October 2023 Come Follow Me Ministering – Philippians – I can do all things through Christ
The October 2023 Come, Follow Me Ministering Printable ties together President Camille N. Johnson’s April 2023 General Conference talk, “Jesus Christ Is Relief,” and this October’s “Come, Follow Me” lesson on Philippians 4:1–13 – I can find joy in Christ, regardless of my circumstances.
Download October 2023 Come Follow Me Ministering Printable (4×6)
You can print these printables as 4×6 photo prints. My local drugstore prints them for just pennies. They are also a higher resolution if you want to enlarge them.
October 2023 Come Follow Me Ministering Message
Philippians 4:1–13 – I can find joy in Christ, regardless of my circumstances.
There is a country song by Lauren Alaina called “Getting Good.” She sings about how she will finally be happy when she finds love, grows up, gets a house, and buys a better car.
But once she gets those things, she realizes that she only wants more and worries about losing the things she does have. She finds the key to happiness when she sings, “I’m thinking, once I learn to grow right where I’m planted, Maybe that’s when life starts getting good.” At the end of the song she shares, “I’m thinking once I learn to soak up every moment, I’ll realize my life’s already good. Thank God that my life’s already good.”
Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh
I don’t know if Paul is a country music fan, but when I hear this song, I think of Paul. In the New Testament he is candid about his mistakes, trials, adversities, and thorns in the flesh. He was beset on all sides – persecuted by Jews, Greeks, and sometimes even Christians. He was imprisoned, shipwrecked, disappointed in some of the saints, and regretted his past choices. If Paul did a remix of Lauren’s song, I am sure it would include lines like, “Once I get out of prison, it’ll all be easy.”
To Be Content
But Paul knew how to find the blessings in the thorns and feel joy regardless of his situation. In Philippians, Paul writes from prison to the saints in Philippi. They had sent him a gift while he was in prison. So he writes to let them know of his gratitude and to express his love and affection.
He ends his letter with a reminder to always rejoice in the Lord and not to worry. Instead, they should focus on prayer, gratitude, and everything that is pure, lovely, and virtuous. And he tells them, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Philippians 4:12).
He has learned to be happy when he is suffering and hungry. But he has also learned how not to lose himself when he is prospering and successful. It can be just as hard to stay joyful in adversity as it is to stay grounded in Christ when receiving worldly success and praise. But Paul shares the key when he says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).
All Things Through Christ
Camille Johnson shared this same scripture in her April 2023 General Conference talk, “Jesus Christ Is Relief.” She shares that when she is bound to the Savior through covenants, she can do “all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Christ is always the source of our strength.
But she also pulls in an important insight about this. “And because we love God and have covenanted to serve Him, we can partner with the Savior to help provide temporal and spiritual relief for those in need—and in the process find our own relief in Jesus Christ.”
As we provide relief to others, we find our own relief in Christ. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is a perfect example of this. The Philippians helped bring relief to Paul through their care and the gift they sent. And Paul also found relief through his efforts to serve them. Christ strengthened them and that strength manifests as service to others.
Sister Johnson shares, “I testify that Jesus Christ is relief. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we may be relieved of the burden and consequences of sin and be succored in our infirmities.” And obtaining relief involves not only allowing Christ to relieve us, but becoming “a conduit through which He provides relief” to others.
Paul found joy and peace even when in prison because he was serving others. Like Paul, we can learn how to soak up all the lovely and virtuous parts of life and thank our Heavenly Father for a life that is already good.
Ministering Handout
For the October 2023 Come Follow Me Ministering handout, I wanted to find something fun for the fall. And nothing gets me more in the mood for autumn than the smell of pumpkin! I found these cute little candles over at Target.
Did you like this October 2023 Come Follow Me Ministering message? Find more Relief Society Ministering Printables for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
These ministering printables are a great way to help families incorporate the “Come, Follow Me” lessons into their own study. They are also perfect for Young Women’s, Relief Society, Sunday School, or Family Home Evening. I hope that these ministering printables will be a simple way to reach out to those we minister to.
