The Choices We Make Today, Define Our Tomorrows

Choices are not to be made lightly. I say this rather tongue-in-cheek. I have learned in my life that every choice has a consequence. When most people hear this, they immediately think this is bad. Not true. Consequences are the the after effects. While the are bad consequences, there are also good ones. It is up to us though to make sure that we assess our situations before turning to Heavenly Father to help us make said decisions. 

There have been times in my life where I have received a clear cut answer to a question. Then there was last year. My wife and I found out rather quickly that we were getting evicted from a house that we were renting to own. My wife and I struggled to make that payments every month and knew that something needed to change. The owner decided to put the house back on the market and that only left my family and I a couple of weeks to find another place to live. I prayed to Heavenly Father to soften the heart of the owner of the house to let us stay there. I didn't feel like I had gotten the answer I want, yet I followed His council. Heavenly Father told me that we needed to move, so move we did.

Looking back, it was one of the best decision we could have made. While we went from a 3 bed 2.5 bath house to a 2 bed 1 bath apartment, we have truly been blessed. We have been able to use the extra money we saved on rent costs and clean up our credit. I told my wife to give me two years and we would be able to buy a house and not have to rent. Because of our decision to move last year, we should be able to get a house to call our own in a few months. It is no secret what God can do as long as we decide to listen.

A Better Disciple of Christ

In my learning this week I picked up some very good insight into being a better disciple of Christ as the title of this post suggests. I’ve know for a while that there are some changes that I need to make concerning this. Thankfully in my Book of Mormon class I have found a way to become more accountable for my language. But this just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

While reading the Book of Mormon this week I’ve learned a few things. I pray that I can have the faith, understanding, and courage that Nephi had. He never questioned anything that he was charged to do concerning the Lord or his family. I hope I will someday have unwavering faith to do only what is right.

Another quality that I recognized while reading the scriptures this week, was how in spite of all the afflictions that Nephi was enduring during while tied up on the ship to the promise land, he was still in an attitude of praising Heavenly Father. During this time he was tied up by his brothers and left for dead. For many days the ship they were on was being tossed about because of the large storm that had formed after Nephi was tied up. The Liahona, the “spiritual compass” would no longer lead them in the right direction because it worked off of the faith and actions of the people on board.

At one point Nephi fears that everyone on board will be destroyed because of the storm. By nothing short of a miracle, Nephi’s brothers Laman and Lemuel are convinced that what they were doing was wrong. After this, they untied Nephi. Now, at this point I would be reaching for something to hit my brothers for what they had done to me. Please keep in mind that I’m a convert. I was expecting Nephi to be furious. But I was surprisingly and thankfully proven wrong. When Nephi was set free, the first thing he did was to get the Liahona back in working condition and steered the course to the promised land.

Nephi didn't let his anger get the best of him because he knew that it wouldn't serve anybody. Not even his own natural desires. I commend him for this. I too wish to be slow to anger and quick to praise Heavenly Father, in during my trials. For I know that it is through my trials that I’m allowed to grow.

Clean Language

In my second week of the Pathway program, there were many lessons that I went over in my Book of Mormon class. There was one in particular that I didn't plan to learn or even talk about, but did as a result of an ongoing exercise that will last for the duration of the semester. There is an exercise called the Becoming Project. It’s designed to help the students figure out what Christ-like attributes they would like to adopt. For me I decided to become more worthy of the priesthood that I have.

The main pitfall that I have in this endeavor is my choice of language. I am working on not using profanity anymore. In doing this I have done some studying of the scriptures and found a few verses that I like. In Alma 12:14 of the Book of Mormon we learn that our words will condemn us. Similarly I learned in Mosiah 4:30 that anyone who doesn't “...watch [them]selves, and your thoughts, and your words...must perish.”

I find that the main reason I use profanity is when I’m frustrated. These ill feelings towards people and circumstances trouble me so much that I am willing to push away the Holy Spirit for the sake of cursing. I know that I need to re-evaluate the way I look at the world and begin to find the positive things in life as to not let my emotions get the best of me. I think that Elder Holland put it best when he said, “There are negative things to face...but no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse.” He goes on to say that Paul wrote, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but [only] that which is good [and] edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” This was very powerful to me. It helped me to understand that every word has a meaning any we should choose to use the ones that will allow us to keep the Holy Spirit with us and be in good favor with Heavenly Father.

I can only hope that I continue to develop these good habits and keep my mind centered on wholesome things.