Feeling Strong May Be A Weakness

Sometimes when you feel the strongest is when you are the most vulnerable. Sometimes it is not the overwhelming temptations that are the hardest to resist. It is the temptation that comes when we are feeling good about our progress. 

We must enter a permanent state of humility before we can expect to be saved from our own humiliation. We must learn that our greatest strength comes as a gift from our Heavenly Father by obedience to his laws.

We Have The Power To Submit

Sometimes temptation seems like it would consume us and is greater than we think we can control, but it isn't. We have far more power than we realize. While our thoughts may run wild with temptation and it may seem our mind and body are completely out of control. Reality is this....We have the power to submit to the will of God, and in the will of God no temptation has power over us.

Be Your Best Self

Sometimes we try so hard to be someone that we are not in order to please others. When in reality we please no one and deny everyone the real us. Most often it is the real us that people are pleased to know anyways. Be Yourself... Be your best self.

Sometimes Things Get Broken Beyond Repair

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. And all the kings men and all the kings horses couldn't put Humpty together again....Sometimes the decisions we make leave others broken beyond repair. Of all the slow spiritual deaths you can suffer, addictions have to be the saddest. Avoid them as if your life depended on it.

Change My Heart First

If you force me to change my actions without changing my heart you have not changed anything. That is why jails are filled with repeat offenders.

If you change my heart my actions will follow, that is how Zion is built.

No Room In My Heart....When He Is There

There is no room for hatred when your Savior is in your heart. You can think to do no evil when the Savior occupies your mind. Loving God is an all or nothing deal. You can not say you hate this person or that person and say that you love the Lord. For when you love the Lord there is no capacity for hatred.

What-ifs Are a Fantasy

Stop thinking about the "What-ifs."  The What-ifs are a fantasy that not even the fantasized could live up to. Sometimes we have to realize that happiness is as much a habit of thoughts as is depression or anger. We have the power in our own mind to imagine that which is not and make it so, simply by believing. Your spouse is more likely to become what you believe, so believe what you want about them, rather than what you do not want.

The Image of Our Legacy

The images we share with others only tell part of what we feel when we think of loved ones. Memories are a powerful tool to remind us both of the mortality and the immortality of man. The memories that we share with our children create the legacy that our children will share with their children and their children for generations to come. Choosing between life and death is not a mortal decision but an eternal consequence to the decisions we make in mortality. 

The Value Is In The Fruit

Sometimes it is hard to tell just by looking at things why something is bad, but the value of a plant is the fruit it bares. Just because something looks or sounds good does not make it good. In fact many weeds look very attractive, but when they are left alone they steal nourishment from the good plants and leave you nothing in return. Many times weeds come up and look harmless or mimic the look of a good plant, once they are established they take over by overwhelming us. Often times it is only a very few actual weeds, but the bulk of them when unchecked leave us hopeless to battle them. Weed the garden of your life, remove the unproductive thoughts and actions that cause your spiritual, physical and emotional distress.

A Winning Attitude Trumps The Trophy

Winning is important. It helps us feel accomplished and successful. However, what is more important is how we win. With victory comes the spoils, but when we exercise our victory in gloating or causing others to shrink in shame we may lose more than just friends. Competition helps us to exercise our ambition, and hopefully teaches us the spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie. Always thank those with whom you compete . Learn from those who beat you. Never forget that winning or losing does not make you a winner or a loser. For often times you learn more by losing than you do by winning. Losing hurts, but being a bad sport kills. A winning attitude trumps the trophy.

Freedom Is A Moral Responsibility

In declaring our independence many lives were at stake not only those who fought on the battle field. but their future generations as well. Not only their generations, but generations of immigrants that would come here from that day to this. Not only is Freedom not free, but it carries with it a responsibility to be moral. Without that responsibility there is no freedom worth fighting for. With that responsibility freedom is worth living, fighting, and dying for.

Creativity Is The Spice of Life

The complexity of the feast is what makes it work. Sometimes to know what is about to happen will keep you from doing something you might really end up liking. Life is meant to be a sampling of many experiences. Some just have to cram as much as they can into it. Nothing wrong with it, it just might not look good to others. But then again as long as it is legal, ethical, and moral....Enjoy! Creativity is the spice of life.

If Bad Is So Bad Then Why Does It Feel Good?

Sinning is not bad because it will feel bad when your doing it. Sin is bad because of it's consequences. This is why bad habits are hard to break. While you are sinning it may give you a rush or a feeling of euphoria followed by a sinking feeling inside. Then when we want to correct our actions it is hard because we want to think that we found happiness in the sin, but every time we sin we feel bad afterward. The longer we go the harder it is to connect the consequence with the sin. Eventually you forget that you ever felt good and good becomes bad and our natural sensors of right and wrong start going backward. Sin feels good, but it detracts you from even greater feelings and greater pleasures because it leaves you feeling unsatisfied, but willing to settle for less than your potential.

Hypocrite Or Not It Is Your Responsibility

Calling someone a hypocrite does not take away your responsibility to do what is right. No one has to answer to God for another person. You alone will be responsible for what you do or what you do not. It is not wise to use another persons bad example to keep you from doing what you know you should.

My Cluttered Mind

If you could see inside my mind you would find quite the clutter... Pieces of thoughts strewn from one end to the other, a whirling derby, a smorgasboard of words that sometimes makes sense. Sometimes it tastes good, sometimes it doesn't, but it keeps me entertained. But alas you only get to see what I consider my treasures.

Learning To Live With The Mistakes Of Others

Sometimes in life we plan on growing strong and tall together, but along the way our dream may be broken. Sometimes it is because of what we do. Somtimes it is because of what we don't do. Othertimes it is someone else's bad decision. Whatever causes it we must not allow it to stop us from growing. Learning to adapt to the situation gives us an opportunity to breathe life into a new dream... A bigger dream.

When we learn from others though they may be dead and gone we still gain nourishment from their existence. Live as though every dream is possible if you work hard enough, just remember the biggest dream of all is love and care for your own family. Everything else is secondary and inconsequential.

You Can't Go It Alone

There is a temptation to think that you can go through life on your own. You may think that you don't need others, but when things get tough you realize that there is a purpose for families. God knew what he was doing when he put us together. Those who try it alone don't know what they are missing or are too miserable to realize they are missing anything. Count your blessings if you have a family. If you don't, find someone nice to adopt you. You will not regret the experience of being a part of a good strong family, so if need be make it so.

Respectability Edifies All

Respect is like a two person tight rope act. When one does not cooperate it is almost impossible for either to look respectable. When you act with respect towards others you do yourself and others a great service, becasue if you truly believe in what you are doing then respect will edify all involved. If you believe in your message their is no reason to deedify your cause with disrespectable behavior.

Grandmas Are Love

Grandmas are love. Grandmas give us something not even our mom and dad can give us. Grandmas give us wisdom without consequences. Grandmas often times say the same things that moms and dads do but they say it in a nice way. They understand that mom and dad in the heat of battle don't always know what to say or do to help their own children. Grandmas know that a little candy or a cookie and some juice always makes things better. They are our cheerleaders on the sideline of life. And Grandmas just know how to scramble eggs better than anyone else.

Open Hearts And Open Minds

The hardest thing for people to read is the heart of another. But it is in the heart where disagreements are understood and differences are reconciled. When you posture yourself with contention you deny yourself the opportunity to open your heart to others and you make others uncomfortable opening their hearts to you.

Contention closes doors that might other wise be open. Contention is like a bull in a China shop it may be excited to be there but no one else is excited it is there. Kindness begets kindness and understanding begets understanding. Be willing to admit your wrongs and you open a door that may prove to be life changing.