Agency

I am so grateful for the doctrine of agency.  What a loving Heavenly Father we have who knew our happiness would depend upon our opportunity to choose.  He allows us to choose what we want most, he allows us to learn by having this probationary time to try out things, learn, make mistakes and CHOOSE to follow him.  When I recognize this I am in awe of his love.  Being a parent I often find myself wishing I could choose what I think will make my children most happy, but this will never bring true happiness to them.  One thing that has always struck me as important about agency is that we must exercise it in order to grow.  When we give up our agency whether by bondage of sin or ignorance of choice we become stagnant and happiness is not found in being stagnant.  Choosing gratefulness, repentance, obedience, faith, etc. are the things that will lead us back to our Father in heaven and to peace now.   

1.      Elder D. Todd Christofferson – April 2015 General Conference, “Why Marriage, Why Family?” (notes) https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/why-marriage-why-family?lang=eng Quoting Joseph Smith “ Satan cannot seduce us by using his enticements unless we in our hearts consent and yield. Our Organization is such that we can resist the devil; if we were not organized so, we could not be free agents.”

2.      Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf – April 2015 General Conference “The Gift of Grace” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-gift-of-grace?lang=eng  “We seek to obey our Heavenly Father because our spirits will become more attuned to spiritual things. Vistas are opened that we never knew existed. Enlightenment and understanding come to us when we do the will of the Father.”

3.      Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf – April 2014 General Conference “Grateful in Any Circumstances” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng “When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heaven’s embrace.”

4.      Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf – January 2013 CES Fireside “What Is Truth?”https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/ces-devotionals/2013/01/what-is-truth?lang=eng “The invitation to trust the Lord does not relieve us from the responsibility to know for ourselves. This is more than an opportunity; it is an obligation—and it is one of the reasons we were sent to this earth.”

5.      Elder Christofferson – October 2014 General Conference “Free Forever to Act for Themselves” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/free-forever-to-act-for-themselves?lang=eng “God will not act to make us something we do not choose by our actions to become. Truly He loves us, and because He loves us, He neither compels nor abandons us. Rather He helps and guides us. Indeed, the real manifestation of God’s love is His commandments.”

6.      Pres. Thomas S. Monson – October 2014 General Conference “Ponder the Path of Thy Feet” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/ponder-the-path-of-thy-feet?lang=eng  “All of us can walk the path He walked when, when with His words ringing in our ears, His spirit filing our hearts, and His teachings guiding our lives, we choose to follow Him as we journey through mortality. His example lights the way.”

7.      Pres. Thomas S. Monson April 2015 General Conference “Guided Safely Home” Priesthood Session https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/guided-safely-home?lang=eng “A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder, never likely to reach home port.”  As it is with the mighty Bismarck, so it is with man.  The thrust of the turbines and the power of the propellers are useless without that sense of direction, that harnessing of the energy, that directing of the power provided by the rudder, hidden from view, relatively small in size but absolutely essential in function.”

8.      Elder Russell M. Nelson – April 2015 General Conference “The Sabbath is a Delight” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-sabbath-is-a-delight?lang=eng “Not pursuing your “own pleasure” on the Sabbath requires self-discipline. You may have to deny yourself of something you might like. If you choose to delight yourself in the Lord, you will not permit yourself to treat it as any other day. Routine and recreational activities can be done some other time.”

9.      Elder L. Tom Perry- October 2008 General Conference, “Let Him Do It with Simplicity” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/let-him-do-it-with-simplicity?lang=eng “We must acquire knowledge of God’s eternal plan and our role in it, and then by living righteously, surrendering our will to the will of the Lord, we received the promised blessings.”   He closed his talk with these words “In our search to obtain relief from the stresses of life, may we earnestly seek ways to simplify our lives.”

10.  Elder Richard G. Scott – October 2014 General Conference “Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/make-the-exercise-of-faith-your-first-priority?lang=eng “Don’t yield to Satan’s lie that you don’t have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games, or social media. You may need to reorganize your priorities to provide time for the study of the word of God. If so, do it!”

11.  Elder Robert D. Hales – April 2015 General Conference “Preserving Agency, Protecting Religious Freedom” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/preserving-agency-protecting-religious-freedom?lang=eng “As we walk the path of spiritual liberty in these last days, we must understand that the faithful use of our agency depends upon our having religious freedom. We already know that Satan does not want this freedom to be ours. He attempted to destroy moral agency in heaven, and now on earth he is fiercely undermining, opposing, and spreading confusion about religious freedom—what it is and why it is essential to our spiritual life and our very salvation.”

12.  Elder Christofferson – October 2014 General Conference “Free Forever to Act for Themselves” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/free-forever-to-act-for-themselves?lang=eng “In matters both temporal and spiritual, the opportunity to assume personal responsibility is a God-given gift without which we cannot realize our full potential as daughters and sons of God.”