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Elder Graham W. Doxey, former member of the Second
Quorum of the Seventy, asked BYU-Idaho students and faculty to ask
themselves, “Where in the world am I?” in his devotional address Nov. 5.
The
question is not one of geography but of ideas, Elder Doxey said.
“With
introspect and with honesty, we must make this determination. . . . We all
need to open our awareness to see the areas where the ideas of the world
have been affecting our attitudes [and] have intruded into our lives.”
Elder
Doxey read John 2:15-16 and then enumerated three attributes of
worldliness: the lust of the flesh, or sexual appetites; the lust of the
eyes, or coveting; and the pride of life. He referred to former Church
President Ezra Taft Benson’s talk “Beware of Pride,” in which the prophet
declared pride as the “universal sin.”
“We must
each objectively consider ourselves and determine to what degree pride is
affecting our willingness to be ‘meek and submissive,’” Elder Doxey said. “I
ask that you review yourselves on the question, ‘Where do you stand on some
of the common and popular ideas of the world?’. . . I ask you to consider
if there are wrongs against God’s commandments that are being committed
today in the name of and under the innocuous label of rights.”
Elder
Doxey also noted that the world teaches that verities – permanent truths –
do not exist.
“I ask
you to consider carefully the very popular concept that everything is
relative, that there are no absolutes. Many today rationalize that there is
nothing that is always and absolutely wrong, just as there is nothing that
is always and absolutely right. . . . They say that everything is to be
judged relative to its time and circumstance and by the opinion of the
majority. I testify to you that there is danger in this, that there is
subtlety and deception in progress. I testify that there are verities. Our
creator, the creator of Heaven and of Earth, our Eternal Father, God, does
not change according to the reasoning and rationalizations of man’s mind.”
Elder
Doxey taught that in the “plan of happiness,” it is mortality that is
intended as the great testing and growing experience that will prepare us
for an eternal life of joy. In contrast, a mortal life consisting of fun,
or “doing our own thing,” will not accomplish God’s purposes. He cited the
story of Joseph of Egypt as a vivid example of such testing and growth in the
face of trials such as being betrayed by his brothers, fleeing Potiphar’s
wife and gaining great power in Egypt.
“The Lord has set the standard. It
is we, with our agency, that determine the level of our performance. When
performance is below the level of his standards, many will try to justify
and modify, to bring the standards down to their level of their
performance. The name for this is rationalizing. On the other hand, when we
bring our performance up to the level of his standards, this is called repentance.
“We must
find something in our pattern of living wherein the the ideas of the world
have entered in,” Elder Doxey said. “Review the commandments, avoiding
every rationalization. They cover Sabbath Day observance. They cover
following the gods of money, of material things, of prestige. They cover
moral issues of honesty and of sexual purity and of pornography. They cover
coveting. They cover honoring father and mother. Objectively review and
discover where the ideas of the world have infiltrated you. There isn’t a
person whose life hasn’t been affected. Identify even a small one of these
and then determine to notch up. Raise your performance. Resist the
temptation to rationalize it away. Exercise faith unto repentance. Even
from a very small thing, in repentance you will find that you have
increased power, you will feel a spiritual strength and new joy in your
life.”
Next
week’s devotional speaker on Nov. 12 will be Janette Hales Beckham, former
General Young Women president of the Church. # # #
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