How important in God’s Plan is the God-given gift of “free agency”?
“How important in God’s Plan is the God-given gift of ‘free agency”?
Free-agency: – – is the God-given Gift, and power to choose and direct our thoughts and actions. God allows us to be free to choose both good and evil thoughts and actions, right vs wrong, good vs. evil, kindness vs meanness, etc. Even if a person is a slave with limited personal freedom; they still have the power in many areas to choose good vs. evil, kindness vs. meanness, prayer to God or not, etc.
Free agency is one of the most important and most precious God-given gifts that we are all blessed with. If we were forced to do everything God’s way or anyone else’s way – – – without that personal freedom, we would be mere puppets, and we could not possibly achieve any real joy or progress, or become more loving, compassionate, and unselfish inside the inner spirit part of us – – – in short, more like our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived an example of a perfect, loving and unselfish life, and taught us to follow Him, and do the same.
If you were forced by a task master to do good, thoughtful, and kind deeds for others, instead of being free to choose between good and evil, would you feel love, respect, joy, and inner peace? Or, would you more likely feel hatred, anger, rebellious, disrespected, etc. If you pause to ponder and pray about it, you will recognize that you would have had no real joy, love, or progress at becoming more Christ-like and better and kinder and more loving inside, if you were being forced by a task master to do those things. If we were all free during our earth-school and testing period to choose to be good or evil, kind or mean – – – – — – – only as long as we never chose evil, then that would still be force, right? And there could be no progress or joy in being forced. And if God designed it in a way, that only the completely nice and loving people would be free to choose between good and evil, and those who tend to be more mean and grouchy and selfish; would be forced by a task master to only choose to do kind and loving acts toward others; how well would that work?
In short, during our very short time on earth, we all had to be free to choose good or evil, not just good – – – even though we all suffer some on earth because of the bad choices of those who choose to be evil, mean, and abusive. Some of the justice of God, comes during our time on earth, and some of it not until after our short time here. For example, it is impossible for anyone to be evil, mean and abusive, and still feel real love, joy, inner peace and trusting relationships during their time on earth. After our time on earth, the full justice and mercy of our fair and loving God will take place. Those who have chosen evil will suffer for their evil choices – – – unless they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, and fully repented and changed from their evil ways. When you consider all of eternity, our short time on earth is barely a blink of an eye, so even if we suffer some unfairly during our short time here, because mean people chose to be mean to us, it won’t last long, and God will always be just, fair, and even generous toward us in the eternities. When you understand this, you will understand why God allows some mean people to get away with being mean during their earth-school and testing period, and why it feels very unjust during our very short blink of an eye time on earth.
In the Book of Mormon, in 2 Nephi chapter 2 verses 11 to 13: the prophet Lehi, taught the following true principles: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so,. . . righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. . . . having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God. And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery.” If you pause to ponder and pray about it, you will realize that none of us would be worthy of any reward in Heaven, if we were mere puppets being forced to do good while on earth. Therefore, we all needed the God-given gift of free agency to have any progress or real joy, even though that means some people will choose to be mean and grouchy toward others while in their earth-school and testing period.
God will hold each of us accountable for what we do and think, in any given situation, etc., so our thoughts and personal actions must be under our control, or it would not be fair. On our future day of judgment before God, as our eternal degree of reward or punishment is considered; it will be much better if we were the abused in any given situation, rather than the abuser.
On the last day of Jesus’ life on earth, he was held captive, and spit upon, whipped, mocked, and nailed to a cross to suffer, bleed and die for our sins as a part of His gift of atonement to pay for our sins, and free us from the consequences of our own sins. Jesus was also free to choose his own thoughts and actions in that situation. And amazingly He did not choose anger, or hatred, or vengeance. In fact, Jesus prayed to our Father in Heaven and said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus understood that in order to redeem all of us from our sins, that He, as a perfect sacrifice/lamb without blemish or sin, needed to suffer beyond comprehension that day and the night before in the garden of Gethsemane, and bleed and die for our sins, because we are all imperfect, and needed his atonement to make it possible for us to receive forgiveness and cleansing to qualify for any Heavenly reward. Because of Jesus’ perfect love for each of us, He was willing to suffer and die for us. We needed to be cleansed of our sins to meet the demands of justice, and be worthy to enter a Heavenly place. In short, Jesus Christ paid a debt he did not owe (by suffering for our sins), because we owed a debt that we could not pay.”
