Alma
of the Book of Mormon taught that God grants unto men according to their
desires, whether it be unto salvation or unto destruction (Alma 29:4). Elder
Neal A. Maxwell (1926-2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught our
desires affect our personal development and eventually determine our eternal
blessings:
“Desires…become
real determinants, even when, with pitiful naivete, we do not really want the
consequences of our desires….therefore, what we insistently desire, over time,
is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity.
“Righteous
desires need to be relentless, therefore, because, said President Brigham
Young, ‘the men and women who desire to obtain seats in the celestial kingdom,
will find that they must battle every day’ (in Journal of Discourses, 11:140.
Therefore, true Christian soldiers are more than weekend warriors…
“Remember,
brothers and sisters, it is our own desires which determine the sizing and the
attractiveness of various temptations. We set our thermostats as to
temptations. Thus educating and training our desires clearly requires
understanding the truths of the gospel, yet even more is involved. President
Brigham Young confirmed, saying, ‘it is evident that many who understand the
truth do not govern themselves by it; consequently, no matter how true and
beautiful truth is, you have to take the passions of the people and mould them
to the law of God’ (in Journal of Discourses, 7:55).
-
Neal
A. Maxwell, According to the Desire of our Hearts, in CR Oct 1996,
Ensign Nov 1996
I
have for a long time now believed that our righteous desires come with us into
mortality because they are God given. They correspond with God’s plan for our
development, growth and work we have been sent here to do. If those desires
align with Gospel principles then we can be assured they are innate desires ‘trailing
clouds of glory coming from God’…..
If
our desires closely match with the values of the world, we can be assured they
will not lead us to God. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes warn about such desires
extensively:
Proverbs
21:25: The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
Proverbs
21:26: He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and
spareth not.
Ecclesiastes
5:10: He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that
loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
Ecclesiastes
11:9: acknowledges that people feel drawn to follow their ‘heart’ and ‘eyes’,
but adds accountability: ‘walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of
thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into
judgment. In other words, because what you wish for.
Proverbs
14:12 gives a stark warning that desires that feel right in the moment can lead
somewhere dark: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death”.
Proverbs
11:19 stands in contrast to the destination of death: “As righteousness tendeth
to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.
This
is my testimony of the power of desire. For years and years I could only really
see the Saviour in my mind as I studied the scriptures and lived the Gospel.
Then only a few years ago all of a sudden the Saviour took the back seat and I
could see the Father and my longing for Him became uppermost in my mind. I
wanted to be with Him, remember Him as I knew Him from my premortal life, and
live by His side forever. On some days the desire to be in His presence was so
strong I would shed tears. This, of course, is the way it is meant to be. The
Saviour came to reveal the Father to us. I could write pages about this based
on scripture (see Jeffrey R. Holland’s conference talk “The Grandeur of God”
October 2003).
I
noticed something very significant after I came to desire the presence of the
Father. Obedience became a much easier road to be on. I was elevated in the
direction I should go that would lead me to where I wanted to be. I realised
desire is the great motivator. If the
desire is strong enough, we will do anything to fulfil it. The destination is
the focal point to remember.
Proverbs
10:24: The fear of
the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be
granted.
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