Choice and Accountability

Choice and Accountability: CA

2 Nephi 2:27

Choose Today:                                       Moses 6:33, Joshua 24:15

Every Man chose for himself:                  D&C 37:4

Created to Act                                         2 Nephi 2:14

Need opposition for true agency             Moses 6:56; 2 Nephi 2:16      

Reason to rejoice                                    2 Nephi 10:23

Allows us to prove ourselves                  Abraham 3:25

Cannot serve two masters                      Matthew 6:24

Principle of Agency is Eternal:

Satan Sought to Destroy                         Moses 4:3

Lost 3^rd Part of hosts of heaven              D&C 29:36

In Garden of Eden                                  Moses 7:32

When we came into this world, we brought with us from our heavenly home this God-given gift and privilege which we call our agency. It gives us the right and power to make decisions and to choose. Agency is an eternal law. President Brigham Young, speaking of our agency, taught: “This is a law which has always existed from all eternity, and will continue to exist throughout all the eternities to come. Every intelligent being must have the power of choice.”

                Wolfgang H. Paul, April 2006, General Conference

Perfect Example of use of Agency; Jesus Christ:

Christ chose to follow Father’s will:         Matthew 26:39

Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency. As a boy in Jerusalem, He deliberately chose to “be about [His] Father’s business.” (Luke 2:49) In His ministry, He obediently chose “to do the will of [His] Father.”(3 Nephi 27:13) In Gethsemane, He chose to suffer all things, saying, “Not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.”(Luke 22:42-43)  On the cross, He chose to love His enemies, praying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”(Luke 23:34) And then, so that He could finally demonstrate that He was choosing for Himself, He was left alone. “[Father,] why hast thou forsaken me?” He asked. (Mark 15:34) At last, He exercised His agency to act, enduring to the end, until He could say, “It is finished.”(John 19:30)

                Robert D. Hales; October 2010, General Conference

Accountability essential part of Agency:

Accountability at Judgement Day           D&C 101:78

Bring upon us own condemnation          Alma 3:19; Helaman 14:30

Anxiously engaged in good                    D&C 58:27-29

By His perfect live, [Christ] taught us that when we choose to do the will of our Heavenly Father, our agency is preserved, our opportunities increase, and we progress . . . it is helpful to remember that the opposite is also true: when we don’t keep the commandments or follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, our opportunities are reduced; our abilities to act and progress are diminished. Robert D. Hales; October 2010, General Conf.

What are we doing with our agency? Are we drawing close to God, or away from him? Are we satisfied and happy in what we are doing with this God-given endowment? Can we improve in the use of it?

Think carefully about the promises and benefits available to us by using our free agency in obeying and keeping God’s laws, as against failure to do so.  May God bless us all that we will have the desire and courage to exercise our free agency in righteousness and in truth.                   Delbert L. Stapley; April 1975 General Conf.