What else is there? It never fails. Everything else will, so if we don't have love, so will we fail. If we don't know love, we don't know God, and not knowing God we can't know ourselves. Without this, the greatest of attributes, life has little purpose. The surest road to perfection is to love, and the surest road to destruction is to turn inward in selfishness. A love-filled life is a godly life. A love-filled life is one full of confidence, peace, direction, certainty and pure joy. If God is love, then being filled with love we become as He is. Only in this way will we know Him when we see Him. We shall be like Him.
Whatever you do, you'd better do all out. Believe in Christ and doubt nothing. Why? Because He'll give you whatever you want, that's why. He'll give you everything.
Let's start with an understanding that we are in control. Our agency is powerful and it ours, and God's devotion to it is absolute. Never fall into the trap of thinking that we are somehow helpless, that we are prey to some kind of unavoidable fate. It is a lie. God orders and provides, but we've got to work it out. Yeah, we, as Moroni said, must "work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling before [God]." Work out your own career. Work out your own relationships. Work out your own responsibilities. Work out your own happiness. We are not to be acted upon. I agree with Elder Cecil O. Samuelson: "The things of greatest ultimate importance to us are largely in our control and are within the scope of our agency... you are really and quite completely in control of those things of ultimate importance."
We'll get to how this fits in with others' agency later.
I took a trek to Brigham City and back today to transport Stev back to Provo. Air conditioning is a blessed invention. Too bad I'm not that blessed. Anyway I benefited both from Stev's good company and a cool Driver's sunburn:
(from left) Thom (featured), Bonesaw
Thom's Residence
In his natural habitat: Smoking Meats
I watched this little video today and loved it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naqX9iYE0V0
There are so many good things at our disposal. I find that when we fill our time with good things, there is no room for evil, and those good things grow and multiply:
"Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall reap good for your reward" D&C 6:33
I've wondered why we would be afraid of doing good things. I think that the analogy of reaping what we sow helps explain. When I'm holding a little seed of goodness, sometimes I wonder to myself if in planting, nourishing, tending to and caring for it, it will yield good fruit. Maybe I fear that all of my work will be wasted, or that I will be disappointed. Indeed, it can be hard to see the tree from the seed. But when I have faith in Christ when He says that I will reap good, the fear leaves.
It is also comforting that God has given us each very real power to do actual good. At another time He said:
"The power is in them, wherin they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward." D&C 58:28 (italics from me)
Thus He gives a commandment:
"Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness." D&C 58:27 (italics again from me)
The commandment seems to be in force because where there is good to be done, and seeds to be sown, God expects us to "bring [it] to pass." I have some great incentive to do and be good, and I'm really impressed at the power of the words of a dead prophet. Thanks for the important lesson today, President Hinkley!
Battlefront Chronicle