Important questions to ponder on:
Is more motivation to do good developed by using kindness, respect, gentle guidance, heart-felt discussions vs. by forceful methods? Which methods are from God and which methods are from the devil and his team? Some sports coaches yell and scream at their players, and thereby get limited success at “winning games”, (not at building any quality relationships), but isn’t it true that the best coaches by far, are the ones like, legendary college basketball coach, John Wooden, who taught Christian principles of success by using methods of kindness, respect, honesty, gentle persuasion, and heart-felt discussions?
I had some pretty good coaches in high school sports, but the one person who made the most difference in helping me to do better and work harder to give my best effort in sports and in other more important areas of my life, was my older brother, Doug, who coached me for about an hour one day before I started high school. Pondering on that helps me to understand how powerful the concept is of being free to choose your own choices, and not be forced to do what someone else wants you to do. My older brother, Doug, was one of the best high school wrestlers in the state of Utah. He placed 2nd in the state tournament, barely losing by one or two points to the state champion, who became a champion big college wrestler at BYU. Doug, taught me a couple of wrestling moves one day when I was in the 8th grade, and he encouraged me to try out for the high school team when I started high school (9th grade) the next year. Then, Doug took about 30 minutes to give me one of the most persuasive motivational discussions I have ever witnessed. Doug didn’t start wrestling until 10th grade, and it took him 3 years to become one of the best in the state in his weight class. He explained that pretty much anyone – – even a skinny kid, could become a state champion in wrestling in three years – – if he chose to work harder at it than the other wrestlers. I thought, O.K., since I will be starting on the wrestling team in 9th grade, then if I work harder than the other wrestlers, then I can be a two year state champion – – my junior and senior years; which is what I secretly set as my personal goal that day. I did not tell any of my friends or anyone else about my goal, because I didn’t want anyone to laugh at me, for setting a far-fetched goal, that they would likely think was not realistic. Not long after that, Doug went off into the army for a couple of years, and then on a two year Christian mission with our church. He returned in time to watch me win the state championship in wrestling in my weight class (138 pounds) my senior year, after I also won it my junior year.
Looking back, I would say that the main reason that I ended up becoming a two year state champion in wrestling, was because of that one 30 minute motivational discussion with my brother, and my own private goal that I set that day. No one needed to push me to work hard, because that one heart-felt discussion, helped me to become highly self-motivated. Instead of my brother having that discussion with me, what if I had had a coach that yelled and screamed at us to try to “motivate” us to work hard, as some coaches do, that would not have really motivated me to give my best personal effort, would it? Reaching that goal helped me to realize I could reach other more important goals in my life, than sports goals. Truthfully, I would much prefer to see my grandchildren get into Christ-centered pickleball and ping-pong rather than wrestling, which doesn’t really teach or emphasize kindness and respect toward your opponents.
There is no more ennobling or empowering and motivating principle than the God-given gift of free agency. And there is no more destructive, joy-destroying, discouraging, and de-motivating principle than forceful methods. You can often tell whether God or the devil is the root source behind things, by carefully observing the methods they use – – – to see if they are forceful methods or gentle, kind, and loving persuasion and encouragement.
God’s loving and kind ways for working with and motivating people, such as our own children, grandchildrenand others, are described well in this quote/revelation from the prophet Joseph Smith: “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood (or your position over others, or because you have more strength or power than others), only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile— Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death. Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God;” D&C (Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-45
The tactics of the devil and his team are the opposite with forceful methods, and taking away freedom to choose, manipulative, dishonest, deceptive, lots of false promises, no compassion, no real love, etc. We can all feel tempted at times, to use forceful methods to get our way when a child mis-behaves, etc., – – – unless we pause to prayerfully ponder deeply on the true principles as taught by Jesus Christ, about how we should work with people in all of our relationships, and why. If we ponder on it and use our memory of past experiences; we can sense that whenever anyone tried to force us to do something, it always damaged the relationship, and de-motivated us, instead of motivating and empowering us. Even doing a good and kind action or deed, would bring no real joy or inner peace or help us to become better and more loving inside the inner spirit part of us – – if we were forced to do it, right? No one ever becomes more Christ-like or better inside the inner spirit part of them, by forceful methods.
