It surely is true that Latter-day Saints go to the temple and have magnificent spiritual experiences. But more importantly, we should return to our homes from the temple and bring with us what we have learned and implement and apply those teachings. There can be an equivalent spiritual power in our own homes, as we strive to remember the principles and patterns taught in the temple and live them. ✨Elder David A. Bednar
“Pondering Christ’s deep, deep devotion gives us crucial insights for our own discipleship. What are a few of the common mistakes we make in failing to apply the Atonement to our discipleship? Interestingly, God leaves us free to make these mistakes, and all of these mistakes reflect the need on our part for greater submissiveness to the Lord (Mosiah 3:19).
Perhaps our first mistake is to think that we own ourselves and also blocks of time. Of course, we have our agency and an inner sovereignty, but disciples are to sacrifice themselves to do Jesus’ bidding with enough faith in God’s timing to say, in effect, “Thy timing be done.”
One disadvantage of thinking we own ourselves and blocks of time is that we then have a tendency to feel put upon by undesired and unexpected events and circumstances, as if we designed life’s curriculum rather than responding to it.
A second mistake is failing life’s little quizzes, thinking somehow we can cram and pass the final exam. The little quizzes are absolutely essential for us to pass, and when we fail, we need to draw upon the Atonement. The tests will come at us whether we pass them or fail them. Happily, the infinite Atonement can cover our finite mistakes, too.
It is not enough to perform reasonably well in the crunch times, during the spikes of suffering and stress, if we are then overcome in the long stretches.
We also make the mistake of not realizing that faith and patience are to be in tandem. “Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith” (Mosiah 23:21). To be tried really means to be developed, which will happen if we are meek, the trials being part of the spiritual isometrics mentioned earlier.
We certainly need to focus on faith, of course, but likewise on patience, which is so vital to succeed while living in process of time. Impatience does not honor what is implied in the words in process of time, when we foolishly would have certain moments and seasons over and done with. By wishing to skip these, somehow we are ignoring their inherent possibilities for service and growth. We resemble airline passengers flying from coast to coast while quietly resenting the in-between spaces. But there are souls down there, not just sagebrush! So it is with life’s seemingly in-between and routine spaces.
We make a mistake, too, if we feel put upon by events and circumstances, when some of these actually constitute the customized curricula for our development. Yet, we would push them away. Of course, we should petition for relief, and when it comes, we should give “more praise for relief.” (Hymns, no. 131.) But we should not be surprised if the relief sometimes fails to come.
Another mistake is failing to realize that so much of discipleship consists of the need for us to downsize our egos and diminish our selfishness. Genuine meekness is vital, a meekness which is not conscious of itself.
A further and common mistake is focusing on how we are free to choose, a fact in God’s plan of salvation, while also assuming wrongly that we can choose to avoid the consequences of our choices. Jacques Bainville once said that we must want the consequences of what we want. There really are those among us who feel they can make certain choices and still not have to face the consequences of those choices.
Actually, no one honors our wills and desires more than God!
“A just God . . . granteth unto men according to their desire . . . ; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction” (Alma 29:4).
Many mortals also make the mistake of playing to the galleries. These may be peers, colleagues at work, being politically correct, or conforming to the praise and fashions of the world. Each of these galleries involves a mystic “they,” played to so intensely and so regularly. But those galleries will be emptied on that judgment day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ and all will acknowledge that God is God (D&C 88:104). Part of playing to such galleries includes the efforts by some who futilely insist on using some of their allotted time to try to conform the eternal truths of the gospel and the Church to the ways and thinking of the world.
It just won’t work! Paul saw it clearly: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
All of these mistakes are unworthy of Him and all that He did in Gethsemane and Calvary. These and other errors are rooted in our failures to understand what the Atonement cost and what it requires of us.
If by accessing the Atonement we glorify the perfect Christ, it will be done amid our imperfect but improving discipleships. No one would be more pleased to have it so than He!”
The Promise of Discipleship by Neal A. Maxwell.
compiled by Chuck Lucas
2. The Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds. Richard G. Scott
3. If friendship is genuine—it is pure gold.
4. “When love and kindness cease all enjoyment is taken out of life.” Cicero
5. “Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one.” Robert E. Lee
6. Your friendship is a sturdy staff on which others may lean. Gordon B. Hinckley
7. Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don’t get discouraged. Things will work out. Gordon B. Hinckley
8. When we’re desperate to become the people we were born to be, our vision changes. Wendy Nelson
9. The Lord will ask you to do difficult things. You can count on it. -Russell M. Nelson
10. “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” -Eliot A. Butler
11. We form our habits by the secret thoughts of our hearts. George Q. Morris
12. HARD WORK IS more important than intellect. James E. Faust
13. The Lord’s work is work, but it is sweet labor. Neal A. Maxwell
14. Life is limitless. Life is everlasting. Family is forever.
15. “No matter what your past has been, you have a spotless future.”—Hugh B. Brown
16. “There is something incredibly hopeful about a fresh start.” Dieter F. Uchtdorf
17. Present levels of performance are unacceptable . . . . We must raise the bar. Kimball & Hinckley
18. Learn from the past, prepare for the future, live in the present.” Thomas S Monson
19. Faith is always pointed toward the future. Jeffrey R Holland
20. “We are not going back . . . . the future holds everything for us.” Patricia Holland
21. The emphasis on enduring well to the end is wise, simply because we are at risk till the end! Neal A. Maxwell
22. God has given us no requirements, no commandments, that we cannot keep. Richard L. Evans
23. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4:18
24. Duties knocking at one’s door are like friends come to call not always convenient but usually gladdening in their effect. Neal A. Maxwell
25. “That which holds our attention determines our action.” William James
26. Any moment, early or late, can mark the beginning of hope. Michael Gerson
27. Hope sees things that are just around the corner. -Vaughn J. Featherstone
28. Don’t give up, get up! Heather O’Brien Walker
29. “Moral sense is more important than intelligence.” Dr. Alexis Carrell
30. “Jesus is real.” David O. McKay
31. I don’t believe in luck. I believe in planning. Bronco Mendenhall
32. You can choose to ignore the truth, but you cannot wish it out of existence.
33. I believe enthusiasm is a universal talent everyone can acquire. L. Tom Perry
34. Optimism is an indispensable forerunner of progress. Heber J. Grant
35. He who learns not from the mistakes of the past is doomed to repeat them with their attendant consequences. Thomas S. Monson
36. The past is ours to cherish, not to live in. Duane Hiatt
37. Recycling regrets [doesn’t] change reality. Pawing through the past is not productive. Neal A. Maxwell
38. One road leads home & a thousand roads lead into the wilderness. -C. S. Lewis
39. If you want a new tomorrow then make new choices today. Don’t wish for it; work for it. Al Fox Carraway
40. It is better to learn wisdom late, than never to learn it at all. Sherlock Holmes
41. Everyone’s life is either a warning or an example. Tony Robbins
42. We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Ronald Reagan
43. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African Proverb
44. None of us are as smart as all of us. Ken Blanchard
45. Often, the best & most effective “preaching” is a good example. David J. Ridges
46. The price to be paid for advancement is vigorous self-effort. John A. Widtsoe
Principles Never Fail 