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?