Also, people who are feeling forced or highly pressured to do things, tend to not have or even desire a close, trusting, open, and loving relationship with the one forcing them, right? That is a big part of why our loving Father in Heaven, and wise parents don’t use forceful methods. However, natural consequences are wise and good, such as the way that God blesses us with increased love, joy, and inner-peace when we choose to have good thoughts and actions toward others., and how we lose those gifts of the Spirit of God, when we choose to treat others in mean or abusive ways. So, as a parent, if we would love to always maintain a trusting and loving relationship with each of our children; we would be wise to choose to never use forceful and manipulative methods. Some child psychologists have developed a method for training our children called “Love and Logic” where everything is done with love, but also with logical reasoning, and natural consequences for bad choices. It is O.K. and wise for a family together to set up consequences ahead of time (such as time-out or missing out on some privileges), that will be lovingly followed through with, for bad choices or actions.
“But Charles, what about people who are unjustly imprisoned, or in slavery, which still happens in some parts of the world; they don’t have the God-given gift of free agency to make their own choices, do they?” Very good question; and yes, they do have some limitations on their freedom, but they are still free to choose their own thoughts, and their actions and reactions during their short earth-school and testing period. For example, if they are being abused, they are still free to choose to react with quiet inner prayer to connect with God and feel of his love, or to react with anger and hatred. They can also choose to treat their fellow prisoners or slaves with kindness and respect. When someone is abused by an abusive parent for example, they can learn to be abusers themselves in their relationships and when they become parents, or they can be highly aware and sensitive to how that abuse makes them feel inside, and choose to live a life in exactly the opposite way, as a girl I know well in our Church, who chose to live a life of kindness toward others and toward her own future children; which was exactly the opposite of the abuses she suffered under as a child from her abusive father. Many of the followers of Jesus Christ over the years have been unfairly abused, imprisoned, murdered/martyred, etc., but have still been blessed with some loving and joyful relationships with God, self, and others as they have worked through their challenges and tests.
Power Quotes from Jesus in the Bible:
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” Matthew 5:44
(Pause to consider, who in the world, except Jesus Christ, and later His faithful followers, would even think of such a thing, as “love your enemies, and pray for them – – – that despitefully use you and persecute you? Yet, amazingly, it works far better for keeping inner-peace and joy in our lives, than choosing the painful inner poison caused by choosing hatred, anger, bitterness, revenge, etc.
Isn’t it true that someone who chooses to allow themselves to be filled with anger and hatred toward their abusers, will be almost as miserable, sad, and unhappy inside as the abuser!
“But Charles, I believe you must have always enjoyed a very cushy life with hardly any real trials or people causing you problems in your life, or you would realize that it is just not realistic to choose to not be filled with hatred, anger, resentment, and a desire for revenge when people do unfair and bad things to persecute and hurt you.” Certainly, we could all trade stories about some of the hard tests we have each endured, with difficult, unfair, abusive, and unreasonable people, situations, etc. And many of you readers have been tested with harder tests in this life, than I have been so far; but still I and many millions of others have learned that no matter what challenges and tests we are going through; that the best solutions and answers, are to give our best personal efforts to prayerfully follow the joy-producing teachings of Jesus Christ, and to see everything with eternal perspective – – – with the ultimate end goal in mind – – of faithfully getting through all of the tests of this life, and preparing to live forever with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ and with our dear family members and friends. I have learned that our loving Father in Heaven does not allow hardly any of us to get through our earth-school and testing period, without some real “tests”. Otherwise, this earth school, would just be too easy – – – kind of like being stuck in kindergarten for your whole life, which would not teach of much of any value, right? The next time you are going through a really hard test, such as dealing with an obnoxious and difficult, just repeat quietly in your mind the great and useful power quote; “It’s only a test, it’s only a test.” You will find that just recognizing that “it’s only a test”, truly makes it much easier to handle it, without letting it stress you very much.
Bible quote: John 15:20: “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you”.
Bible quote: John 16:2: “whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”
Considering that the principles of free agency are so very important for each of us for our growth and progress; how much freedom to make their own choices should we give to our children? Well, of course, if our young child says they want to go play on a busy street with cars racing by, we wouldn’t want to allow that. Each child will develop their wisdom and ability to make good, safe, and wise choices at a different rate – – – but it will happen at a younger age, if we teach them not only correct principles as taught by Jesus Christ, but the reasons behind why God teaches us to follow His beautiful joy-producing principles.
