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
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
In speaking on the Sabbath Day, James E. Faust shared an excerpt from the First Presidency Message announcing the consolidation of church meetings into the block schedule we have today. He said,
“I am concerned that many in our generation are missing great blessings by not honoring the Lord’s day.
On February 1, 1980, when the First Presidency announced the consolidated Sunday meeting schedule, the following counsel was given: “A greater responsibility will be placed upon the individual members and families for properly observing the Sabbath day. More time will be available for personal study of the scriptures and family-centered gospel study.
Other appropriate Sabbath activities, such as strengthening family ties, visiting the sick and the home-bound, giving service to others, writing personal and family histories, genealogical work, and missionary work, should be carefully planned and carried out. It is expected that this new schedule of meetings and activities will result in greater spiritual growth for members of the Church. It is hoped that priesthood leaders and members of the Church will honor the spirit of more family togetherness on Sunday. “
James E. Faust, Conference Report, Oct. 1991, p. 45
James E. Faust taught,
“We need not become paralyzed with fear of Satan’s power. He can have no power over us unless we permit it. He is really a coward, and if we stand firm, he will retreat. The Apostle James counseled: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). He cannot know our thoughts unless we speak them. And Nephi states that “he hath no power over the hearts” of people who are righteous (See 1 Nephi 22:26).”
(James E. Faust, CR, Oct. 1987, p. 43)
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