Duncan Posted August 23, 2017 Posted August 23, 2017 At BYU Education Week the GA speaker talked about taking responsibility of your life. I have often wondered how you do that all the while giving your life to God, who is in charge of your life, you or God? it seems the two are at loggerheads with each other
thesometimesaint Posted August 23, 2017 Posted August 23, 2017 Trust in God, but keep your hands on the steering wheel. 2
hagoth7 Posted August 24, 2017 Posted August 24, 2017 11 hours ago, Duncan said: At BYU Education Week the GA speaker talked about taking responsibility of your life. I have often wondered how you do that all the while giving your life to God, who is in charge of your life, you or God? it seems the two are at loggerheads with each other Wasn't there to hear the speaker's words/context...but...even when we surrender our life, portions of it are often handed right back...allowing us to make of it what we will. Somewhat akin to the Jaredites not being told precisely how to best resolve the lighting issue in their ships. The intent is *not* to be commanded in all things...but to instead learn to make good decisions...
CV75 Posted August 24, 2017 Posted August 24, 2017 19 hours ago, Duncan said: At BYU Education Week the GA speaker talked about taking responsibility of your life. I have often wondered how you do that all the while giving your life to God, who is in charge of your life, you or God? it seems the two are at loggerheads with each other The late Elder Maxwell taught that the only thing we can truly give to God, which is our own, is our will. To do that, we need to choose well, or take responsibility for our wills, or our lives. “I am going to preach a hard doctrine to you now. The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. It is a hard doctrine, but it is true. The many other things we give to God, however nice that may be of us, are actually things He has already given us, and He has loaned them to us. But when we begin to submit ourselves by letting our wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him. And that hard doctrine lies at the center of discipleship. There is a part of us that is ultimately sovereign, the mind and heart, where we really do decide which way to go and what to do. And when we submit to His will, then we’ve really given Him the one final thing He asks of us. And the other things are not very, very important. It is the only possession we have that we can give, and there is no lessening of our agency as a result. Instead, what we see is a flowering of our talents and more and more surges of joy. Submission to Him is the only form of submission that is completely safe.” https://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/08/insights-from-my-life?lang=eng “In striving for ultimate submission, our wills constitute all we really have to give God anyway. The usual gifts and their derivatives we give to Him could be stamped justifiably “Return to Sender,” with a capital S. Even when God receives this one gift in return, the fully faithful will receive “all that [He] hath” (D&C 84:38). What an exchange rate!” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2002/04/consecrate-thy-performance?lang=eng “Brethren, as you submit your wills to God, you are giving Him the only thing you can actually give Him that is really yours to give. Don’t wait too long to find the altar or to begin to place the gift of your wills upon it! No need to wait for a receipt; the Lord has His own special ways of acknowledging.” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/remember-how-merciful-the-lord-hath-been?lang=eng 2
Atheist Mormon Posted August 24, 2017 Posted August 24, 2017 20 hours ago, Duncan said: At BYU Education Week the GA speaker talked about taking responsibility of your life. I have often wondered how you do that all the while giving your life to God, who is in charge of your life, you or God? it seems the two are at loggerheads with each other It ain't gonna happen; not for that GA, not for you and I am totally irredeemable....... I'm not insisting you cannot find a happy equilibrium (looks like you already found it). 1
Kenngo1969 Posted August 25, 2017 Posted August 25, 2017 Others may disagree, and I may, in fact, be wrong, but I don't think God manipulates His Children as though they are pieces on a chess board. That would violate free will/moral agency, and would make it much more difficult (indeed, I think it would make it impossible) for us to "learn by our own experience." A counselor in my stake presidency once taught that there are four possible answers to prayer: (1) "Yes"; (2) "No"; (3) "Not yet"; and (4) "What do you think?" I'm also comforted by this teaching from President Brigham Young, from Chapter 6 of his Teachings of Presidents of the Church manual. President Young taught: Quote If I ask [God] to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from him, and then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, he is bound to own and honor that transaction, and he will do so to all intents and purposes (Discourses of Brigham Young 43). In addition, in my not-so-humble opinion, the movie Forrest Gump contains the answers to all of life's most important questions. Near the end of the movie, right before the feather Forrest had used as a bookmark in Curious George takes flight upon the wind to illustrate the principle Forrest teaches, with ungrammatical, simple profundity, he says, "I don’t know if Momma was right or if it’s Lieutenant Dan. I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both is happening at the same time." My $0.02. Your mileage may vary.
The Nehor Posted August 25, 2017 Posted August 25, 2017 On 8/23/2017 at 1:15 PM, Duncan said: At BYU Education Week the GA speaker talked about taking responsibility of your life. I have often wondered how you do that all the while giving your life to God, who is in charge of your life, you or God? it seems the two are at loggerheads with each other Until you take responsibility for your life and own it yourself you cannot give it to God and then God gives it back a hundredfold. 3
Duncan Posted August 25, 2017 Author Posted August 25, 2017 13 minutes ago, The Nehor said: Until you take responsibility for your life and own it yourself you cannot give it to God and then God gives it back a hundredfold. those are wise and kindly words!
Avatar4321 Posted August 25, 2017 Posted August 25, 2017 Reminds me of some quotes from Brother Brigham: "My faith does not lead me to think the Lord will provide us with roast pigs, bread already buttered, etc.; he will give us the ability to raise the grain, to obtain the fruits of the earth, to make habitations, to procure a few boards to make a box, and when harvest comes, giving us the grain, it is for us to preserve it—to save the wheat until we have one, two, five, or seven years’ provisions on hand, until there is enough of the staff of life saved by the people to [provide] bread [for] themselves and those who will come here seeking for safety" (DBY, 291–92) The Lord has done his share of the work; he has surrounded us with elements containing wheat, meat, flax, wool, silk, fruit, and everything with which to build up, beautify and glorify the Zion of the last days, and it is our business to mould these elements to our wants and necessities, according to the knowledge we now have and the wisdom we can obtain from the heavens through our faithfulness. In this way will the Lord bring again Zion upon the earth, and in no other (DBY, 294). https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-brigham-young/chapter-31?lang=eng I'm not sure if it's what you were think in of. But it seems very interesting that we call self reliance in the Church "Provident Living". Relying on the Invisible hand of divine providence to lift us all by working our butts off 2
JLHPROF Posted August 26, 2017 Posted August 26, 2017 God is in control no matter what. Most of our problems come when we exercise our free will to go against God's plan. He allows it and all the bumps in the road it will cause. But everything on earth belongs to God. Our taking responsibility means seeking to follow God's will, not coming up with our own better idea. That would be irresponsible.
strappinglad Posted August 26, 2017 Posted August 26, 2017 what's the old saying? " Pray as if everything depended on the Lord, then get up and work as if everything depended on you " > I would add one caveat, while you work, keep an ear open to the whispered answers to your prayers.
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