David A. Bednar, Mormon Messages 2010
Friday, July 29, 2011
Testimony versus Conversion
"I believe every member of this church has a testimony. A testimony is what we know to be true, not intellectually, but by the power of the Holy Ghost. I'm not so sure every member of this church is converted to the Lord Jesus Christ because as we are increasingly converted, we become more consistent and true to what we know."
David A. Bednar, Mormon Messages 2010
David A. Bednar, Mormon Messages 2010
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Integrity
"Integrity is the value we set on ourselves, It is a fulfillment of the duty we owe ourselves. An honorable man or woman will personally commit to live up to certain self-imposed expectations. They need no outside check or control. They are honorable in their inner core."
"There need to be some absolutes in life. There are some things that should not ever be done, some lines that should never be crossed, vows that should never be broken, words that should never be spoken, and thoughts that should never be entertained."
"God help us to be honest and true. May we always be thoroughly dependable, standing firm and upright though others may fail, and be fearless, constant, and just. May we say with the much-tested Job: 'Til I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.'" (Job 27:5)
James E. Faust, April 1982
"There need to be some absolutes in life. There are some things that should not ever be done, some lines that should never be crossed, vows that should never be broken, words that should never be spoken, and thoughts that should never be entertained."
"God help us to be honest and true. May we always be thoroughly dependable, standing firm and upright though others may fail, and be fearless, constant, and just. May we say with the much-tested Job: 'Til I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.'" (Job 27:5)
James E. Faust, April 1982
On criticism and perspective
"We live in a society that feeds on criticism. Faultfinding is the substance of columnists and commentators, and there is too much of this among our own people. It is so easy to find fault, and to resist doing so requires much of discipline. But if as a people we will build and sustain one another, the Lord will bless us with the strength to weather every storm and continue to move forward through every adversity."
"Of course there are aberrations in our history. There are blemishes to be found, if searched for, in the lives of all men, including our leaders past and present. But these are only incidental to the magnitude of their service and to the greatness of their contributions."
Gordon B. Hinckley, April 1982
"Of course there are aberrations in our history. There are blemishes to be found, if searched for, in the lives of all men, including our leaders past and present. But these are only incidental to the magnitude of their service and to the greatness of their contributions."
Gordon B. Hinckley, April 1982
The power of books
"The older I grow, the more thankful I feel to my parents in providing for us, in the home in which we were reared, good things to read. We had a library in that home with more than a thousand volumes....We saw our father and mother read, and they read to us. It did something of an indefinable nature. It gave us a familiarity with good books. We felt at home and at ease with them. They were not strangers to us. They were as friends, willing to give to us if we were willing to make a little effort."
"There is no way to blank [pornography] out entirely. But we can do something to offset its corrosive influence. We can expose our children to good reading. Let them grow with good books and good Church magazines around them."
"Years ago I read that Emerson was once asked which one of all the books he had read had most affected his life. His response was that he could no more remember the books he had read than he could remember the meals he had eaten, but they had made him."
Gordon B. Hinckley, April 1982
"There is no way to blank [pornography] out entirely. But we can do something to offset its corrosive influence. We can expose our children to good reading. Let them grow with good books and good Church magazines around them."
"Years ago I read that Emerson was once asked which one of all the books he had read had most affected his life. His response was that he could no more remember the books he had read than he could remember the meals he had eaten, but they had made him."
Gordon B. Hinckley, April 1982
On offense and forgiveness
"[N]ever underestimate the power of privately extending a simple, loving, but direct challenge. Though it may not be reciprocated, such love is never wasted."
"Organized love is better than generalized concern."
"[R]emember the Lord's hand is in this work. He can bring about those circumstances in which such souls are 'in a preparation to hear the word.' His Spirit can prod the prodigals--some of whom will come to their senses. And as that happens, however, let us run to greet them while they are 'yet a great way off.'"
"Let us acknowledge that the strait and narrow path, though clearly marked, is a path, not a freeway nor an escalator. indeed, there are times when the only way the strait and narrow path can be followed is on one's knees!"
"[I]t is so difficult to carry our cross and grudges, too. Quickly forgotten by those who are offended is the fact that the Church is 'for the perfecting of the saints;' it is not a well-provisioned rest home for the already perfected."
"What is most to be focused on--the fact that Peter walked briefly on the water or that he did not continue? Has any other mortal so walked, even that briefly?"
"If the choice is between reforming other Church members or ourselves, is there really any question about where we should begin? The key is to have our eyes wide open to our own faults and partially closed to the faults of others--not the other way around! The imperfections of others never release us from the need to work on our own shortcomings."
"People who spend their time searching for feet of clay will miss not only the heavens wherein God moves in His majesty and power, but God's majesty as he improves and shapes a soul."
"When both circumstances and teachings became hard to bear, Jesus questioned the Twelve, 'Will ye also go away?' The question is the same today, and so is the answer: 'Lord to whom shall we go? thou has the words of eternal life.'"
"Do not let yesterday hold tomorrow hostage! Walk away from your investment in the penny stock of pride; it never pays dividends."
