Agency Is How We Become Strong

Book of Mormon Marriage And Family Study

“Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh.”

“Exercising agency in a setting that sometimes includes opposition and hardship is what makes life more than a simple multiple-choice test. God is interested in what we are becoming as a result of our choices. He is not satisfied if our exercise or moral agency is simply a robotic effort at keeping some rules. Our Savior wants us to become something, not just do some things. He is endeavoring to make us independently strong- more able to act for ourselves than perhaps those of any prior generation. We must be righteous, even when He withdraws His Spirit, or, as Brigham Young said, even “in the dark.”

“Using our agency to choose His will, and not slackening even when the going gets hard, will not make us God’s puppet; it will make us like Him. God gave us agency, and Jesus showed us how to use it so that eventually we could learn what They know, do what They do, and be what They are.” Elder D. Todd Christofferson

This life is a test, but it is not a multiple choice test. Yes, it requires book learning in the form of scripture. Will we apply what we know? Will we ponder , so the Holy Ghost pierces our hearts and fills us with redeeming love? Additionally, will we use scripture to fuel us to act righteously? Will we apply scripture, not just read it?

Robotic Effort

God does not want us to be His robots. Elder Maxwell teaches that agency is choosing between two or more alluring alternatives. It is not agency if we only had one choice. Clearly, God wants us to choose Him because we want to and not because we feel pressured.

How does this apply to marriage and family?

The focus of parenting should be to build our children’s faith and character to be agents who act and are not acted upon. This will ensure they don’t become robots. This requires sacrifice, which one definition I love is giving up something important for something more important. That is also agency.

If you live in the Salt Lake City valley, I invite you to join us at church on Sunday's at 1 p.m. We are a mid-singles ward; however, if you have a family please don't let that stop you. Please, join us for for our first meeting which is Sacrament meeting, and make sure you ask someone to introduce you to our ward mission leader. Our address is 6770 South 500 East, Midvale Utah, 84047.