"I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; 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.
Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience."
Alma 29:4-5
The interesting thing to me here is that it clearly says that God gives us what we want. Now, to be clear, he doesn't give us *everything* that we want, and sometimes when we want something that will be bad for us he tries to talk us out of it, as a father and a friend would do... but overall, God works with us according to our desires.
This is awesome, right? It is, but it is also a little scary, and something we should think about, because sometimes we truly want the wrong things... things that are going to harm us down the line, if not immediately. Part of our quest here in mortal life is to learn from God so that we understand and can choose things that are going to be good for us, and make us the best versions of ourselves. And God can help us change our desires, when we realize that they are harming us, and we ask him to help.
I think this is why God counsels us to lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21, 3 Nephi 13:19-21). Because our desires and choices are determining, all the time, who we are, what God can bless us with, and how much we are growing in the gospel. God can and will help us with the things that we care about, but ... what if we cared about something more important? I know that God has blessed my life in miraculous ways at times, and given me blessings that no one else knew were important to me, but sometimes I wish that I had been more mature or ready, because there were blessings that I should have been seeking after that just didn't matter to me. I think that is part of what Dieter F. Uchtdorf called "living below our privileges" in his April 2011 conference talk "Your Potential, Your Privilege." God has many more blessings waiting for us than most of us claim, because we're focused on other things or just don't care at that moment.
It's not about being greedy for blessings, but just about becoming who we really have the potential to be. Maybe today, we can think about what we want long-term and ask God to bless us to work towards that. As we pray and work with him, he will help us according to our desires, so let's really think about what those are and who we want to be.
Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience."
Alma 29:4-5
The interesting thing to me here is that it clearly says that God gives us what we want. Now, to be clear, he doesn't give us *everything* that we want, and sometimes when we want something that will be bad for us he tries to talk us out of it, as a father and a friend would do... but overall, God works with us according to our desires.
This is awesome, right? It is, but it is also a little scary, and something we should think about, because sometimes we truly want the wrong things... things that are going to harm us down the line, if not immediately. Part of our quest here in mortal life is to learn from God so that we understand and can choose things that are going to be good for us, and make us the best versions of ourselves. And God can help us change our desires, when we realize that they are harming us, and we ask him to help.
I think this is why God counsels us to lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21, 3 Nephi 13:19-21). Because our desires and choices are determining, all the time, who we are, what God can bless us with, and how much we are growing in the gospel. God can and will help us with the things that we care about, but ... what if we cared about something more important? I know that God has blessed my life in miraculous ways at times, and given me blessings that no one else knew were important to me, but sometimes I wish that I had been more mature or ready, because there were blessings that I should have been seeking after that just didn't matter to me. I think that is part of what Dieter F. Uchtdorf called "living below our privileges" in his April 2011 conference talk "Your Potential, Your Privilege." God has many more blessings waiting for us than most of us claim, because we're focused on other things or just don't care at that moment.
It's not about being greedy for blessings, but just about becoming who we really have the potential to be. Maybe today, we can think about what we want long-term and ask God to bless us to work towards that. As we pray and work with him, he will help us according to our desires, so let's really think about what those are and who we want to be.
Love love loved this! Thank you!
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