Monday 2Mar09 – Reading Helaman 8-9 with Val today, I commented on how short of a time it took the previously righteous Nephites to allow themselves to be seduced by the Gadiantons: I think it was 3 or 4 years. Val brought up a good point: 1 year is 365 days, which is a lot. Lots of things can happen in a day, let alone 1095 or 1461 days (3-4 years). I realized that righteousness depends on deciding every day, both mentally and by the things I do, whom I will serve and follow. Some days I do better than others, and some days I don’t do well at all. Repentance can help me on the days that I stray to put me back on the path. Repentance isn’t something to be avoided, but the bad decisions I make, thus necessitating the repentance, are. Self-honesty and self-introspection are eternally necessary principles in order to not stray.
The questions ‘Why do I make the decisions I do?’ and ‘What motivates me?’ are probably the most important questions I can ever ask myself. If I go through life never, or even rarely, evaluating my actions, I will inevitably fail to gain the celestial reward. As Pres. Uchtdorf has taught, we have to be on the right course, and corrections are always necessary. If I ever come to the point that I say I don’t need to change myself anymore, that I am just fine how I am now, then pride has taken over me and I am perilously close to failure. Humility allows one to inspect one’s self honestly and frequently, and to decide what to do next in order to progress. Humility also allows one to realize that a correction is always necessary, and to ask for Help in effecting that change.
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