4–15, looking for God’s plan to redeem us from these effects. Why were Adam and Eve “glad” after the angel visited them? What do you learn from them about Heavenly Father’s plan?

See also “Because of Him” (video), Gospel Library." 

Who doesn't need hope? Who doesn't need second chances? We all do. We all have the tendency to give in to temptations and make mistakes. We all have the tendency to repeat the same mistakes again and again. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. My spirit wants to make the most of my time and energy, and I feel great whenever I am able to do so, like today at work. I was feeling like I was in the flow, so focused on what I was doing, not noticing the time passing by while I was preparing those presentations. I would get sleepy a little bit from time to time, and I would get up, walk around, and was able to have conversations with some students. And then I would get back to doing my task. And I was able to complete my presentation for tomorrow's Speak-Up Society session. I was also able to work on my presentations for the remaining chapter of Social G7 textbook. I was feeling so grateful for my accomplishments today. I was feeling so grateful that our 7th-grade students did their PBL Activity all day today, so we, teachers, didn't have to teach them inside the classrooms, so I was able to work on my presentations at school today, and I don't have to work on them tonight. While on the bus on the way home, I was thinking I would be able to use my time tonight on other important things, plus cleaning up my devices. And yet, while online, I would feel sleepy, and decided to watch some YouTube videos to wake me up. I gave in to the temptation again of clicking and watching random videos that were just looking interesting, and I allowed them to take up my time, which I was supposed to spend on other important things in my life. I'm grateful that I'm able to snap myself and get back to doing what I'm supposed to, like writing this blog. I'm grateful to the Lord for always leading me gently back to the right path. I'm grateful for the opportunity to repent. I'm grateful for the video I'm sharing here, "Because of Him". Watching it made me feel my Savior's love for me, realizing once again that no matter how many times I give in to temptations, because of my weakness, the Lord is there for me, and He will forgive me when I repent. I can always bring myself back to alignment with the Lord's will. I'm a work in progress and have been progressing a lot over the years, line upon line, here a little, there a little, precept upon precept. The Lord has been bringing order in the different aspects of my life. And still, there are things that need more growth. I'm aware of what I need to improve on; it's what the Lord wants me to focus on working on, my weakness that He gave me. I know He will make it strong as I do my part and rely on Him for help. There is always hope for me as I strive to do all I can to overcome my weakness. I can be better because the Lord is helping me. Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ love me. I'm so grateful they allowed me to repent and be forgiven of my sins. I know they want me to progress and become more like them. And I know the challenges I'm facing are for my own good. My weakness makes me humble, and my struggles make me see I need the Lord's help. Without Him, I am nothing. He can make something more of me than I can make of myself alone.