"Savor these words quoted by a magnanimous and forgiving Prophet Joseph Smith to a repentant and returning W.W. Phelps: Come on dear brother, since the war is past, For friends at first, are friends again at last."
Neal A. Maxwell, April 1982
"Organized love is better than generalized concern."
"[R]emember the Lord's hand is in this work. He can bring about those circumstances in which such souls are 'in a preparation to hear the word.' His Spirit can prod the prodigals--some of whom will come to their senses. And as that happens, however, let us run to greet them while they are 'yet a great way off.'"
"Let us acknowledge that the strait and narrow path, though clearly marked, is a path, not a freeway nor an escalator. indeed, there are times when the only way the strait and narrow path can be followed is on one's knees!"
"[I]t is so difficult to carry our cross and grudges, too. Quickly forgotten by those who are offended is the fact that the Church is 'for the perfecting of the saints;' it is not a well-provisioned rest home for the already perfected."
"What is most to be focused on--the fact that Peter walked briefly on the water or that he did not continue? Has any other mortal so walked, even that briefly?"
"If the choice is between reforming other Church members or ourselves, is there really any question about where we should begin? The key is to have our eyes wide open to our own faults and partially closed to the faults of others--not the other way around! The imperfections of others never release us from the need to work on our own shortcomings."
"People who spend their time searching for feet of clay will miss not only the heavens wherein God moves in His majesty and power, but God's majesty as he improves and shapes a soul."
"When both circumstances and teachings became hard to bear, Jesus questioned the Twelve, 'Will ye also go away?' The question is the same today, and so is the answer: 'Lord to whom shall we go? thou has the words of eternal life.'"
"Do not let yesterday hold tomorrow hostage! Walk away from your investment in the penny stock of pride; it never pays dividends."
"Savor these words quoted by a magnanimous and forgiving Prophet Joseph Smith to a repentant and returning W.W. Phelps: Come on dear brother, since the war is past, For friends at first, are friends again at last."
Neal A. Maxwell, April 1982
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The power of thought on action
"...[T]o consent verbally to do the right thing and then to live and to act without effort to achieve what is right, is ruinous."
"All evils to which so many become addicted begin in the mind and in the way one thinks....The body is indeed the servant of the mind."
Joseph B. Wirthlin, April 1982
"Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master....All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts."
James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
"Vulgarity [now known as pornography] is an expression of arrested development in matters of good taste and good character....Vulgarity weakens the mind, and thus brings all other weakness in its train....It is vulgar to like poor music, to read weak books, to feed on sensational newspapers [or debasing TV],...to find amusement in trashy novels, to enjoy vulgar theatres, to find pleasure in cheap jokes, to tolerate coarseness and looseness in any of its myriad forms....[For] the basis of intemperance is the effort to secure through [thoughts first and then] drugs the feeling of happiness when happiness does not exist. Men destroy their nervous system for the tingling pleasures they feel as its structures are torn apart."
David Starr Jordan
"All evils to which so many become addicted begin in the mind and in the way one thinks....The body is indeed the servant of the mind."
Joseph B. Wirthlin, April 1982
"Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master....All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts."
James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
"Vulgarity [now known as pornography] is an expression of arrested development in matters of good taste and good character....Vulgarity weakens the mind, and thus brings all other weakness in its train....It is vulgar to like poor music, to read weak books, to feed on sensational newspapers [or debasing TV],...to find amusement in trashy novels, to enjoy vulgar theatres, to find pleasure in cheap jokes, to tolerate coarseness and looseness in any of its myriad forms....[For] the basis of intemperance is the effort to secure through [thoughts first and then] drugs the feeling of happiness when happiness does not exist. Men destroy their nervous system for the tingling pleasures they feel as its structures are torn apart."
David Starr Jordan
True greatness
"Those things which we call extraordinary, remarkable, or unusual may make history, but they do not make real life. After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman."
Joseph F. Smith, 1905
"...[T]he achievement of true greatness is a long-term process; it may involve occasional setbacks. The end result may not always be clearly visible, but it seems that it always requires regular, consistent, small, and sometimes ordinary and mundane steps over a long period of time."
Howard W. Hunter, April 1982
Joseph F. Smith, 1905
"...[T]he achievement of true greatness is a long-term process; it may involve occasional setbacks. The end result may not always be clearly visible, but it seems that it always requires regular, consistent, small, and sometimes ordinary and mundane steps over a long period of time."
Howard W. Hunter, April 1982
Little by little
"Remember, all problems do not keel over as Goliath did before David. All battles do not end as dramatically as the one fought at Cumorah. All miracles are not as immediate as when Joseph Smith blessed the sick on the banks of the Missouri River. But problems do go away, battles are won, and mriacles do occur in the lives of us all. In Deuteronomy 7:33 the Lord described his battle plan for purifying Israel in this way: 'And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little.' Victory often does come little by little."
Elder Hugh W. Pinnock, April 1982
Elder Hugh W. Pinnock, April 1982
On truth and lies
"A lie is any communication given to another with the intent to deceive."
