Life is AWESOME!!! (You know it is...): October 2012

This is a talk that I gave in Church at the beginning of September. For those of you who don't know, our Church has no paid minister/clergy. Members of the congregation are called to hold different positions and all time spent carrying out these "callings" is voluntary. Each week a few members are called upon to speak and teach during Sacrament meeting. I was assigned this topic and this is what I came up with.

Please Enjoy...

I want to start by telling you about a couple of friends of mine.

The first friend is a young man that I used to work with. He is in his mid-teens and not really into church. He goes because his family goes, but would rather not be there. He doesn't have a lot of friends at church. He would rather be with his non-member friends doing things that are not what he should be doing. He has a girlfriend even though he isn't old enough to date, but it's more about holding hands and making out than anything else. Pornography is his occasional secret friend. He would rather be doing anything but what the Lord would have him do.

The second friend is happy to be at church. He holds a calling and performs that calling to the best of his abilities. He has friends there and they help him to stay straight. He has a little more debt than he would like, but pays his tithing anyways and somehow is able to make it through. He goes to the temple when he can and honors the priesthood that he holds. He isn't perfect, but does the best he can to do what the Lord would have him do.

What's the difference between my two friends?

The first thing that comes to mind is that their desires are completely opposite. The first one desires the things of the world while the second desires the things of the Lord.

So, why are our desires so important?

Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said, "Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming."

So what we desire is what we do. That is something we should all think about. What do we want to be? Do we want to be what the Lord wants us to be or what the world wants us to be? Consider my two friends.

Alma said, "I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction." That's in Alma 29:4.

President John Taylor said, "The Lord … will let mankind pursue happiness in their own way, and according to their desire he will let them drink the cup of their own iniquity in their own way. On the other hand, he has manifested his goodness and will continue to do it to all his children."

So, it's kind of like this... Righteous desires = Blessings, Salvation, Good stuff. Awesome.

Evil desires = Destruction, False hope and happiness, Bad Stuff. Not Awesome.

What do we do so that we have righteous desires and stay away from evil desires?

Hartman Rector, Jr. said, "Believe you can do it. This is the first important principle. All things are possible to them that believe (see Mark 9:23). Surely we must believe in a thing before we can desire it. And God does grant unto men according to their desire (see Alma 29:4). If the desire is strong enough, performance is assured."

What else?

One Word... Yagottawanna

This comes from a talk from the April 1991 general conference. Brother Goaslind, the YM General President, talked about this attitude.

He said, "It reminds me of one of the qualities of godhood. “And there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it.” (Abr. 3:17.) Isn’t it wonderful that we can trust our Father in Heaven to do what he says he will do?

There are two elements to this principle. First, God takes something into his heart. When we take something into our hearts, it usually means that we feel something. This is the spirit of revelation. (See D&C 8:2–3.) It gives an intense feeling of peacefulness or well-being. President Marion G. Romney said that it “comes into our minds and feelings and induces us to do what is right”; it leads us to do good (see D&C 11:12).

“Yagottawanna” also helps us understand the principle of agency. Youth with sincere desires take initiative. They do good things without waiting to be told. They “do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” (D&C 58:27.) They act rather than wait to be acted upon. They are in control of themselves. Such control is a wonderful feeling. It is a feeling we get when we exercise one of our most precious gifts—that of free agency."

“Yagottawanna” also shows an attitude of faith. Desire is the beginning of faith.

Alma taught, "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." (Book of Mormon, Alma, Chapter 32)

So it doesn't really matter if we actually believe. We just have to want to believe and, eventually, that desire will grow into belief and our faith will be strengthened.

Back to Brother Goaslind... "What we desire will ultimately help determine our eternal judgment."

Elder Dallin H. Oaks also taught about the influence of our desires upon our final judgment. He said, "The desires of our hearts will be an important consideration in the final judgment. Alma taught that God “granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; … according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction. Yea, … he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires.” (Alma 29:4–5.)

That is a sobering teaching, but it is also a gratifying one. It means that when we have done all that we can, our desires will carry us the rest of the way. It also means that if our desires are right, we can be forgiven for the mistakes we will inevitably make as we try to carry those desires into effect. What a comfort for our feelings of inadequacy!"

So... Here's what I got from that... Just because we have righteous desires doesn't mean that we are going to be perfect. We are still going to make mistakes. That is inevitable. But, the Lord is going to be more willing to forgive us if He knows that our hearts and desires are in the right place. The atonement is for everyone. But remember... Yagottawanna...

