One of the vices that plagues my generation is the lure of being "acted upon." In many instances, an event will occur that affects us directly and we can either choose to be a victim and effortlessly react, or do something about it. Here are some examples:
Stimulus: You come home and someone ate your food in the fridge.
Acted upon response: effortless natural reaction (get frustrated).
Acting response: Choose to not be upset and be grateful they got to enjoy it.
Stimulus: You come home and someone ate your food in the fridge.
Acted upon response: effortless natural reaction (get frustrated).
Acting response: Choose to not be upset and be grateful they got to enjoy it.
Stimulus: You realize you committed a sin more serious than you have before.
Acted upon response: Hide it, get a little depressed and ashamed; try not to do it again.
Acting response: Repent and realize Christ paid for your sins. True repentance leads to experiencing joy (2 Ne. 4).
Acted upon response: Hide it, get a little depressed and ashamed; try not to do it again.
Acting response: Repent and realize Christ paid for your sins. True repentance leads to experiencing joy (2 Ne. 4).
Stimulus: Someone insults you unintentionally.
Acted upon response: you choose to feel hurt and snap back at them either to their face or behind their back or hold a grudge.
Acting response: You experience empathy and understand they didn't mean to offend so you shake it off.
Acted upon response: you choose to feel hurt and snap back at them either to their face or behind their back or hold a grudge.
Acting response: You experience empathy and understand they didn't mean to offend so you shake it off.
Stimulus: Your heart is broken and you confide in someone close to you and they imply your feelings are invalid and insignificant.
Acted upon response: You get upset with them and resort to mindless, unhealthy coping methods.
Acting response: Yeah that will make it hurt even more, but you seek a feeling of reciprocated love and trust with Heavenly Father.
Remember Satan sought to destroy the agency of man? He still does. His strategy is to convince us that we are victims when stimuli like these examples happen and we're perfectly justified in reacting naturally. He gives us mindless "pacifiers" to help us unhealthily cope with stress, rejection, and despondency like scrolling through social media, playing video games, watching TV, using an addiction (which all of these can be), and turning every direction except for up. He also subtly attacks our agency from behind by attacking our responsibility to our choices. He tells us that we don't have to suffer the consequences of our actions which are the result of being afflicted. Essentially, he tells us that we don't have to reap what we sow.
Between every stimulus and a response there is a space and in that space we have our agency where we can choose to use it and act or we can not use it and be acted upon. Each of those examples show a positive way to respond to a negative stimulus. It will take practice and intentional effort, but it will help us be more like Christ.
Final thought: "...when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo..." (Helaman 5:12, emphasis added) What is "it" referring to?
The devil's afflictions and temptations can't drag us down to hell. No one can force us there the way we can't be forced to Heaven. "It" = our response. When the devil sends forth his temptations and afflictions, we have the choice to send ourselves to hell and captivity or to freedom and prosperity by our "it," how we respond to him. He dangles the bait: "this person offended you" or "someone inconsiderately inconvenienced you," do not take the bait! Let us stay strong and choose Christ because it's in these little moments where we slowly hand over our agency to Satan instead of being Christ's agent.
Acted upon response: You get upset with them and resort to mindless, unhealthy coping methods.
Acting response: Yeah that will make it hurt even more, but you seek a feeling of reciprocated love and trust with Heavenly Father.
Remember Satan sought to destroy the agency of man? He still does. His strategy is to convince us that we are victims when stimuli like these examples happen and we're perfectly justified in reacting naturally. He gives us mindless "pacifiers" to help us unhealthily cope with stress, rejection, and despondency like scrolling through social media, playing video games, watching TV, using an addiction (which all of these can be), and turning every direction except for up. He also subtly attacks our agency from behind by attacking our responsibility to our choices. He tells us that we don't have to suffer the consequences of our actions which are the result of being afflicted. Essentially, he tells us that we don't have to reap what we sow.
Between every stimulus and a response there is a space and in that space we have our agency where we can choose to use it and act or we can not use it and be acted upon. Each of those examples show a positive way to respond to a negative stimulus. It will take practice and intentional effort, but it will help us be more like Christ.
Final thought: "...when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo..." (Helaman 5:12, emphasis added) What is "it" referring to?
The devil's afflictions and temptations can't drag us down to hell. No one can force us there the way we can't be forced to Heaven. "It" = our response. When the devil sends forth his temptations and afflictions, we have the choice to send ourselves to hell and captivity or to freedom and prosperity by our "it," how we respond to him. He dangles the bait: "this person offended you" or "someone inconsiderately inconvenienced you," do not take the bait! Let us stay strong and choose Christ because it's in these little moments where we slowly hand over our agency to Satan instead of being Christ's agent.
