FREEDOM OF CHOICE, AN ETERNAL PRINCIPLE
President Benson, having learned the principal of work on a farm,
which in his young years helped him gain an understanding that work gives us a
lifelong ability to make good choices.
We work to understand and live Gospel Principals….we work to exercise our agency….freedom of
choice.
It is in the doing that we grow.…We learn as we take action. In
the beginning, the war in Heaven was our first opportunity to
make choices.
Freedom of choice is truly a God-given eternal principle. The
great plan of liberty is the plan of the gospel. There is no coercion about it;
no force, no intimidation. A man is free
to accept the gospel or reject it. He may accept it and then refuse to live it,
or he may accept it and live it fully.
But God will never force us to it. He may use gentle persuasion through
His servants. He will call us direct us, persuade and encourage us, and certainly He will bless us when we
respond, but He will never force the human mind. (Hymns 240)
There is no evil that [Jesus Christ] cannot arrest.
Life is a testing time in man’s eternal existence, during which he is given… the right to choose
between right and wrong…on those choices hang great consequences, not only in
this life, but, even more important, in the life to come. There are boundaries
beyond which Satan cannot go. Within those bounds, he is presently being
permitted to offer and unrighteous alternative to God’s righteous principles, thus allowing men
to choose between good and evil and thereby determine the station they shall
occupy in the next life.
We are not just put here without help to keep us on the straight
and narrow. Those things which help us the most are:
1) Prayer, having a relationship with our Heavenly Father.
2) Fasting to help us make decisions. This puts us in a humble
state and helps us focus on a specific purpose, praying for specific help with our lives.
3) Scripture study to answer our questions….helpin us understand
what God wants for us.
4) Priesthood is a very real power to which we can tap to help us
make good choices.
We should be mindful of teaching children the principal of
repentance. Sometimes poor choices are made….We know that they will make
mistakes in their life. If they understand there is always a way to get back on
the path toward God, then they will have an understanding it is not impossible
to return to the right path. It is a loving way that Jesus can help them to get
back on the path of righteousness.
It is important to remember that if we chose a bad part, we will
have the consequences of that choice. We do not get to choose the consequence
for our choice. God has already put those in place. Agency has been given to
all of us to make important decisions that will have bearing on our salvation.
Those decisions affect our happiness in eternity. The teaching of Ezra Taft Benson page 24
The purposes of the Lord
and His great objective continue the same: the salvation and exaltation of his
children.
Usually the Lord gives
us the overall objectives to be accomplished and some guide lines to follow,
but he expects us to work out the details and methods. The methods and
procedures are usually developed through study, prayer and day to day decision
making so that we can obtain and follow the promptings of the Spirit. Less
spiritually advanced people, such as those in the days of Moses, had to be
commanded in many things. Today those who are spiritually alert look at the
objectives, check the guidelines laid down by the Lord and his prophets, and
then prayerfully act, without having to be commanded “in all things.” This
attitude prepares men for Godhood .
. .
Sometimes the Lord waits
on his children to act on their own, and when they do not, they lose the
greater prize, and the Lord will either drop the entire matter and let them
suffer the consequences or else he will have to spell it out in greater
detail. The lesson was a good reminder
that we should always be “anxiously engaged” in a good cause, and leave the
world a better place for having lived in it.