Consequences

There are consequences, good or bad, to every choice we make. A realization and an acceptance of consequences will make us freer than we otherwise would be. This may sound like a bit of a contradiction, but an Ensign article by Elder Robert S. Wood of the Seventy explains it better than I can. The article is titled "On the Responsible Self" and appears in the March 2002 Ensign. Elder Wood says:

Perhaps the symbolic nature of the second temptation is the least apparent of the three. But on reflection, this temptation points to a tendency to which we all are subject—the tendency to desire some miraculous delivery from the consequences of our actions; to be borne up, if you will, by angels or divine providence, with little effort on our part.

He then discusses personal responsibility and consequences in the rest of the article. It's good food for thought.

We do all have a tendency to want to be delivered from any negative consequences of our choices, but it is better and more freeing to make choices with positive consequences. Easier said than done, I know, but it is what we must strive for. Repentance and the Atonement make it possible to correct the mistakes we make (and we will make mistakes) and move forward to progress toward better choices.

There are an endless number of choices that we make throughout our lives. Although it is now popular to admonish one another to not judge, we do have to make judgements every day as to which choices we should make. The choices range from simple things such as what to have for breakfast to somewhat more serious choices such as whether or not to write that blog post about some favorite speculation of ours that might (or might not) be a bad influence on others. We also have major choices to make about education, jobs, marriage, and how we live the gospel. Every one of these choices has some kind of consequence. It would be a good thing for us to learn to consider the consequences anytime we make a choice. That will free us by helping us to make choices with positive consequences rather than negative consequences.

Is the Concept of Sin Passé?

I read an article this weekend titled "The Economic Problem of Sin" by Bruce Walker. (It's at American Thinker.) The author discusses the cost of sin in society and how much better a society is when it acknowledges sin and fights against it. He also discusses the way that society today dismisses the idea of sin as not relevant. It is a very good article and a thought-provoking one--good reading.

The article caused me to think about how the notion of sin has become passé in modern society. Everyone is afraid to call a sin a sin. They are afraid they'll offend someone, or they buy into the nonsense that morality and truth are relative rather than absolute.

We all sin in one way or another. No one is perfect. Is it not better, healthier, more healing to acknowledge when we have sinned so that we can repent and be made whole? Shouldn't we be honest about these things? I think so. Isn't God the One we should be worried about offending, rather than other people?

I am not advocating that we be condemning or unforgiving. After all, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. However, shouldn't parents teach their children what sin is and how to avoid it? Shouldn't children be taught to repent when they have sinned? Shouldn't parents believe that certain things are sins and avoid doing them, thereby setting an example for all around them?

What are your thoughts?

Mosiah 3:19

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. (Mosiah 3:19)

This scripture has been on my mind a lot lately. For a single verse, it contains a lot of gospel principles to ponder and to learn to apply to my life.

The term natural man (which, of course, includes women) refers to all types of worldliness, physical and intellectual. We have to learn to put off the natural man by yielding to the Holy Spirit and also by applying the atonement to ourselves. We learn to put God first in our lives and using His teachings as the guide for how we live our lives.

We also need to become as a little child in the sense of being trusting and humble and meek. All of these things are taught to us through the scriptures and the words of the prophets. In addition, we have the gift of the Holy Ghost to teach and inspire us and to confirm truth to us. Prayer--communion with our Heavenly Father--is also a chief source of learning for us.

I think it is interesting that the word patient is included in the list of attributes we should develop. I believe it is because the Lord works in His own way and time. He knows the end from the beginning and understands completely what is best for us, even if we do not. Patience is important, too, because it takes time for us to learn and apply all of these things. We do not change overnight, but we do change if we will put in the effort.

I've also been thinking about how being humble, meek, patient, and full of love can help us in our relationships with other people. We are all different, yet we do have a lot in common as well. If we can learn to be patient with the differences and to appreciate them, even as we enjoy what we have in common, we will improve our relationships with our brothers and sisters.

It's interesting how one verse can spark so many thoughts.

