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“The
difficulties, the trials, the struggles will continue to get worse, but you
have been given the power to help, to bless. You can overcome!” Elder
Ronald T. Halverson told students in his devotional address Tuesday at
BYU-Idaho.
Currently serving as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Halverson issued a
challenge to students to live righteously in an increasingly troubled
world.
“We must prepare ourselves to be so rooted in the gospel of
Jesus Christ that as we bear testimony and share the sacred truths, the
gospel teachings live for us, and we have a desire and thirst after
knowledge and righteousness,” he said. “We cannot live on what
was accomplished in the past.
“Our challenge is with every new generation. Righteousness and
knowledge are not passed on in the genes. Every generation must acquire it.
As individuals we must, as the Lord said, ‘Work out our own salvation
with diligence,’ ” he said.
He
spoke of an experience he had when he met up with a boyhood friend two
years ago. After catching up for a few moments, his friend turned to him
and said, “The difference in our lives is in the decisions that we
have made.”
He began to talk about some of
the struggles and challenges he had in his life and the decisions that led
up to those challenges that had been contrary to the will of God. He also
shared the price he paid for them.
“I
felt a deep friendship and love for him, but also a sorrow for what he had
been through,” Elder Halverson said. “I have often pondered
upon the statement that he made and realized that we are in fact the result
of the sum total of the decisions we make in life.”
In
order to create the proper environment to make righteous decisions, he
offered six challenges: choose to keep the commandments of God, choose to
build a testimony on eternal truths, choose to keep church membership your
highest priority, choose to make a difference in a changing world, choose a
companion that is worthy to enter the House of the Lord, and obtain all the
education you can so you can support a family.
He
said the world is in need of young people integrity, high moral principle,
conviction and vision to lead and assume responsibilities not only in the
Church, but in government.
“Do not back away from
the responsibilities that lie ahead. Do not put pleasure and
self-gratification before duty. Seek to do the will of the Lord. Make a
difference,” he said.
Next week’s devotional speaker will be Steve McGary, dean of the College
of Agriculture and Life
Sciences at BYU-Idaho. Devotionals are broadcast live on Tuesdays at 2 p.m. and again at 9 p.m. on KBYI, FM 100.
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