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Agency
1. "Wherefore, men
are free... to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of
all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power
of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
And now... I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto
his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal
life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit" (2 Nephi 2:27-28).
2. "Heavenly Father
has given you agency, the ability to choose right from wrong and to act for
yourself. Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct your life is
one of God’s greatest gifts to you. While here on earth, you are being proven
to see if you will use your agency to show your love for God by keeping His
commandments. The Holy Ghost can guide you in using your agency
righteously" (For the Strength of Youth, Agency and Accountability).
Q How does sin limit
our freedom? How does obedience to God's commandments increase our freedom?
Q How do you feel knowing
God wants you to choose eternal life (instead of Him rooting against you)?
Consequences
(Law of the Harvest)
3. "While you are
free to choose your course of action, you are not free to choose the
consequences. Whether for good or bad, consequences follow as a natural result
of the choices you make. Some sinful behavior may bring temporary, worldly
pleasure, but such choices delay your progress and lead to heartache and
misery. Righteous choices lead to lasting happiness and eternal life. Remember,
true freedom comes from using your agency to choose obedience; loss of freedom
comes from choosing disobedience" (For the Strength of Youth, Agency and
Accountability).
4. "There is a law,
irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which
all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by
obedience to that law upon which it is predicated" (D&C 130:20-21).
Q Why does the devil
try to get us to disconnect our actions from their consequences? What are ways
he tries to do this?
5. "Be not
deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth [plants], that shall
he also reap [harvest]. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall
reap" (Galatians 6:7-9).
Q What is the law of
the harvest? How can this law help to guide our choices?
6. "An axiom we all
understand is that you get what you pay for. That is true for spiritual matters
as well. You get what you pay for in obedience, in faith in Jesus Christ, in diligent
application of the truths you learn. What you get is the molding of character,
the growth in capacity, and the successful completion of your mortal purpose to
be proven and to have joy" (Richard G. Scott, October 2010 General
Conference).
7. "Our
grandchildren are learning that when they make a choice, they also choose its
consequences. Recently one of our three-year-old granddaughters refused to eat
her dinner. Her mother explained, “It’s almost bedtime. If you choose to eat
dinner, you are choosing ice cream for dessert. If you choose not to eat
dinner, you are choosing to go to bed now, without ice cream.” Our
granddaughter considered her two choices and then stated emphatically, “I want
this choice—to play and eat only ice cream and not go to bed.”
"Brothers and sisters, do we wish we
could play, eat only ice cream, never go to bed, and somehow avoid consequences
like malnutrition and exhaustion? We cannot successfully choose both the safety
of righteousness and the dangers of worldliness" (Randall K. Bennett,
October 2011 General Conference).
Responsibility
8. "You are
responsible for the decisions you make. You should not blame your
circumstances, your family, or your friends if you choose to disobey God’s
commandments. You are a child of God with great strength. You have the ability
to choose righteousness and happiness, regardless of your circumstances"
(True to the Faith, Agency).
9. "We will all
stand before the Lord at the last judgment and give an accounting for what we
have done with the opportunities He has given us" (Preach My Gospel,
p.150).
Q Why is it important
for us to take responsibility for choices we make?
10. "Endowed with
agency, you and I are agents, and we primarily are to act and not just be acted
upon. To believe that someone or something can make us feel offended, angry,
hurt, or bitter diminishes our moral agency and transforms us into objects to
be acted upon. As agents, however, you and I have the power to act and to
choose how we will respond to an offensive or hurtful situation" (David A.
Bednar, October 2006 General Conference).
Q What does it mean
"to act and not just be acted upon"?
11. "We might want
and expect a [specific blessing], but the blessing that comes to us... may be
greater capacity to change our own circumstances rather than expecting our
circumstances to be changed by someone or something else" (David A.
Bednar, October 2013 General Conference).
Q Why is it important
for us to work towards changing ourselves and our circumstances instead of waiting
for others or our circumstances to change?
12. "For behold, it
is not meet [necessary] that I should command in all things; for he that is
compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant;
wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged
in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass
much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto
themselves. And inasmuch as men do good
they shall in nowise lose their reward" (D&C 58:26-28).
Q Why does the Lord
want us to take the initiative to use our agency for good?
13. "No power or
influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by
persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love
unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the
soul without hypocrisy, and without guile" (D&C 121:41-42).
Q Why does our Heavenly
Father want us to influence others using persuasion, long-suffering [patience],
and so forth instead of force or manipulation?
Important
Choices
Q What are some of the
most important things we can choose to do today? In our lifetimes?
·
Choose
to grow our faith, repent, make and keep covenants with God (including serving
and helping others), and inviting the Holy Ghost to be with us. Consistently
choosing these things allows us to experience the power and blessings of the
atonement of Jesus Christ.
·
"The
submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to
place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters,
are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you
and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up
in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only
possession which is truly ours to give!" (Neal A. Maxwell, October 1995
General Conference).
Q What are some life changing
choices you have made?
14. "I learned [a
lesson] on the football field... at the bottom of a pile of 10 other players.
It was the... championship game, and the play called for me to run the ball up
the middle to score the go-ahead touchdown. I took the handoff and plunged into
the line... Although I was pinned at the bottom of the pile, I reached my
fingers forward a couple of inches and I could feel it. The goal line was two
inches away.
At that moment I was tempted to push the ball
forward. I could have done it. And when the refs finally pulled the players off
the pile, I would have been a hero. No one would have ever known. I had dreamed
of this moment from the time I was a boy. And it was right there within my
reach. But then I remembered the words of my mother. “Joseph... do what is right,
no matter the consequence".... And so I left the ball where it was—two
inches from the goal line.
I didn’t know it at the time, but this was a
defining experience. Had I moved the ball, I could have been a champion for a
moment, but the reward of temporary glory would have carried with it too steep
and too lasting a price. It would have engraved upon my conscience a scar that
would have stayed with me the remainder of my life. I knew I must do what is
right" (Joseph B. Wirthlin, April 2007 General Conference).
Conclusion
15. "Brothers and
sisters, in what we choose to think about, feel, and do, are you and I choosing
eternal life?.... We all face adversity. We all have temptations. We all have
made mistakes. It is never too hard or too late to make correct choices.
Repentance is one of those critical correct choices. The Savior’s arms of mercy
are always extended to each of us. When we sincerely and fully repent, we can
be completely forgiven of our mistakes and the Savior will remember our sins no
more.
"In evaluating your choices and their
consequences, you might ask yourself:
·
Am
I seeking divine direction through daily scripture study, pondering, and
prayer, or have I chosen to be so busy or apathetic that I don’t take time to
study the words of Christ, ponder them, and converse with my Heavenly Father?
·
Am
I choosing to follow the counsel of living prophets of God, or am I following
the worldly ways and the opposing opinions of others?
·
Am
I seeking the guidance of the Holy Ghost daily in what I choose to think about,
feel, and do?
·
Am
I consistently reaching out to assist, serve, or help rescue others?
"My dear brothers and sisters, your
eternal destiny will not be the result of chance but of choice. It is never too
late to begin to choose eternal life!" (Randall K. Bennett, October 2011
General Conference).
16. "Choose you this
day whom ye will serve.... As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD"
(Joshua 24:15).
Questions
to Ponder
Q What choices am I
making that are leading me toward eternal life and the blessings I want?
Q What choices am I
making that are leading me away from eternal life and to consequences I don't
want?
Key talks about the Plan of Salvation can be found at
Key talks about Obedience can be found at
Key talks about Consistency can be found at
Key talks about Priorities can be found at
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