Fear is Selfish and Lazy

Fear is inherently selfish and lazy. There is no effort, work, or knowledge required – it simply takes giving into our default behavior. Faith in Christ, on the other hand, is a principle of action and power; it is the result of hard work and demands personal sacrifice. It takes a great deal of sustained effort and energy, giving up our "comfort zone", putting aside what we think we know, seeking out salvational truths, and applying them consistently in our lives no matter the immediate or apparent outcome. Faith and fear cannot co-exist because one cannot be both lazy and industrious or charitable and self-centered at the same time, just like something cannot be both wet/dry, high/low, or on/off at once.

The Mechanics (And Pitfalls) Of Learning "Line-Upon-Line"

I came across this talk from Elder Henry B. Eyring explaining a little about the mechanics of learning line-upon-line, precept upon precept that I had never heard before.  It helped me to understand a little better about how I can receive the next "line", and what to do if I get stuck.

"A Life Founded In Light And Truth", Elder Henry B. Eyring, BYU Devotional, 15 Aug 2000.

Obedience to commandments is the way we build a foundation of truth. Here is the way that works, in words so simple that a child could understand: The truth of most worth is to know God our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and Their plan for us to have eternal life with Them in families. When God communicates that priceless truth to us, He does it by the Spirit of Truth. We have to ask for it in prayer. Then He sends us a small part of that truth by the Spirit. It comes to our hearts and minds. It feels good, like the light from the sun shining through the clouds on a dark day. He sends truth line upon line, like the lines on the page of a book. Each time a line of truth comes to us, we get to choose what we will do about it. If we try hard to do what that truth requires of us, God will send more light and more truth. It will go on, line after line, as long as we choose to obey the truth. That is why the Savior said that the man who obeyed His commandments built on a rock so solid that no storm or flood could hurt his house.

Did you catch that part that not a lot of people seem to understand?

The "Four Quadrants of Obedience" (i.e. Spirit and/or Letter of Law)

I found this while looking for more understanding of the spirit vs. letter of the law. President of BYU Idaho, Kim B. Clark, gave a devotional in 2006 about obeying the BYU Idaho Honor Code which segwayed nicely into showing the relationship between the letter and the spirit of the law and the path of true discipleship.

He introduces what he calls an "Honor Code Map" that lays out four different classifications of obedience. He explains how we can fall into each of the four based on which combination of the spirit / letter of the law we follow.

Click below for the video and highlights of the criteria of each of the four quadrants and how we can get on the path of discipleship that the Lord Jesus Christ has set.

The Power of Gratitude

Is Charity (or Any Other Virtue) Really Worth The Fight?

I think with the battles for self-control and developing Christ-like attributes, it can be easy to forget what we are up against.

Sun Tzu wrote something that I think applies very well in these struggles of self that roughly translated goes like this:

"So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself."

Who exactly are our enemies?  I think we can all agree that the first is the Adversary, and the second is given to us in Mosiah 3:19: "For the natural man is an enemy to God".

C.S. Lewis I think put it in a slightly different way in the preface to Screwtape Letters when he warned that it is equally dangerous to display either too much or too little interest in the Devil.  I think this can also apply to the dangers of having too much or too little interest in (i.e. "understanding of") the natural man.

Recently, I ran across a few resources online that expanded my understanding of the natural man, and gave me a little better idea of what we're up against in our quest to become like Christ.