21 Principles

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.  Today is the last post of my personal challenge and it feels good to have completed my goal.  I hope this has blessed you over all of this time.  I know it has blessed me.

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.”

This is a biggie.  We might think we know ourselves and what is best, but we limit ourselves by those thoughts.  God is our Father and He knows all and knows us better than we even know ourselves.  If we are willing to trust Him and dedicate our lives and hearts to Him, He will do AMAZING things.  Things we never dreamed possible.  We just have to be open to letting Him work on and through us.  Our potential is so much more if we let God drive the bus.  Really.

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.

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.”

I want to quote just a little bit out of the book on this principle.  It was just too good, and I need to share it.

We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day.  ~Richard G. Scott

Isn’t that just the most powerful statement?  It takes faith to become what we want to be.  It takes action to get there.  As we do what it takes to become who we want to be, then our character is shaped and increased.  We literally become who we want to be as we practice each day.  When we practice righteousness, we become righteous.  That is powerful.

One other word sticks out to me in that quote.  Consistently.  That means we can’t do something one time and expect changes to happen.  We have to do it over and over again.  It takes time, but we have to stay with it and keep practicing each and every day.  When we are consistent in that practice, then we increase our faith and in turn, our character.  Pretty powerful stuff.  And that power lies within each of us.

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.”

There is a saying I have heard many times about being the kind of person that when you get up each morning, the devil says, “Oh no!  She’s awake!”  That is the kind of person I want to be.

When I was in the MTC (Missionary Training Center), at the beginning of my church mission, I was in a class with a group of other missionaries and we were having difficulty learning our Spanish.  We were getting discouraged and began to believe that we would never get it and be able to teach the gospel in the language we had been assigned.  I will never forget the story that one of our teachers told us one afternoon.  I’d like to share that story with you.

There was once a Jr. Devil in training.  He wanted to be the best devil that he could and was being tutored by a Sr. Devil on how to best corrupt man.  The Sr. Devil told the Jr. Devil that the best way was to use the tool of discouragement.  It was easy to do and worked really well and very quickly.  He demonstrated this for him and upon choosing a man, he whispered in his ear, “Be discouraged.  Be discouraged.”  Soon the man’s face fell and he became frustrated and filled with discouragement with the task he was trying to do and then with all of life.  The two devils laughed with glee.

The Jr. Devil began to whisper “Be discouraged.  Be discouraged” into any ear that would listen.  He was filled with great success.

One day, he came upon a woman who was attempting to do a somewhat difficult task.  He just knew he could discourage her and she would fail.  He quickly went over and whispered into her ear, “Be discouraged.  Be discouraged.”  The woman ignored him and kept working at her task cheerfully.  He decided he just needed to be more persistent and make her listen to him.  He again went to her ear and more loudly this time said, “Be discouraged.  Be discouraged.”  She shook her head and again smiled and worked even harder at her task.  Finally, the little devil went to her ear once more and yelled, “BE DISCOURAGED!  BE DISCOURAGED!”  The woman just laughed and said, “NO.  I will NOT be discouraged.  I can do this.”  The little devil went away and was heartbroken saying, “Now I’M discouraged!”

The moral of the story is to be the kind of person who discourages the devil.  That’s what I want and hope I can do.  It’s a process, but I am always learning.

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, 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.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.”

I want to quote just a little bit out of the book about this principle:

“I am convinced that when we give unconditional love; when our interest is first in serving, building, edifying, strengthening without thought of self; when we do not expect an automatic return for each act of kindness, generosity, or sincere effort to help; when we are not concerned about what we will receive or what others will say or whether our own burdens will be diminished, but selflessly seek to build another, the miracle of the power of the gospel is released in our lives.  When we permit the Lord to work through us to bless others, that sacred experience releases power in our own lives, and miracles occur.”  ~Richard G. Scott

I really love this.  To put it simply, it is the golden rule.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  When we serve others, we are serving our Heavenly Father.  My grandma always taught me that when you want or need to love someone, then you serve them.  It is impossible to not love someone when you lose yourself in serving them.  When we do this, our own struggles seem to diminish and they don’t seem so significant.  By doing this, we learn to love as the Savior does and we become better for it.