"A lie can be effectively communicated without words ever being spoken. Sometimes a nod of the head or silence can deceive. Recommending a questionable business investment, making a false entry in a ledger, devious use of flattery, or failure to divulge all pertinent facts are a few other ways to communicate the lie."
"It is a sin to lie. It is a tragedy to be the victim of lies. Being trapped in the snares of dishonesty and misrepresentation does not happen instantaneously. One little lie or dishonest act leads to another until the perpetrator is caught in the web of deceit. As Samuel Johnson wrote, 'The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.'"
"...A worthy prayer could well be, 'Help me, O Lord, to be free not only of personal deceit, but grant me also the wisdom to avoid those who would damage me or mine through devious means.'"
"It should be the goal of every Latter-day Saint to become the kind of person of whom it can be said, 'His word is his bond.' In all of our words and deeds we should ask ourselves, 'Is it right? Is it true?' not 'Is it expedient, satisfactory, convenient, or profitable?' Just, 'Is it right?' The wise will consider, 'What is right?'; the greedy, 'What will it pay?'"
"Deceit, insincerity, cheating are forms of lying....Lying subtly permits us to destroy ourselves as we are caught in the snare and shatter our own self-image and credibility."
"No man will ever be totally free who is living a lie."
"People of integrity will neither foster, nourish, embrace, nor share the lie."
Elder Marvin J. Ashton, April 1982
"Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong."
Abraham Lincoln
"Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all."
O.W. Holmes
"A lie can be effectively communicated without words ever being spoken. Sometimes a nod of the head or silence can deceive. Recommending a questionable business investment, making a false entry in a ledger, devious use of flattery, or failure to divulge all pertinent facts are a few other ways to communicate the lie."
"It is a sin to lie. It is a tragedy to be the victim of lies. Being trapped in the snares of dishonesty and misrepresentation does not happen instantaneously. One little lie or dishonest act leads to another until the perpetrator is caught in the web of deceit. As Samuel Johnson wrote, 'The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.'"
"...A worthy prayer could well be, 'Help me, O Lord, to be free not only of personal deceit, but grant me also the wisdom to avoid those who would damage me or mine through devious means.'"
"It should be the goal of every Latter-day Saint to become the kind of person of whom it can be said, 'His word is his bond.' In all of our words and deeds we should ask ourselves, 'Is it right? Is it true?' not 'Is it expedient, satisfactory, convenient, or profitable?' Just, 'Is it right?' The wise will consider, 'What is right?'; the greedy, 'What will it pay?'"
"Deceit, insincerity, cheating are forms of lying....Lying subtly permits us to destroy ourselves as we are caught in the snare and shatter our own self-image and credibility."
"No man will ever be totally free who is living a lie."
"People of integrity will neither foster, nourish, embrace, nor share the lie."
Elder Marvin J. Ashton, April 1982
"Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong."
Abraham Lincoln
"Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all."
O.W. Holmes
President Kimball, 1982
"Nothing builds spirituality and our understanding of the priesthood principles more than regular temple attendance."
"Brothers and sisters, be good member missionaries. Follow the Brethren. Study the new editions of the scriptures. Plant your gardens. Clean up, paint up, fix your homes and your yards. Live within your means. Be good neighbors. Be good citizens in whatever land you live. Keep the Sabbath day holy. Hold your family home evenings regularly every Monday night. These are my words of counsel to you now, as they have been so many times in the past."
"The Lord has not promised us freedom from adversity and affliction. Instead, he has given us the avenue of communication known as prayer, whereby we might humble ourselves and seek His help and divine guidance. I have previously said that 'they who reach down into the depths of life where, in the stillness, the voice of God is heard, have the stabilizing power which carries them poised and serene through the hurricane difficulties.'"
President Spencer W. Kimball, April 1982
"Brothers and sisters, be good member missionaries. Follow the Brethren. Study the new editions of the scriptures. Plant your gardens. Clean up, paint up, fix your homes and your yards. Live within your means. Be good neighbors. Be good citizens in whatever land you live. Keep the Sabbath day holy. Hold your family home evenings regularly every Monday night. These are my words of counsel to you now, as they have been so many times in the past."
"The Lord has not promised us freedom from adversity and affliction. Instead, he has given us the avenue of communication known as prayer, whereby we might humble ourselves and seek His help and divine guidance. I have previously said that 'they who reach down into the depths of life where, in the stillness, the voice of God is heard, have the stabilizing power which carries them poised and serene through the hurricane difficulties.'"
President Spencer W. Kimball, April 1982
You must make your choice...
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Putting a passion to good use...
For as long as I can remember, I've been a quote person. I'm sure most people love a good quote. But for me it's more than that. So many times there's a concept I just can't express, and there's nothing better than finding someone who was able to articulate that same concept. I have pages and pages of quotes I love--quotes that have gotten me through some pretty rough times, quotes that have expressed my feelings during great times. And if noone ever looks at this blog, I'm okay with that. I'd love for others to find the same pleasure in words that I do, but if I'm the only one who ever uses this, it will help me plenty. Should you be looking at this blog, I'm sure there will be atleast one quote that says what you could never seem to convey on your own. So browse away, my friend.
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