For example, if you simply tell our children and youth, that God “commanded” us to not have any physical intimacy until marriage and never outside of marriage, without helping them to clearly understand many of the most important reasons why God gave us that loving and wise commandment/guidance, so that we could be far more likely to end up with more joyful, trusting, and loving marriages and families. If youth don’t clearly understand, why our loving Father in Heaven, gave us that wonderful and loving teaching; then most youth will of course not have the wisdom and self-control to save all physical intimacy for marriage – – – especially in these modern days, with the devil and his big team of slick talking deceptive salesmen, in the sleaze industries of Hollywood, the Glamour magazines, the porno pushers, etc., pushing constant lies and distortions to make us believe that lots of sex – – – even without any loving, trusting, committed marriage relationship is great, and the popular thing to do. And they teach that self-control and saving physical intimacy for marriage is “out-dated”, and not a good or wise choice in these modern days, where they like to teach if it feels good at the moment, do it.
I believe that if we help our children at a young age, to understand the joyful teachings of Jesus Christ, and why God and Jesus wisely taught us their loving principles of guidance (commandments), then at a young age, they will be ready to make many of their own strong and wise decisions for a joyful life and eternity. If we try to force our children to be kind to their siblings, and others, and to follow the other commandments of God; then they may mostly follow them, – – – out of fear, as long as we are right there watching them, but inside of the inner spirit part of them, they are likely to feel rebellious, and frustrated that we are trying to force them to do what we want them to do, and when we are not “watching them”, they will be even more likely to be grouchy and mean to a sibling, or to go against many of the other wise and joy-producing teachings of Jesus Christ. How “joy-producing” are the teachings of Jesus Christ if we are feeling that they are being forcibly crammed down our throat, and if we are feeling “forced” or highly pressured to follow them? – – – vs. if we are lovingly taught true correct principles from Jesus Christ, and if our home environment is always filled with unconditional love, kindness, and respect?
Power Quote Song:
I love the song from our Church’s children’s songbook, called: “Love is Spoken Here” by Janice Kapp Perry: The beautiful and true words go like this:
“I see my mother kneeling with our family each day.
I hear the words she whispers as she bows her head to pray.
Her pleas to the Father quiets all my fears,
And I am thankful love is spoken here.
Mine is a home where every hour is blessed by the strength of priesthood power,
With father and mother leading the way,
Teaching me how to trust and obey;
And the things they teach are crystal clear,
For love is spoken here.
I can often feel the Savior near,
When love is spoken here”
Let us remember, that not even good and positive messages will be clear or even listened to by our children and grandchildren, if not spoken in love.
Another great Power Quote: Song: “How Gentle God’s Commands”. The first words of that beautiful and true song, go like this:
“How gentle God’s commands! How kind his precepts are!
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord. And trust his constant care.”
If you pause to ponder on why God gave us each of His commandments, we see that they are so very kind, loving, wise, and gentle.
What if your young 6 to 12 year old child, said, “Mom and Dad, I have decided that I don’t like going to school, so I am not going to school any more? What would be your wise and carefully thought out response? I doubt if you would say, “Sure, whatever you want son, you are old enough, and wise enough now to make all of your own choices.”
First, you would hopefully want to gently and lovingly ask what is going on at school, that is causing him or her to feel that way, such as, is he being bullied at school, right?
You may ask: “Are you being bullied verbally or physically at school; or would you just prefer to stay home and play video games and watch T.V. all day, or what exactly are you thinking?” In short, I have a feeling that at age 6 to 12, that you would feel that he is not yet mature and wise enough to make all of his own important decisions about things like, whether to drop out of school or not – – – for his own future best interest, in someday being able to financially support his own family as an adult, right?
In the United States, and some other countries, going to school is required by law, so you could explain that, and tell your child: “you have to go to school” by law, or you and we will get in big trouble. But that is kind of a forceful method, and therefore does not motivate a child to give their best effort in school.
