Look to Christ and Live

 

    A video about my thoughts on the gospel and its relationship to happiness. 

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/id9gtBS0hzE

Faithfulness to the Lord: Part IV

 

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/P1INpzvJIMw

Course Correcting

 Yet, despite the existence of habits, there is a way out of bad habits. 

Mammals, such as chimpanzees and dolphins, tend to repeat their behavior through generations with very little change. Fortunately, humans, by contrast, have the ability to adapt and change. This gives us hope and means that despite how far off the beaten path we’ve fallen, we can adapt and change to get back on. 

Or as Paul explained to the Corinthians 

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10). 

Despite how low we have sunken, there is a way out. God has not put us on this earth to fail. For each path downward there is a path up. This is not only according to his mercy, but his justice. Otherwise it would be substantively unfair for God to send us to earth at the risk of our salvation without providing a way to overcome. 

As Joseph Smith taught: 

All the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement and improvement. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge.

In recent years, science has shown that contrary to previous belief, the brain is not a rigid organ, with its ways set in stone. Rather, scientific research shows that the brain is “plastic.” That is, that brain has the ability to change and reorganize itself throughout the life of the individual. Through learning, conditioning, and practice, a person can build new neural pathways and diminish old ones. The result of this discovery has led many to “hack” their brain to improve their intelligence, memory, and concentration. 

What neuroplasticity provides is the ability -- albeit gradually and with diligence -- to change, improve, and transform our brain to reach further progress. 

For those with an eternal perspective, our task is to fashion our brains so they are able to produce within us the character of God. And this starts with our habits. Because our character is the sum total of our habits. Or as Aristotle famously declared, “We are [i.e., our character] what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” 

To begin to shake off our shackles starts with the mind. It starts with a desire to change. A desire to course correct. Just as the planting of a small seed can beget the growth of a fruitful plant, so, too, does the mere desire to change catalyze a reaction to move us beyond our current limitations. 

Recall that Satan sets us off course through rationalization. We often depart from God in slow and subtle ways. Overtime -- months to years to decades -- if we haven’t course-corrected, our regression has been exponential! Elder Uchtdorf likened this principle to a pilot whose navigation is off by a slight degree. Stretching out over 10 hours the deviation is vast -- difference between California and the Polynesian islands. 

Although a full conversion is required to receive salvation, the way to return to God is by doing the small and simple things -- each and every day. This principle, moreover, is the bedrock of our reality. Great achievements start from the smallest steps. Laying the cornerstone, to building the footings, framing the walls -- until eventually a house, a skyscraper stands as a result. Time, effort, precision, and dedication beget this reward. 

Patience and Sacrifice 

Therefore to pull ourselves out of the mire we need the desire to get out. Just that is a significant step forward and lays the groundwork for change. But we must be patient and realize that change takes a long time

Choices that require very little sacrifice and patience do not produce great rewards. The outcomes that are the most rewarding are those that come after sacrifice and much waiting. Typically if the outcome does not require sacrifice then it is not as rewarding and the cost will be higher in the future.  For instance, sleeping in and missing school yields immediate rewards. However, over the long run the cost of this choice is much greater than the benefit received -- high chance of low paying job, low dating prospects, etc. 

Compare this to what a person must do in order to become a doctor or to become a successful CEO of a company. Besides the years of schooling post-college, those who become doctors often begin the process (even if they don’t fully know it) during their childhood years as they learn the basics of math, science, and English. The building blocks to future success. Similarly,  many of the successful CEOs began their climb up the ladder during the formative years as a child. The fruit of their hard work didn’t come to fruition until their early 40s or even later. In other words, their path to CEO was laid by what they did in their childhood. 

What this means is that we have the option to change, but the degree of change we’ll experience is based on how long we’re willing to wait for the outcome. When it comes to exaltation, this means a lot and a lot of patience and waiting.

Thus while we can change, we must truly want it. We must want it just as much as we want air. We must be willing to sacrifice what is required and to wait as long as it takes for our desire to come to fruition. This means doing whatever is necessary -- no matter how hard -- to change. The beginning of this change starts by listening to our conscience. 

The Light of Christ 

Our conscience is the light of Christ and it is given to all of us. It is, at the most fundamental level, God’s initial communications with us. It is therefore God’s voice to us. 

Some may wonder why God is silent in their lives, while failing to realize that he is communicating with them daily through their conscience. And since this light is ever present and continual, God’s voice to us is continuous for us at a rudimentary level. In truth, the little voice in our head that we often ignore and set aside is the wellspring of God’s voice to us. Through its communications, it will reveal the way out. It will not provide everything we need to know, but what is required to move forward.  More light will be given based upon how well we heeded the light we currently were given and how much we incline ourselves to seek more.  

Of course, depending on how habitualized we have been to ignoring our conscience -- by drowning it out through a host of distractions -- we can, through time and patience, recultivate hearing it and then heeding it. 

Heeding this voice requires sacrifice because it will require us to change. And any change requires giving up something for something else. But once we hear the direction of our conscience, we must bind ourselves to act upon it. It is not enough to merely think about what we should do without doing it. Our character changes upon the action -- upon doing something different. Neurologically, our brain begins to code and hardwire new information into us. We begin to become a different person. As we become different are actions, likewise, change. 

As President Heber J. Grant remarked: 

That which we try to do, and persist in doing, becomes easy to do, not because its nature is changed, but because our power to do is developed

Line Upon Line 

Through line upon line, precept upon precept, exercising diligence in the process, we climb one rung on the ladder to the next. Through this journey, it is imperative that we don’t look back. To bolster our resolve, we must rivet our attention on our desires. We must fix our minds upon the new course of conduct and the outcomes it will yield.  

As Elder Carlos E. Asay explained 

A man does not lick the smoking habit by relishing the pleasure of a cigarette. But rather, he gains resolve by thinking about the added health and vitality and money savings which he will realize when free of the habit. Motivation to lose weight comes by anticipating the increased good looks and vitality, not by savoring caloric foods and exotic dishes.

He then goes on to conclude

So, when you have made your resolve, build your case, and build your will. Gather data, identify reasons, and do whatever you can to justify your struggle in acquiring the new habit…Once we have determined the new habit or the improved pattern of living, we must guard against any inclination to deviate. No exceptions must be tolerated and no excuses invented. For every breach of our new resolution returns us to point zero, or below, and adds strength to the behavior we are trying to conquer.

Control of the mind and steering it towards righteous desires is the source of power and leads to godliness. As Paul counseled the Colossians saints

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

The times where we can ultimately fix our minds upon our desires to do good are in our prayers. But these are not just our twice daily prayers morning and night, but concern our prayers continually throughout the day. This is why Amulek counsels us to pray unto the Lord always. Because by doing this, we set our minds upon the things above, allowing us to set aside the cares of the world, and, ultimately allowing God to direct us in our desires. 

Later in the series I will address this topic in greater depth and provide disciplines in training up our minds in the ways of God. For now, the key is to realize that the matter of progression, like the matter of regression and damnation, is that of habits. To change who we are, we need to turn our bad habits into good ones. And this change starts in the mind and what our mind desires. 

But before delving into the disciplines that will yield good habits and ascension upwards, we need to understand why being faithful matters. That is the focus for the next few posts.