On Being Humble

Mosiah 4 in the Book of Mormon is a wonderful chapter full of instruction and promises. It is also a chapter that invites much pondering and application to our own lives. (It also contains the verses--Mosiah 4:16-26--about the beggar that s'mee and I referred to in the comments in my previous post.)

What I am thinking about today is whether we perhaps do not take the concept of being humble far enough. Do we think of being humble as just avoiding bragging? Do we think it is just refraining from calling overmuch attention to ourselves? Do we think it is just admitting that we aren't perfect? Those are outward manifestations of being humble, but I think it should go much deeper. A phrase found in a number of scriptures leaps to mind--a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

As I read Mosiah 4, I have the idea that we must humble our entire selves before God and recognize that without Him, we are completely powerless--powerless to save ourselves. We do have our agency and we can choose to do this or not. If we choose to become completely humble, I think it requires an all-encompassing trust in God and in His Son Jesus Christ. It requires that we do not hold back parts of ourselves or favorite sins or anything else. And it requires believing that His power to save us is greater than our power to make mistakes and commit sins--that He can save even us.

I don't think I have found the words to truly express what I am thinking, but what do you think? Do you think that maybe we believe in God and in Jesus Christ, but that maybe we don't have faith that He loves us individually and personally? Do we believe that He will help others, but doubt that He will help us? Do we not trust Him completely?

My thoughts are that if we can become truly humble and allow God into our hearts and minds completely and obey Him and keep His commandments, then we will learn that He will indeed save even us. We will learn to trust Him completely in all things. We will become truly converted.

This is not something we can come to in an instant, but is rather a process over time, but if we can work on this--if I can work on this--we will come to a greater relationship with God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost than we can now imagine. I think, too, that our relationships with other people will be transformed as we learn to see them as God sees them. And as we let God teach us, will we not learn the gospel more thoroughly than we now know it?

Please share your thoughts with me.

Choices

As we learn the gospel, we learn about agency. Agency is the gift our Heavenly Father gave us from the beginning. The question of whether or not we were to have agency, the ability to choose for ourselves, played a central role in the pre-mortal council. There Lucifer, or Satan, offered to be our savior, but his plan included no agency, no choice for us. Jesus, however, offered to be our Savior and included our having the agency to choose for ourselves. Naturally, God chose Jesus for the role of Savior to the world because it was essential to us to be able to make choices. That was the only way our lives could have meaning and the only way that we could progress and grow and learn.

Agency brings consequences, both good and bad, and there is always the risk of making mistakes. The Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to repent of any mistakes we make and to reconcile ourselves to God. The plan of salvation makes possible both the possession of agency and the ability to return to our Heavenly Father, through the Atonement.

Mortal life is complicated by myriads of choices, some small, some medium, and some large. We choose what clothes to wear, what books to read, what career to pursue, whom to marry, and whether or not we will have faith in God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We choose whether to obey God or to obey Satan. The latter choice is usually disguised as freedom to do whatever we want, whenever we want, without regard to consequences, either to ourselves or to others. It is, nevertheless, choosing to follow Satan.

Our lives are the messy mix of the choices we have made through the years. Repentance and the Atonement allow us to clean up the mess and make progress toward a clean and orderly eternal life. Bringing a wholeness or a completeness to our lives is necessary. We cannot live exemplary lives on the surface and secretly rob banks. If we are to develop any virtue, it must touch every area of our lives.

In our efforts to reconcile every aspect of our lives and create a wholeness, we need some point on which to base our decisions. So do we choose to base our wholly integrated selves on the gospel, or on some philosophy of men? Our choice will have eternal consequences.

We can know, through our study of the gospel and the growth of our faith and testimony, that the correct choice is to base our lives on the gospel. Everything good comes from God. His gospel contains the truth. Therefore, if we base our lives on truth, we will be making the choice that will allow us to become whole and healed and to return to our God.

As we go through the world and live our lives, we learn many things and come in contact with many ideas and theories. Some of these are good and some are bad--some are even evil. How do we know which is which? We turn to the gospel for guidance. Thus we can choose the good and eshew the bad or the evil.

