Agency

Agency is something that I sometimes take for granted. When I really think about it, I know that it is one of the greatest blessings that we have on this Earth. While having our own free agency allows us to sin and make mistakes, it also allows us to experience so much joy and happiness if we make the right decisions. There are ways on this Earth that people give up their free agency. For example, when one uses drugs or alcohol, that clouds their minds and can make them do things they wouldn't normally do. When I see others around me giving up their agency, I am deeply saddened. We worked so hard to come down to this Earth to obtain mortal, physical bodies and to receive our free agency. And yet, so many people do not understand what it truly means to have agency and they throw it away like it's nothing to work for.

I am so grateful for the ability that I have to choose what I do with my life. I know that as I continually pray to my Father in Heaven and keep His commandments, He will guide me so that I may use my agency to my benefit, as well as to the benefit of those around me.

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Men and women receive their agency as a gift from God, but their liberty and, in turn, their eternal happiness come from obedience to His laws.

L. Tom Perry, Obedience to Law is Liberty, April 2013 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/obedience-to-law-is-liberty?lang=eng

Boyd K. Packer, These Things I Know, April 2013 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/these-things-i-know?lang=eng

Whenever we choose to come unto Christ, take His name upon us, and follow His servants, we progress along the path to eternal life.

Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/agency-essential-to-the-plan-of-life?lang=eng

Our agency does allow us to choose among alternate paths, but then we are bound to the consequences God has decreed. Later, if we don’t like where the path takes us, the only out is through repentance.

Richard G. Scott, Healing Your Damaged Life, October 1992 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1992/10/healing-your-damaged-life?lang=eng

Our agency – our ability to choose and act for ourselves – was an essential element of [God’s] plan. Without agency we would be unable to make right choices and progress. Yet with agency we could make wrong choices, commit sin, and lose the opportunity to be with Heavenly Father again. For this reason a Savior would be provided to suffer for our sins and redeem us if we would repent.

Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/agency-essential-to-the-plan-of-life?lang=eng

Richard G. Scott, Healing Your Damaged Life, October 1992 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1992/10/healing-your-damaged-life?lang=eng

I have heard a few parents state that they don’t want to impose the gospel on their children but want them to make up their own minds about what they will believe and follow. They think that in this way they are allowing children to exercise their agency. What they forget is that the intelligent use of agency requires knowledge of the truth, of things as they really are. Without that, young people can hardly be expected to understand and evaluate the alternatives that come before them.

D. Todd Christofferson, Moral Discipline, October 2009 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/moral-discipline?lang=eng

By making the… choice to follow the Savior now, while we are here in earth, we will obtain an even greater blessing in the eternities. But let it be known: we must continue to choose to follow the Savior. Eternity is at stake, and our wise use of agency and our actions are essential that we might have eternal life.

Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/agency-essential-to-the-plan-of-life?lang=eng

Simply stated, one must use his agency to obey truth.

Richard G. Scott, Healing Your Damaged Life, October 1992 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1992/10/healing-your-damaged-life?lang=eng

D. Todd Christofferson, Moral Discipline, October 2009 General Conference, http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/moral-discipline?lang=eng