The cavity which suffering carves into our souls will one day also be the receptacle of joy.
If we are serious about our discipleship, Jesus will eventually request each of us to do those very things which are most difficult for us to do.
Do not let the future be held hostage by the past
The winds of tribulation, which blow out some men's candles of commitment, only fan the fires of faith of others.
You rock a sobbing child without wondering if today's world is passing you by, because you know you hold tomorrow tightly in your arms.
While most of our suffering is self- inflicted, some is caused by or permitted by God. This sobering reality calls for deep submissiveness, especially when God does not remove the cup from us. In such circumstances, when reminded about the premortal shouting for joy as this life's plan was unfolded (Job 38:7), we can perhaps be pardoned if, in some moments, we wonder what all the shouting was about.
Never give up what you want most for what you want today.
Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!
These really are our days, and we can prevail and overcome, even in the midst of trends that are very disturbing. If we are faithful the day will come when those deserving pioneers and ancestors, whom we rightly praise for having overcome the adversities in the wilderness trek, will praise today’s faithful for having made their way successfully through a desert of despair and for having passed through a cultural wilderness, while still keeping the faith.
The hardest work you and I will ever do is to put off our selfishness. It is heavy lifting!
No love is ever wasted. Its worth does not lie in reciprocity.
How could there be refining fires without our enduring some heat?
Like Jesus, we can decide, daily or instantly, to give no heed to temptation (see D&C 20:22). We can respond to irritation with a smile instead of scowl, or by giving warm praise instead of icy indifference. By our being understanding instead of abrupt, others, in turn, may decide to hold on a little longer rather than to give way. Love, patience, and meekness can be just as contagious as rudeness and crudeness.
Though we live in a failing world, we have not been sent here to fail.
The great challenge is to refuse to let the bad things that happen to us do bad things to us. That is the crucial difference between adversity and tragedy.
To be cheerful when others are in despair, to keep the faith when others falter, to be true even when we feel forsaken—all of these are deeply desired outcomes during the deliberate, divine tutorials which God gives to us—because He loves us. These learning experiences must not be misread as divine indifference. Instead, such tutorials are a part of the divine unfolding.
We cannot repent for someone else. But we can forgive someone else, refusing to hold hostage those whom the Lord seeks to set free!
We are often not only to slow to get on our knees, but to quick to rise from them.
If we spent as much time lifting our children as we do criticizing them, how effectively we could help them to see themselves in a more positive light!
God will facilitate, but He will not force.
If the kingdom of God is not first, it doesn't matter what's second.
Stubborn selfishness leads otherwise good people to fight over herds, patches of sand, and strippings of milk. All this results from what the Lord calls coveting "the drop," while neglecting the "more weighty matters." (D&C 117:8) Myopic selfishness magnifies a mess of pottage and makes thirty pieces of silver look like a treasure trove. In our intense acquisitiveness, we forget Him who once said, "What is property unto me?"
The Lord doesn't ask about your ability, only your availability; and, if you prove your dependability, the Lord will increase your capability.
When we rejoice in beautiful scenery, great art, and great music, it is but the flexing of instincts acquired in another place and another time.
When our minds really catch hold of the significance of Jesus' atonement, the world's hold on us loosens.