People are going to have some basis for making their choices, even if that base is subconcious. Sometimes we take a liking to some mortal philosophy and accept or reject other things based on whether it fits with that philosophy or not. Is it not better to choose as our basis something we know to be true, something that will lead us toward more truth and goodness and light and knowledge?

Of course, it isn't easy to do this. We want to do the right things and make the right choices, but we can get mixed up and make mistakes. Some of our mistakes come because we don't understand the teachings of the gospel thoroughly. It takes a lifetime to learn it all--an eternal lifetime. We don't always get complete explanations. We have to trust our God, trust that He knows what He is doing. We have to take some things on faith, not knowing the whys and wherefores until later, perhaps not until the next life. The philosophies of men don't give us all the answers, either, but they also do not have the promise that someday they will have the answers.

The gospel teaches us how to make right choices and how to correct our mistakes through repentance and the Atonement. What can the philosophies of men do?

Breaking Chains

Last year, in the July 2006 Ensign, there was an article called "Breaking the Chains of Sin" by Elder H. Ross Workman of the Seventy. In this article, Elder Workman discusses slavery--not physical imprisonment/restraint, but spiritual slavery.

Many think of captivity only in terms of imprisonment by other people. Physical captivity is abhorrent, but the effects may not endure eternally. The greater bondage is to the father of lies—a form of captivity that is far more devastating and potentially longer lasting. Remarkably, this spiritual captivity results from personal choice as one yields to uncontrolled desires and passions. One can be in captivity to sin or to the pursuit of worldly honors such as fame, wealth, political power, or social standing. One can also be in captivity through obsessive preoccupation with activities such as sports, music, or entertainment.

A particularly powerful source of captivity is tradition. Traditions exist in every culture. In some countries, tribal traditions run deep. Some of these traditions are wonderful, preserving culture and defining social order. Other traditions are contrary to the gospel and priesthood government and, when followed blindly, result in captivity.

Even individual and family traditions can lead to spiritual captivity. Traditions that are contrary to gospel principles offend the Spirit and, if followed, obscure one’s ability to be guided by the Spirit to recognize righteous choices that would expand freedom. For example, consider family traditions regarding the Sabbath. How does your family feel when a major sports event conflicts with Church responsibilities? Yielding to unrighteous influences diminishes your freedom and amplifies the danger of captivity.

In these three paragraphs, Elder Workman points out that it isn't just what we usually think of as sins (robbery, murder, etc.) that can enslave us. It is anything that we carry to extremes, including things that aren't bad in and of themselves (at least, they are not bad in moderation). It can be blogging or video games or sports or any number of things that lead us to neglect our duties and obligations--that lead us to neglect our families and our God. I think many of us fall into this trap.

Freedom to choose all that is “expedient” is a gift given by God to His children. Thus, we can choose liberty (freedom) and eternal life through Christ, or we can choose captivity and death according to the power of the devil (see 2 Ne. 2:27). It is often said that we are free to choose whatever course we desire, but we are not free to avoid the consequences of that choice.

Spiritual captivity rarely results from a single choice or event. More often, freedom is surrendered one small step at a time until the way to regain that freedom is obscured....If we are succumbing to spiritual captivity, we may not recognize the growing loss of freedom in our lives. Yet the more spiritual captivity we experience, choose, or permit, the less freedom of choice we feel in matters of spiritual importance.

Some seek to explain spiritual captivity as something out of their control. Is it really out of their control? Typically, freedom to make righteous choices is measured by a willingness to sacrifice that which is the object of desire or passion. Hence, sacrifice is a guiding principle and is the key to setting oneself free from captivity.

The slavery we allow ourselves to brought into limits our choices and our freedoms. It damages our lives and the lives of those around us. I liked Elder Workman's final paragraphs:

Some people feel they are in captivity because of their poverty. Poverty can indeed be disabling, limiting some of the choices one can make. However, poverty is not a source of captivity in the eternal sense.

The mortal Jesus had few possessions, and He relied on others for His food and keeping. Yet He was not in captivity. His willingness to sacrifice all that Heavenly Father required and to keep all the Father’s commandments brought Him ultimate freedom.

