James E. Faust reminds us that we don’t always have to touch the burner to know if a stove is hot:
Learning by experience has value, but the “school of hardknocks” is deserving of its name. Progression comes faster and easier by learning from our parents, those who love us, and our teachers. We can also learn from the mistakes of others, observing the consequences of their wrong choices.”
“Choices” James E. Faust, April 2004 General Conference
Richard G. Scott reminds us the importance of our actions, he said,
“Don’t rationalize away future happiness by taking shortcuts instead of applying sound gospel principles. Remember: little things lead to big things. Seemingly insignificant indiscretions or neglect can lead to big problems. More importantly, simple, consistent, good habits lead to a life full of bountiful blessings.”
“For Peace at Home”
April 2013 General Conference
President Lorenzo Snow taught,
If we expect to improve, to advance in the work immediately before us, and finally to obtain possession of those gifts and glories, coming up to that condition of exaltation we anticipate, we must take thought and reflect, we must exert ourselves, and that too to the utmost of our ability.
Teachings of the Presidents of the Church
Chapter 3: Lifelong Conversion: Continuing to Advance in the Principles of Truth
Something occurred today on my daily walk to the bus stop. I looked at the time and realized I did not have a chance of getting the bus that I wanted. So I slowed down and enjoyed my pandora station and the walk. When I got close to the bus stop, I saw the bus start to go by. I tried to race for the bus but the bus driver didn’t see me. I missed it.
With the extra time I now had waiting for the next bus, I started thinking about what had just happened. I realized I could’ve caught the bus if I just tried a bit harder earlier. What I thought was completely out of my ability to do was actually very possible. But in a real way, my perception of my abilities became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As I thought on this I also realized that this wasn’t too far off from what we experience in life either.
I hope that some future moment doesn’t come along where I realize that what I thought was not in my reach actually could have been reality.
In my story, I had the timetable in my phone, it would have been able to realize early on that I had a chance to make it. In life there are so many resources available that remind us of our potential for goodness.
Most of all, I am learning to keep an ear out for the soft whispers of my conscience. My experience is that if you can learn to listen right to that voice, the risk of regret goes down.
So as commute today, don’t be afraid to be great. Don’t give up because on the surface it seems like a hopeless cause. Life has a way of working out for those who never give up on themselves.
Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made this observation,
While anything that lessens commitment is of consequence, two relevant challenges are both prevalent and significant. The first is unkindness, violence, and domestic abuse. The second is sexual immorality and impure thoughts. These often precede and are at the root of the choice to be less committed.
2012 October General Conference, “Can Ye Feel So Now?”
As I was reading this morning, I came across this verse from Samuel the Lamanite’s preaching to the Nephites:
And ye know also that they have buried their weapons of war, and they fear to take them up lest by any means they should sin; yea, ye can see that they fear to sin—for behold they will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain by their enemies, and will not lift their swords against them, and this because of their faith in Christ. (Book of Mormon, Helaman, Chapter 15:9)
The phrase that really stood out was that they fear to sin. As a matter of self-reflection, how often do I fear to sin? Sometimes my own attitude is, “Oops, well I didn’t mean to.” What can be done to develop a fear to sin?
Importance
There might be some who say that to fear to sin is a little overkill. Do your best and if you slip up, oh well–you tried. I don’t know if they have a full understanding of the gravity of sin.
The Lord has said,
For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; (Doctrine and Covenants, Doctrine and Covenants, Section 1:31)
Besides being perfect and glorified, our Savior is personally invested in our righteousness:
Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; (Doctrine and Covenants, Doctrine and Covenants, Section 19:15-16)
But sometimes our attitude resembles what Jacob, the brother of Nephi described as an unrighteous assumption:
And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. . . . and their works shall be in the dark. (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi, Chapter 28:8-9)
I can’t imagine anyone who has at least a small understanding of what the Savior went through on our behalf would be willing to cause additional suffering for the Savior.
Learning to Fear to Sin
In considering how one can develop this Christian trait, a few scriptural examples come to mind.
