Variety Tuesday: Word Origins

When I got married, I started studying the scriptures with my husband every day. I love that part of the day. Since we have such different perspectives, I learn so many things. I want to share a couple with you. You should note that these study habits don't just have to be for studying scriptures - any book will do.

1. I was introduced to the concept of being a "teflon reader." We are all guilty of it. Reading things we don't understand and just moving on. Letting the words just slide right off us. (Teflon, get it?) I find myself looking up things I don't understand or looking into phrases that don't make sense.

2. This one is my favorite. Joe was always talking about the origins of words. You know, the earliest known definitions. You will find such amazing insight.

I will give you an example.

In my church, all of the women are giving the calling of visiting teacher. That means that we help sisters know they are loved, help them grow spiritually, and serving them in times of need. The leaders of the church give us a message every month to share. This month was all about Jesus Christ being our exemplar.

My first step in studying the lesson was to look up exemplar. According to dictionary.com it means a "model or pattern to be copied or imitated." It makes perfect sense because we are supposed to model our actions after Jesus Christ. As we come to know the Savior, we can understand better who we are supposed to become.

If you look up the origin of exemplar, you will find that the definition used in the late 14th century was "original model of the universe in the mind of God." I love that the word original was used. Have you ever made a copy of a copy? It's not like the original at all. If the Savior is the potential our Heavenly Father saw in this universe, we have a lot of work to do. In the mid 15th century, exemplar was "model of virtue." So instead of just copying a model, we are asked to copy the model of virtue. We should be holding ourselves to a higher standard. I think we would be surprised at how much greater our potential is when we expect more of ourselves.

Those are just a couple of thoughts that came from a single word. I love how much these tricks have helped me understand the scriptures better. Give it a try - let me know what you think!

(It's still Tuesday in California, so this counts as day 2! You're welcome.)