Agency

I am currently reading the Gospel Principles manual cover to cover so I might be blogging more than usual in the next few weeks. Right now, I am reading about agency and I love what I am reading!! 

"Thou mayest choose for thyself, got it is given unto thee." Moses 3:17

"When we follow the temptations of Satan, we limit our choices....Imagine seeing a sign on the seashore that reads: "Danger--whirlpool. No swimming allowed here." We might think this is a restriction. But is it?"

"We still have many choices. We are free to swim somewhere else. We are free to walk along the beach and pick up sea shells. We are free to watch the sunset. We are free to go home. But once the whirlpool has us in its grasp and we are pulled under, we have very few choices. We can try to escape, or we can call for help, but we may drown"

I absolutely hate this shirt. Although there are several standards and commandments that we hold ourselves to as disciples of Jesus Christ, as Christians and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have the freedom to choose to follow them. 

This shirt needs to be changed to "I won't..." Even though someone is Mormon, they have the freedom to do whatever they choose to do. We have the power and freedom to make our own choices, but we don't have power and freedom over the consequences of our actions.

One day, my friends and I were volunteering in a classroom for behaviorally challenged students. They were all comparing stories about why they are on probation or what they were sent to juvi for. We were telling them how we choose not to drink, smoke, and steal. Instead of making fun of us for having no freedom, like most people do, they told us that we had more freedom and more opportunities because we avoided things that now have them in a trap. 

 We always have control over our minds. We don't have to check in with a probation officer. We can take any classes we want in high school. We don't have to breath into a tube before our car starts. We don't have to ride the bus to get anywhere.  

Like the anaolgy about the Danger: Whirlpool sign, following Satan is actually putting more restriction on us. If we do worldly things like drinking, smoking, stealing and other things, we end up becoming more restricted. God's commandments direct us away from danger and towards eternal life.

"He seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." 2 Nephi 27