Section 3- Joseph Smith's lessons.

                When we look at section 3 of the Doctrine and Covenants we find that the Lord is trying to teach Joseph Smith 5 great lessons that can be applied to us today. The lessons that were taught to Joseph Smith was that he needed to not boast in his own strengths, not fear man more than God, been faithful, follow his own will, and repent of his wrongdoings.

Boasting in our own strength can make us seem like we are better than the Lord and that we know more than him. Joseph Smith was told that he was not to let the 116 pages to Martin Harris but he felt that it was the right thing to do. He kept asking the Lord and trying to find the right answer. This is very similar to us today. We are constantly searching for answers to life and the questions that may come up throughout our life. We think that we know more than the Lord when we feel that we need to keep asking him until we reach the answer that we want.

We need to fear God and not man. Joseph Smith was afraid that man was going to reject him and that by showing them the 116 pages of the manuscript that they were going to believe. He was afraid of what was going to happen to him. Today we face those same difficulties. We sometimes feel like we need to hide our beliefs or try to prove our beliefs to others so that they are able to believe. We cannot force our beliefs on anyone so we cannot try to prove them. We need to let them find out on their own.

These first 2 lessons help to show that by being faithful we will not fear man more than God and boast in our own strength.  By being faithful the Lord was able to entrust the things of the gospel  in his hands. Being faithful means to follow everything that the Lord has said.

The final thing that the Lord taught Joseph Smith was repentance. Joseph was shown that he was not perfect and that there were going to be times when he was not following everything that the Lord has commanded. He was taught that repentance was something that everyone was going to go through. This is very similar to the things that we go through in our lives. We sometimes sin and when we sin and do something that the Lord has told us not to do. We need to make sure that we repent and make sure that we are open to the lessons that we are being taught.