Earlier this year I started a personal challenge to share one of the 21 principles as covered in the book by Richard G. Scott. This book has really touched my heart and I have felt impressed to share it with you and my own feelings about each of the principles. You can read about the other principles I have covered here. If you would like your own copy of this book, you can purchase it here. This is NOT an affiliate link, even though I do have an affiliate account with Amazon. I have chosen NOT to use an affiliate link as I don’t feel right about it in this circumstance.
“As you seek spiritual knowledge, search for principles,” counsels Elder Richard G. Scott. “Principles are concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances.”
“A true principle makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and challenging circumstances.”
When I was growing up, my mom had a book that she read to us all the time. It was called, If I Obey, I’ll Be Happy All Day. We hated it. She drilled it into us most likely hoping we would get the message and you know, be obedient little children.
Now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I often think of that little story and smile. I have shared the story over the years in church talks, primary lessons, and of course in our own home. Not the actual storybook, because that has been out of print for a very long time and I have no idea how to actually get it. But mainly just the thought that if you are obedient to the Lord and His commandments, then you are happy. If you are obedient, then the Lord trusts you to follow His guidance through the Spirit.
On the flip side, if you aren’t obedient, then you really aren’t entitled to guidance from the Spirit. You have to learn to do the basics first.
The awesome thing is that you have a choice. You are free to choose whether you are obedient to His commandments or not. Forcing a child to do something never really gets you anywhere. They resent it and don’t learn a thing. It isn’t any different with our Father in Heaven. He is wise and therefore has given us the gift of free agency. But with that gift comes consequences. Every action or inaction has a consequence. Some of those consequences make us truly happy and those are the ones found when we are obedient to the commandments and to the Spirit. When we are not obedient, we have chosen unhappiness. Oh, our choice may look enticing and we may think we are happy for the moment. But inevitably, unhappiness in some form will occur eventually.
I’m glad we have free agency and can choose to be obedient to the Lord. I’m glad that our Heavenly Father is so wise and willing to let us each learn and grow.
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