Let's define "worthyness", shall we?

[JoiceJoker]

So, exactly what is it you define as someone being "worthy"?

Does it describe his level of spirituality? Describe.
Is worthiness based upon your worldly values? (Character traits and interests or habits)

Exactly, what do you expect from someone who's worthy?

[kirkbuzzer]

I think most people define it by "temple worthy". By that I mean someone who legitimately holds those values and doesn't just say what they need to say to get the recommend. I think along with that comes worthy to hold and exercise the Priesthood. Women want the confidence of knowing that their man is also God's man when the time comes to petition God for blessings.

[naulite]

worthyness = 8 cows

[mommom31]

Righteous, pretty much.

[JoiceJoker]

That would mean everyone who's capable of convincing the bishop and stakes president to being temple worthy by heartily answering those few standard questions is worthy in general? Then I would consider myself worthy worthy! No, the kind of worthiness I meant included much, much more. And I neglected the status of temple worthiness....
_______________________
WHAT????
Only 8 cows? Oh, please....
_______________________

So, exactly what does this righteousness include for it to be enough to be worthy?

[naulite]

Ok.. 8 cows and a fatted lamb.

If you go by the worthiness as you described as of simply being able to convince the Bishop and Stake President that you follow the few required commandments then you'd be lucky to get 2 dogs and a cat.

How what purpose are we describing this particular worthiness?
Temple Worthy, Marriage Worthy, Celestial Kingdom Golden Throne Worthy?
Or just worthy enough to have the privilege and pleasure of your acquaintance?
There's a level of worth that will get you a handshake, a hug, and maybe a Christmas card and then there is a level of worth that will get you between the thighs.

And what's wrong with 8 cows? To the Hindu, the cow is sacred. Personally, I think they are yummy.

[Flatcoatlover]

Okay, at least the you included a fatted lamb instead of a "sacrificial lamb".

I agree with Naulite that a person must first set the parameters to which one expects to define "worthy". I think that everybody is worthy of respect as a human being but not everybody would be "worthy" of my trust.

In order to truly answer your question, I would need to know in what context you are asking about it.

Ah, the joy of conversation over the internet. It is much harder to make inferences without the other person's body signals or verbal clues.

[JoiceJoker]

Your personal definition of worthiness, if you please..... :-)

Whatever it may involve.

[Flatcoatlover]

yep, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so is worthiness. Thankfully, it is only our Savior's concern to determine that worthiness when all is said and done.

[JoiceJoker]

Yes, worthiness is dependent upon every individual, but exactly that is interesting. If you wait to see what worthiness is to God....

1. it might take a long time.... *shrug*
2. you might miss a good debate.... *challenging*
3. there might be something interesting coming up to learn from.... *exited*

After all reservation in terms of non-communication is not the goal here.*inviting*

[mommom31]

anyone on the Lord's side, or striving to be

[JulieBramble]

I was thinking about what defines an individual as worthy. I think that it may possibly vary according to the persons level of understanding and spiritual maturity.Hence we progress precept upon precept line upon line.
Dont we all know people who have temple recommends who we know very well spend a lot of their time being extremely dodgey characters. They sometimes get a recommend but cant keep it. So not all who achieve a temple recommend are what I would describe as ultimately worthy...I think temple recommend level is basline worthy...we need to live up to it all of the time...I know we are not always on the ball but we need to strive for that...for some people even this baseline seems almost impossible...On the other hand we know people who hide behind temple recommends to justify their behaviours...
I think worthy is striving to keep the commandments and covenants to the best of our personal ability .

[ronin74]

The way I see things none of us are worthy to judge such things. Thoughts and motivations are as important as actions and how am I to completely understand everything that goes on in your head or even the background behind a series of events.

In my experience all we can do to judge anybody including ourselves is to ask two simple questions.

1 Is he/she improving? or Am I improving?
2 If not then, What can I do to help? or What do I have to change/do to fix this?