Quote: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”. In other words, you can try to force a child to sit in a desk in school, but you can’t make him truly open up his mind and heart and wisely give his very best effort to learn useful lessons there. If we tell a child that you must go sit in a chair in school 7 hours a day, whether you want to or not, that certainly won’t do as much good, as gently and lovingly helping them to understand the many good reasons why giving his best effort in school, will help him to prepare for a more successful and joyful future. So, son, can you please help me to understand your reasoning, regarding why you believe it would be a wise choice for you to drop out of school at age 6 or 12, or whatever age he is. In some cases, if the mother is a stay-at-home mom, she may decide to give home-school a try, because many students do learn much better and faster in a good loving home-school environment.
What if your young 6 to 12 year old, said: “Mom and Dad, I have decided that I don’t want to go to church with the family any more.
What is more important eternally, – – – the principles that we learn in school or the principles of Jesus Christ that we learn in church? – – – they are both important, right. However, I must admit that some of the principles that are recently being taught in many public schools in the United States, are not always important, and some are even scary to many of us parents and grandparents, aren’t they? And I do clearly understand, why so many parents are choosing home-school and charter-schools these days to avoid some of the damaging teachings and negative peer-pressure in the public schools. In some charter schools, the children can be in school about 2 days a week, and work from home 3 days a week, and it often works far better than many public schools. We have a young granddaughter, who just turned 9 years old, and would be in 3rd grade in public school, but who is doing home-school, and is reading at about a 12th grade level, and is also way ahead in other subjects. We have been amazed at how confidently and rapidly she can read any book out-loud. She reads children’s story books to her younger siblings, but for her own enjoyment, she reads tons of much more advanced books. Our daughter-in-law takes their four children to the library each week, and each child picks out several books to read that week. My son and I worked together to build them a library room with book shelves all around the room that have shelves that go to the ceiling to hold hundreds of good books.
In some public schools in this country, even some high school kids can hardly read and comprehend what they are reading. However, in short, as a father and grandfather; I personally am convinced that the principles of Jesus Christ that we can learn at a good Christian church, are far, far, more important than anything that we learn at school.
We have a dear friend of ours, in our church, who told us about the time when her young teenage daughter, at about age 14, told them that she did not want to go to Church any more. They found out that she was offended by something that one or more children at church said or did. Our wise friend told her daughter, that at that age, she did not feel that she had enough experience and maturity yet, to make such an important decision, and that as a family, “we go to church together on Sundays, and as long as you are under age 18 or under our roof, we will all continue to go to church together as a family”. We are sorry to hear that you are not feeling much joy and inner peace in going to church at this time. Is there something that we can do that may help you to feel and experience more joy as we attend church together each Sunday? In life, there will always be some people who offend us, – – – even in church, where they are all supposed to be on their best and most kind and loving behavior. A few years later, as an adult, our friend’s daughter, told her parents that she was so very thankful that they had the wisdom to help her to not drop out of church, – – when she was pushing for it as a teenager. We can’t or shouldn’t give up on a good thing like school or church, just because there may be some complications or problems there to solve.
Power Quotes: “Not going to church, because some people there are not close to perfect yet, is like not going to the gym, because some people there are out of shape and not super fit yet.”
“The church is a hospital for sinners, not a resting place for the saints.” So, in short, let’s be gentle and kind to each other in church and everywhere else, and be thankful that God does not judge us until the end of our life, and neither should we judge others, right?
If we start gently and lovingly teaching our children the joyful teachings of Jesus Christ at a very young age, then they will gradually gain more and more wisdom and willpower to make and keep personal commitments, they make with themselves and with God, and thereby prove worthy and ready for more and more trust. However, everyone of every age, needs to be lovingly taught to be wise enough to flee a situation quickly, to get themselves out of temptation, just like in the true Bible story about young Joseph, who was sold into Egypt by his brothers. Remember, when he fled and ran quickly out of the grasp of Potipher’s wife, who was trying to seduce him. Let’s all choose to not be afraid to flee and run quickly away from temptations, and to seek for God’s help in prayer.