Pondering and Meditation
When the angel comes to help Alma the Younger consider his ways, the angel demonstrates the power of God and then invites him to remember the captivity of His fathers.
Moroni, at the close of the Book of Mormon invites us to ponder on how good God had been since the fall of Adam until the present time (see Moroni 10:3).
There’s value in taking time and pondering on both in the scriptures and in our own life, how The Lord has continually poured out blessings and mercy upon us. When we internalize that grace and how merciful He is, we understand how indebted we are and seek to reflect our gratitude in righteous living.
Seeing Sin for What it is
As the people of King Benjamin felt the import of his teaching, they fell to the earth because they viewed themselves in their carnal state. They cried out for Christ to apply His redeeming blood on their behalf.
We can pray to understand better the gravity of sin. Like for King Benjamin’s people, that will come readily as we learn the word of God and seek to live it.
Avoid Making Excuses
After teaching his wayward son, Corianton about the atonement, justice and mercy, he leaves his son with this counsel:
Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God; but do you let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring you down to the dust in humility. (Book of Mormon, Alma, Chapter 42:30)
Excuses weaken our sense of agency and accountability because we tell ourlselves and others that our actions to some other power or circumstance other than our own will.
As Alma describes, this leads us to deny the justice of God. By holding the justice of God at bay, we lose the fear to sin.
With a greater sense of personal responsibility that is devoid of excuses, we can let the justice of God have sway in our heart. Small sins that were written off before begin to matter, and with a heightened sense of conscience, we can more fully put off the natural man, and become a saint (see Mosiah 3:19)
James E. Faust taught,
First, adults need to understand, and our children should be taught, that private choices are not private; they all have public consequences.
There is a popular notion that doing our own thing or doing what feels good is our own business and affects no one but us. The deadly scourges that are epidemic all over the world have flourished in the context of this popular notion. But this is simply not true.
All immoral behavior directly impacts society. Even innocent people are affected. Drug and alcohol abuse have public consequences, as do illegitimacy, pornography, and obscenity. The public cost in human life and tax dollars for these so-called private choices is enormous: poverty, crime, a less-educated work force, and mounting demands for government spending to fix problems that cannot be fixed by money. It simply is not true that our private conduct is our own business. Our society is the sum total of what millions of individuals do in their private lives. That sum total of private behavior has worldwide public consequences of enormous magnitude. There are no completely private choices.
“Will You Be Happy?”
April 1987 General Conference
Dallin H. Oaks taught,
The Spirit of the Lord is not likely to give us revelations on matters that are trivial. I once heard a young woman in a testimony meeting praise the spirituality of her husband, indicating that he submitted every question to the Lord. She told how he accompanied her shopping and would not even choose between different brands of canned vegetables without making his selection a matter of prayer. That strikes me as improper. I believe the Lord expects us to use the intelligence and experience he has given us to make these kinds of choices.
(Dallin H. Oaks, “Revelation,” Speeches of the Year, 1981, p. 26)
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said:
“When people are described as ‘having lost their desire for sin,’ it is they, and they only, who deliberately decided to lose those wrong desires by being willing to ‘give away all [their] sins’ in order to know God.”
“Therefore, what we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity.”
Quoted in 2011 April General Conference, Desire, Sat. Afternoon Session – Dallin H. Oaks
Neal A. Maxwell, while serving as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve, taught,
“One day we will understand fully how complete our commitment was in our first estate in accepting the very conditions of challenge in our second estate about which we sometimes complain in this school of stress. Our collective and personal premortal promises will then be laid clearly before us.
Further, when we are finally judged in terms of our performance in this second estate, we will see that God, indeed, is perfect in his justice and mercy. We will also see that when we fail here it will not have been because we were truly tempted above that which we were able to bear. There was always an escape hatch had we looked for it! We will also see that our lives have been fully and fairly measured. In retrospect, we will even see that our most trying years here will often have been our best years, producing large tree rings on our soul, Gethsemanes of growth! Mortality is moistened by much opportunity if our roots of resolve can but take it in.”
From Speeches.byu.edu
Neal A. Maxwell was an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this fireside address was given at Brigham Young University on 4 January 1976.
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