Gifts for Good

Christmas has pretty much come and gone. I'm sure many of you, throughout the season, had thought long and hard for the perfect gift for a loved one. It's something that meant a lot to you, and you knew it could make them so happy. But imagine if they accepted that gift, but then tossed it aside, or used it for other things that it wasn't intended for. How would you feel?

One of the greatest gifts that our Father in Heaven has given us, is the gift of agency. Agency is the ability to choose for ourselves. If we didn't have agency, we would be able to learn and progress and become more like our Savior. However, we don't have the ability to choose what the consequences will be (although, we do choose our consequences when we make a choice).

In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Lehi is teaching about the plan of salvation and the fall of Adam and Eve. He then goes into talk about agency. He says, "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh... And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (2 Nephi 2:27)

As we use the gift of agency for good or when we choose the right, we are promised that we can have liberty and eternal life. But when we don't use our agency for the way that it has been intended,  we suffer pain, heartache, and misery. Trust me, I know from experience. I make choices every day. Some are small, some are big, but a choice is a choice. I don't always make the right decision. Some things I do and say, aren't always in line with what the Spirit is really telling me to do. Even when I think that I am doing or saying what I'm supposed to, it feels right. But in all actuality, I end up hurting someone, even though I don't mean to. Then because I haven't used my agency very well, I bring pain, heartache and misery to not only myself, but to others. BUT...there's always a way to overcome those feelings...

God knows that we are not perfect and that we will make mistakes. Because of this, He has given us another gift, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and we can use it all the time, especially when we don't use our agency for good. We can be forgiven, we can move on with renewed hope and faith. We can be clean. We can be happy, and can have liberty and eternal life.



So don't let the gifts that Heavenly Father has given you go to waste, use them for good!