[JulieBramble]

Yes it is best to not make complete judgements. But we are told we should make partial juedgements for our own discernment and safety...the sort of people I am thinking of come with a police record for storking!! And yes , I was on the receiving end for several months!
Generally, since my background is health and social care, and since I am experienced in mental health, I tend to not judge too much about behaviours, because I have seen first hand the trauma and anguish psychosis causes...however, I also know many behaviours of those with mental health issues actually CAN be helped and many behaviours are learned.
On the whole, we live in such a tangled web of behaviours we have inherited, or that are symptoms of past experiences that it is very difficult to judge anyone really.
In RS we once were asked what made a good VT. I said try not to judge when you enter someones home...what you think you see is not necessarily the whole story...and I also said, it was also not the right of the VT to know everything either.
With such a mess humans make of themselves and each other behaviours can be passed down from generation to generation...thank goodness for the atonement.

[ronin74]

I do not dissagree with what you have said. You shouldn't cast pearls before swine, but swine also need our help. Hence the "what can I do to help" question. Also many of the people we deam as being unworthy or unrighteous are trying to be good but are having dificulty. Remember their thoughts and motive are as important as their actions. Yes the scriptures do say "judge a ritgheous judgment." My perseption is to judge based mostly on the questions I have given and beyond that when it comes to your safety or your family error on the side of causion but at the same time show a loving side to all those you must reject.

I remember a time when I had first changed from my more corrupt ways. I tried to do good in many forms but it didn't matter what I did people always seen it as some nefarious plot. I had no choice but to move to another town. A couple years later I was a completely different person. I joined the church and learnt what it meant to be a good person. I moved back to my home town and once again everything I did was taken for evil. I was constantly being judged. I know a person has to face the consiquences for their past actions but this was a lot more than that. People who knew nothing about me judged illy of me simply because others were.

I also leave another causion. It is as bad to judge somebody as being more righteous than they are as it is to judge poorly of somebody. We are all imperfect and to ellivate a person causes them as much trouble as it would if you judged them harshly.

One of the reasons I came up with the questions I did is because I would rather risk for the lesser man who is improving than I would the alleged greater man who seems intent on falling.

It is for us to love support and hellp all those we can even the ones we don't want to. The acts of charity we do not want to do are often the ones we most need to do.

I try to base my choices not on what I want to do but what is the right thing to do. A good example is when I bear my testimony. Many people when bearing their testimony will state how they felt prompted to do so, would feal ungreatfull if they didn't or something else of the sort. I veiw it much like praying. When we need it the most is when we don't feel like doing it. So each time I sit in testimony meeting and I feel like I particularly don't want to bear my testimony I will force myself to do so. I am not perfect there are many people I would rather not help but I understand tyhat they are the ones I most need to be there for, not just for them but so I may learn and better myself.

[tnebergall]

IMHO There are two aspects to "worthyness":
1) What have you done in your recent past
2) What are your goals for the future
For the sake of argument, we'll define "recent" as in the last year, hence, being able to get a temple recommend at the very least as long as you have actually been living the Gospel (as opposed to just being able to convince a Bishop and Stake President that you have).
In addition to meeting these basic guidelines, I would posit that you also must be magnifying your calling, bearing others' burdens, exercising righteous dominion, and making the best use of your talents that you can. I realize this is a fairly tall order, but achievable none-the-less.
As far as your goals for the future, this does not mean saying that you want to get married in the temple and someday be a Bishop. This means actively striving towards eternal life and all that entails. There are very specific guidelines set forth in the D&C to live our lives by, and especially as Priesthood holders we have very clear instructions on how to exercise our Priesthood and put it to it's proper use.
I think each of us knows in our hearts what it means for us to be worthy, and that's really all we can judge. When attempting to judge other people "worthyness" we must tread very carefully lest we judge too harshly and then have that same standard set for ourselves...
p.s. Hey Joyce, how you doing?