Moses said that the people's fate would be determined by the choice they made between the blessing and the curse. That same choice has echoed down the ages, not just for the people of Israel, but for all humanity.
I have no expectation that I'll ever be provided external evidence sufficient to relieve me of the responsibility of choice or of the burden of faith...
Spock: You have to shoot. If you are logical, you have to shoot. Lt. Valeris: I do not want to. Spock: What you want is irrelevant. What you have chosen is at hand. Kirk: I’d just as soon you didn’t.
So the thing that really is poignant to me, and the thing that I want to get to is the fact that the Hong Kongers — desperate to preserve their freedom, under the gun with people being kidnapped and disappearing and laws creeping in there that are meant to erode their freedoms — are waving the American flag. And they're singing our "Star-Spangled Banner." They are waving the American flag. And this is — I mean this should move all of us. This should touch every single one of us, and remind us that when people look for freedom, when they are afraid of oppression, when they strive to become the one thing that all great people have to be — which is free — and all individuals want to be, which is free. And the only thing that gives nobility to charity the only thing that gives nobility to faith in God, the only thing that gives nobility to a person is if he chooses those things freely. Right, if you choose to believe you — don't believe at the edge of a sword because that has no legitimacy.
Our lives are made up of thousands of everyday choices. Over the years these little choices will be bundled together and show clearly what we value.
To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.
When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.
In the grand division of all of God’s creations, there are things to act and things to be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:13–14). As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of moral agency, the capacity for independent action and choice. Endowed with agency, you and I are agents, and we primarily are to act and not just be acted upon.
To believe that someone or something can make us feel offended, angry, hurt, or bitter diminishes our moral agency and transforms us into objects to be acted upon. As agents, however, you and I have the power to act and to choose how we will respond to an offensive or hurtful situation.
Understanding that the Church is a learning laboratory helps us to prepare for an inevitable reality. In some way and at some time, someone in this Church will do or say something that could be considered offensive. Such an event will surely happen to each and every one of us—and it certainly will occur more than once.Though people may not intend to injure or offend us, they nonetheless can be inconsiderate and tactless. You and I cannot control the intentions or behavior of other people. However, we do determine how we will act. Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended.
One of the greatest indicators of our own spiritual maturity is revealed in how we respond to the weaknesses, the inexperience, and the potentially offensive actions of others.
If every choice I make expresses a preference, if the world I build up is the world I really love and want, then with every choice I am judging myself, proclaiming all the day long to God, angels, and my fellowmen where my real values lie, where my treasure is, the things to which I give supreme importance. Hence, in this life every moment provides a perfect and foolproof test of your real character, making this life a time of testing and probation.
Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice.
Persons facing difficult choices may not fully appreciate how much their own attitude interferes with the decision they need to make or the action they need to take.
He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determines the end.
Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Moses said that the people's fate would be determined by the choice they made between the blessing and the curse. That same choice has echoed down the ages, not just for the people of Israel, but for all humanity.
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