If you are a young (or old) single man (or woman), who has not yet found your adorable sweet and pure wife, who has been wisely saving herself and all of her physical intimacy for marriage with you; then she will enjoy hearing your true stories, of how you chose super firmly and unshakably ahead of time, and exactly how you chose to quickly flee in this or that situation when a person without strong Christian morals, tried to seduce you, and how you wisely chose to never date her again. – – – and how and why you chose to never ever even once in your life partake of any potentially mind-altering drug, not even alcohol (beer or wine, etc.), because you did not want to ever risk, having some “floozy” seduce you and tempt you to have physical intimacy before marriage, while “under the influence of mind-altering drugs, that would weaken your self-control, wisdom, and power to choose wisely. In order for each of us to exercise our free agency best with wise and super-strong stick-to-ity, we need to always and forever be free of any addictive and mind-altering drugs, that greatly weaken any person’s ability to choose wisely and strongly no matter what, in times of temptation and in all times.
“But Charles, just one drink of beer or wine or taste of a mind-altering drug won’t hurt, will it?” – – That is a question (lie) that the devil and his team of slick-talking garbage sellers, like to ask, isn’t it?
As a youth, you may be thinking, “Oh, I am so strong and always 100% in perfect control, even under intense peer-pressure, I will never drink too many drinks, to risk being “under the influence” enough to be swayed to do something that I would not do, if I were not drinking or using other mind-altering drugs.”
Important question: Is alcohol a mind-altering drug? Yes, absolutely, which is why they have AA (alcoholics anonymous) meetings all over to help people fight their addiction to alcohol, which is a very powerful mind-altering drug, and why it is illegal up to age 21 to drink any alcoholic drink at all, and why it is illegal for anyone of any age to drink and drive. How much alcohol does it take to alter your mind, and clear thinking, and your ability to resist temptation? What is the safest way to never risk drinking too much alcohol, that causes you to make a bad choice?
Even if you happen to be one of the few alcohol drinkers, who will never ever even once in your life, drink too much and risk making a foolish mistake while under the influence; if you choose to be a drinker, your children and grandchildren are far more likely to also choose to be drinkers, right? So, if you have 4 children, and they each have four children, so 16 in your posterity up to that point, then, statistically speaking what percentage will become “problem drinkers”, and thereby severely damage or destroy their own lives or the lives of others, because of drinking? Is it really worth the risk?
Considering all things, would you and your posterity, have a higher or lower risk of damaging or destroying your own and/or others lives, if you choose to be a “drinker”?
In this book, when referring to “drinker” that means drinker of alcoholic beverages.
Wouldn’t a healthy smoothie or juice or water be a lot wiser choice? But Charles, won’t some people make fun of me and try to peer-pressure me to drink, if I choose to be a non-drinker? Yes, of course, they did to me also, but so what? My wise and good friends, never tried to tempt me in these things, and they respected me and my choices. I am so very glad that I decided at a very young age to forever be a non-drinker, non-smoker, non-druggie, non-swearer, etc. – – – and that nearly all of my posterity are choosing the same.
“But Charles, don’t you and your posterity, ever think you may have missed out on something by choosing to never, ever taste even one drink of beer or wine in your life?”
No, not at all. I am thankful that we have decided to never taste of even one alcoholic drink or other harmful or addictive drug. And even if some wines may supposedly taste pretty good, how could they have more positive benefits than a healthy smoothie or healthy juice? I don’t want any of us to feel the affects of having our mind altered by alcohol or any other drugs. I feel so much more peace of mind, knowing that we will never risk a $10,000 DUI, or far worse be badly hurt or badly hurt someone else, because of drinking and driving, and never risk falling for a foolish temptation, because of being “under the influence”, and no risk of becoming an alcoholic and thereby destroying relationships, etc. The National Council on Violent Crimes estimated that alcohol is a factor in 40% of violent crimes – – – and a large percentage of the time that abuse is inflicted on a spouse or child in the home, and thereby destroys the family relationships.
Power Quotes: “Temptation wouldn’t be temptation if it didn’t appear attractive, fascinating, or fun.” Dieter Uchtdorf (so of course, the devil and his team of liars, try to make temptations appear attractive and good.)
“There is no right way to do the wrong thing.”
Did you know that “peer pressure” is one of the devil’s most powerful and favorite tools to pressure children of God to make foolish choices? How important is it that you make your own strong decisions in your life, and never ever consider following peer pressure?
What good is your God-given gift of “free agency”, if you allow your peers to make choices for you? – – – such as should I choose the first taste of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, pornography, gambling, swear word or vulgar language, verbally unkind words toward other children of God, etc.?