The Lord requires sacrifice to test the faithful. He asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. He asked the rich young ruler to “sell that thou hast, and give to the poor” (Matt. 19:21). The Prophet Joseph Smith and the pioneer Saints sacrificed much to establish the Church “in the top of the mountains” (Isa. 2:2). The Lord asks us to sacrifice too.

Father Lehi, in his last recorded discourse to his sons, pleaded with them to “shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe” (2 Ne. 1:13). His words evoke the Savior’s message: “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:34).

How, then, does one “shake off the awful chains” of spiritual captivity? As we purify our hearts through repentance and turn to the Savior with a firm determination to obey His commandments, He will enlarge our strength through the power of His grace. Each righteous choice we make can then lead to future righteous choices. The struggle to escape spiritual captivity and regain our freedom is not always an easy process; indeed, it may lead us through the refiner’s fire. But because of the Atonement and the great gift of repentance, “though [our] sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isa. 1:18).

The Savior promised, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31–32). Let us implement in our lives those principles that we know to be true. Rather than submitting to captivity, let us make righteous choices and “continue in [the Savior’s] word.” Then we shall be truly free.

There is always hope. We can always free ourselves. It may not be easy, but it can be done.

Holy Week and Easter Weekend

This week and this weekend mark an important event for Christians everywhere. We commemorate the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and we celebrate His resurrection, which broke the bands of death and made possible an atonement with Him and with our Heavenly Father.

There are things we don't fully understand about the need for the Savior's sacrifice, but we do know it was necessary. It has made it possible for us to progress and to make corrections along our way through life. It has assured us of more life to come after this one is finished.

The focus this week on Easter and the preceding days brings to our minds so many things for which we can be grateful to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It reminds me of Christ's entire life and teachings and the example He set for us. Repentance and forgiveness are much on my mind and I ponder how to do a better job of applying these to my life. How can I better repent, be forgiving, and follow Christ's example?

At our General Conference last weekend, our prophets and apostles and other leaders spoke on many of the topics that I am thinking of and also gave counsel and direction for improving our lives in these and other areas. It occurs to me that being truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ is important for helping us to realize the necessity of all the other work we need to do on ourselves. The gift of the Holy Ghost helps us see our weaknesses and how to strengthen ourselves. Scriptures and prayer do the same.

Coming as it does near the beginning of spring, of rebirth, Easter is a very special time of year. It is a time to recommit and go forward.

The Atonement

How do we apply the atonement to our lives? How can we be forgiven? Can we really start over with a clean slate?

There is a lot to the subject of the atonement. However, one doesn't have to know all the deep doctrines surrounding this topic in order to begin applying the atonement to one's own life. One short, helpful article on Atonement is in the Bible Dictionary in the LDS 1979 edition of the scriptures. If you don't have those, you can go to the church's website here and click on The Scriptures. There, you have the standard works plus Guide to the Scriptures, Bible Dictionary, and Topical Guide. Back on the first screen of the church's website, you can click on Gospel Library and that will lead you to back issues of the Ensign and other church magazines, plus a host of church manuals. You can do searches, such as on Atonement, and find articles and lessons that will help increase your understanding. This is a very useful research tool for learning about any gospel topic.

Back to the atonement, the article in the Bible Dictionary is a brief and helpful description of the atonement and how it works. To apply it to your life, you must have faith in Jesus Christ, repent, and live the gospel fully. The latter includes the laws and ordinances of the gospel--the commandments in the scriptures. Part of this is to forgive others. When you recall the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself, it is implied that you forgive yourself as well. This is often difficult to do--we can be awfully hard on ourselves. Prayer and scripture study can help you, as can attending your Sunday meetings where you can learn much about the gospel.

What I want to say, though, is that it is not necessary to understand all the finer doctrinal points of atonement, or any other gospel principle, before you begin applying it to your own life. We grow in the gospel step by step, line upon line, precept upon precept. Don't wait for the blessings that will come to you as you live the gospel as best you can with the knowledge you have--now, today.