More from Elder Oaks... "Under the law of God we are accountable for our feelings and desires as well as our acts. Evil thoughts and desires will be punished. (Evil desires = Not Awesome). Acts that seem to be good bring blessings only when they are done with real and righteous intent. On the positive side, we will be blessed for the righteous desires of our hearts even though some outside circumstance has made it impossible for us to carry those desires into action. (Righteous desires = Awesome).

To paraphrase Paul’s teaching in Romans 2:29, he is a true Latter-day Saint who is one inwardly, whose conversion is that of the spirit, in the heart, whose praise is not of men for outward acts, but of God, for the inward desires of the heart."

Now... Back to my two friends... What if I told you that these two people were actually the same person? And what if I told you that this person was me? Would you believe it?

Friend #1 was me about 15-20 years ago as a youth in the church. I had a very weak testimony and very few friends in the church. I really just wanted to be like my non-member friends and do what they were doing. I was not in a good place spiritually and was destroying myself.

Friend #2 is me now after a lot of repentance and struggle because of those evil desires that I used to have. Am I perfect? Nope... Do I still struggle and make mistakes? Yup... Do I really want to be perfect? Absolutely... There is still a long way to go though.

So... What happened?

Brother Goaslind taught, "Desires change during our lives, sometimes dramatically and quickly, and sometimes gradually. Elder Boyd K. Packer once quoted Lady Astor: “I always dreaded growing old, because then you can’t do all of the things you want to. But it isn’t so bad—you don’t want to!” Be aware that things that seem all-important to you now will not matter in years to come. But you can choose now to want things that are in harmony with eternity. For example, you can choose to be righteous rather than waste your time on perishable things; you can choose to serve willingly rather than selfishly. Elder Marion D. Hanks has often quoted the wise saying that “the things that matter most must not be at the mercy of the things that matter least.” The choices we make in this life have a very important influence on our eternity."

Remember the people of King Benjamin. Before he died, King Benjamin built a tower and called all of his people together. He taught them many great and important truths. Then what happened?

1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them.

2 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. (Book of Mormon, Mosiah, Chapter 5)

No more disposition to do evil. They changed their desires of their hearts from evil (not awesome) to righteous (awesome).

That's what happened to me. There came a time in my life when I was finally able to admit that what I was doing was ruining myself and my future. So I changed my desires. I talked to my Bishop and got on the road to recovery. It took a while, but I was able to repent and be forgiven. Never, ever think that you are stuck on the road to destruction. You can ALWAYS turn around and come back. The Lord will take you if you truly desire to be His.

Now... Does Satan want me back? He sure does... Does he want everyone? You can bet on it... But here's the difference between me now and me back then. I know what he is trying to do. I know that he is going to try and tempt me back with all those things that I did before. So I fight back. I hold on to my righteous desires and keep myself safe from those temptations. I am reminded of a song by Rascall Flats entitled "Stand". The chorus goes like this...

Cause when push comes to shove

You taste what you're made of

You might bend 'till you break

'Cause it's all you can take

On your knees you look up

Decide you've had enough

You get mad, you get strong

Wipe your hands, shake it off

Then you stand, then you stand

Remember to stand firm in the gospel and cling to those righteous desires that will help you return to your Heavenly Father.

I will close with a few last quotes...

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.”

A. Theodore Tuttle said, "There are many thousands here who are not the captain of the football team, the valedictorian, and the student body president, all in one. Socially, you feel inept. Your grades are not all that good. You are wondering if you can qualify to serve a mission (or in the church in any capacity). Young man (young woman, old man, old woman), fix firmly on your heart a desire to serve the Lord and to declare the gospel: “For I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life.” (Alma 29:4.) I know this promise is true. The Lord loves you. He needs you. You may not have all of the qualities you would like to have. You have great potential. Some of you have made mistakes. Some have troublesome personal habits. Talk to the Lord about them tonight. If you are greatly troubled, talk to your father. You may even need to see your bishop. Get things straightened out now."

Finally, Elder Oaks has said,"Let us remember that desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. In addition, it is our actions and our desires that cause us to become something, whether a true friend, a gifted teacher, or one who has qualified for eternal life."

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Life is AWESOME!!! (You know it is...)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

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Monday, October 8, 2012

According to Our Desires...