If the devil and his team, who will do anything for money, can get you to partake of the first drug, they begin to have the power to take away your God-given gift of free agency from you – – – so they will give you the first ones for “free”, – – – knowing that the addictive powers of drugs will take away much or all of your freedom to make your own wise choices in your life. Many people without character or any love for their fellow men, gain lots of filthy money by selling their addictive substances to innocent victims. One of my nice and honest Christian insurance customers, told me that he knew he could make close to $1,000 more per month in his little gas station if he offered tobacco products to his customers, but he chose not to, because he couldn’t feel right getting money from selling such a bad and addictive vice.
If any wise child of God, carefully pondered on and considered all of the pros and cons of tobacco and drugs; no one would be foolish enough to partake of the first one, but the devil and his team apply heavy peer-pressure and lies to get them to take the first one, and like a fish who gets caught by the hook inside of the fish bait, the drug and tobacco addicts get caught by the powerful “hook” of the addictive drug or tobacco.
Power quote: “There is a powerful hook in every can or pack of tobacco products or drugs or alcohol.”
And alcohol is the most common gateway drug, to get people into even more powerful and addictive mind-altering drugs that take away their free agency. The big money-making wine and alcohol industry tries to convince us that just a little wine is good for us, – – – as long as no one ever gets a little too much and too drunk and then drives, or makes other bad decisions of immorality, etc. after their mind is altered by taking too much alcohol. Those alcohol producing companies know full-well that many thousands of their customer’s lives and other innocent lives will be ruined by the alcohol they are selling.
I can safely promise anyone, that it is far easier and safer to be a 100% non-drinker and non-druggie and non-tobacco person, than one who is only a social drinker, or social druggie, or only uses those addictive vices on weekends, so they are not too controlled by them. If you drink a little too much, and get caught driving by the police, then a DUI costs about $10,000 in fines and increased insurance costs. If you cause a bad accident from drinking a little too much, then you may kill or badly injure an innocent victim, which of course is far worse than losing $10,000. I have many good and kind-hearted friends, who drink a little alcohol with moderation, and will hopefully never drink a little too much and make bad decisions or accidents because of it. And I don’t want to be judgmental of them. However, truthfully, wouldn’t the world be a far better place if we all chose to never partake of any alcohol or any other addictive mind-altering substances? People would be far more free to make their own wise and carefully thought-out decisions without these vices pulling them down to make bad and pain-producing choices.
The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol abuse facts show that in 2019; 25.8 percent of people ages 18 and older reported they engaged in binge drinking in the past month! So, if you have four children, then it is very likely that one of them will at times engage in dangerous binge drinking – – – unless they choose to be completely non-drinkers?
A 3-year study, conducted by Columbia University, found 80 percent of men and women behind bars, about 1.4 million inmates, were seriously involved with drugs and alcohol. How many lives and families are ruined because of alcohol and drug problems? Is it worth it to partake of the first alcohol or drug – – – that may end up getting you addicted, and may ruin your life and your relationships? As a wise and loving parent (or future parent), would you recommend to your children that they choose to be alcohol drinkers or non-drinkers? When one of my insurance customers, found out that I decided as a young boy, to never taste of any alcoholic drink, he told me that almost every bad decision he had made in his life, he had made while drinking alcohol. That is one of the most important reasons that I am deeply thankful that each of my children wisely and firmly decided at a very young age to never touch any alcohol or drugs.
In these modern days, many temptations will come to our children and grandchildren, and they won’t overcome those temptations, unless they are personally motivated and empowered by their own well-chosen wise decisions way before the temptations come to make the right choices that they have learned work best to bring real joy and inner-peace, and loving and trusting relationships – – which is the teachings of Jesus Christ. They will not make the right choices, just because a mother or father used forceful methods to try to get them to be nice, and kind to their siblings, and to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Regarding our God-given freedom to make our own choices, I love this song below:
Song: Know This, That Every Soul Is Free (Author unknown)
1. Know this, that ev’ry soul is free
To choose his life and what he’ll be;
For this eternal truth is giv’n:
That God will force no man to heav’n.
2. He’ll call, persuade, direct aright,
And bless with wisdom, love, and light,
In nameless ways be good and kind,
But never force the human mind.