Nicole's First Sacrament talk: Abiding The Lord's Territory.

So, last Sunday I gave my first talk in Sacrament meeting. Nerve-wracking. I probably would have been fine despite my quick speaking. Oh well, here goes. P.S.- this hasn't been edited with 'proper grammar' in mind. I  wrote it as a talk, not as an essay so bear with me! :) I would like to say, though, that giving this talk truly blessed me. I seriously (though I don't think anyone noticed) started to choke up while bearing my testimony afterward. I never thought that giving a talk would touch me like that, but it truly did. This talk truly helped me to strengthen my testimony and I am so thankful for it!

 Today, I was asked to give a talk on “Abiding the Lord's Territory.” So, what does this mean exactly? President Thomas S. Monson once said “May I provide a simple formula by which you can measure the choices that confront you. It's easy to remember: “You can't be right by doing wrong; you can't be wrong by doing right”. Simple enough, right? This means, that if we are following the directions that heavenly father has given us, we will know what decisions to make when life gives us forks in the road.

Heavenly father did not leave his children in the dark, he has given us all of the tools necessary to make the correct decisions in life. He has given us the Bible, the Book of Mormon, a living prophet, and as if those weren't enough- we have the Holy Ghost guiding our decisions as well.

In order to “Abide in the Lord's territory, we must use these tools to know whether or not our actions put us in the Lord's Territory, or the Enemy's territory.

Let's discuss first why it is important to make the correct decisions. Now, when I came to this question, it was a bit difficult for me. Obviously, we all want to do what is right, but do we ever stop to ask ourselves why? Or do we just do this because we know we should. Some of the answers that I came up with were these:
“We want to please heavenly father.”
“We want to make the correct decisions in order to return to heavenly father”

“Correct decisions help us to lead a happy life.”

Thomas S. Monson made it simple. He stated, “Our decisions determine our destiny.”

Making bad decisions not only has a negative impact on our destiny, but it also makes our lives more difficult. Think of it this way- when you make a wrong decision at work or in school, it often turns out that you have to put a lot more effort into fixing this mistake than it would have taken to just make the correct decision in the first place. This could mean that, for example, say you don't study for your midterm and you do awfully. Chances are, you're going to have to spend the entire rest of the semester trying to find ways to make up for that one lousy grade.

I know, personally, that bad decisions can really make an impact on your life. Let's just say that, before I was investigating the church, I made decisions that I wouldn't make now. Though many of those didn't immediately have a consequence, I still live with those decisions, and regret them any time that they cross my mind.

So, we know that making bad decisions brings negative consequences. However, what about making no decision at all?

According to Revelation 3: 15-16, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art Luke-warm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.”

If we are standing by and letting Righteous decisions pass us by, what does this say about our faith?

Gordon B. Hinckley said,

 “Take a stand for righteousness. It is not enough to be lukewarm and stand idly by in this world that is on a toboggan slide going down and down and down. Take a stand. Rally yourselves with others to stand up for what is right and true and moral and good, whatever it be. As I look at this congregation, there are enough people here to turn almost any cause around if we were all united in speaking with one voice in defense of that which the God of heaven has declared to be true and right.”

Now that we've discussed why we should make appropriate decisions, we should go over how to make good decisions, so that our actions can place us in the Lord's territory.

There are many ways that we can prepare, in order to be sure that when the time comes, our actions demonstrate our faith. To do this, we must first sow in the Spirit. In a talk given by Ulisses Soares Of the Seventy, “To sow in the Spirit means that all our thoughts, words and actions must elevate us to the level of divinity of our heavenly parents”

In order to help ourselves to take the correct actions in our lives, it is important for us to read our scriptures, pray, and avoid the temptations of the flesh whenever possible.

Reading scriptures is something that we should strive to do on a daily basis. In a talk, Elder D. Todd Christofferson stated “The central purpose of all scripture is to fill our souls with faith in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ—faith that They exist; faith in the Father’s plan for our immortality and eternal life; faith in the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which animates this plan of happiness; faith to make the gospel of Jesus Christ our way of life; and faith to come to know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He has] sent”. By reading scripture,  we receive the Holy Ghost who bears witness of the truth of the Church, strengthening our faith. The stronger that our faith is, the more likely we are to stand by it when we are under pressure.

Prayer is another important way we can help ourselves to take the correct actions in our lives. We gain strength through prayer. Prayer allows us to communicate with our heavenly father, and know that our feelings are heard. President Spencer W. Kimball spoke about prayer “ After a lifetime of prayers, I know of the love and power and strength that comes from honest and heartfelt prayer. I know of the readiness of our Father to assist us in our mortal experience, to teach us, to lead us, to guide us.”

And finally, we need to avoid the things of the flesh. Because of our carnal nature, we have a tendency to be tempted by the things of the flesh. We must do our best to avoid these types of influences, behaviors and pressures. We must enhance and strengthen our spirits.

It is required that we “let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and evil speaking, be put away from [us] with all malice” Ephesians 4:31, and that we “be wise in the days of [our] probation [and] strip [ourselves] of all uncleanness” Mormon 9:28.

Heavenly father puts us through these trials for a reason. Doctorine and Covenants 29: 39 states “And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter, they could not know the sweet”.

Heavenly father has made promises to us that if we are obedient and live righteously, we will be blessed. We encounter a challenging world on a daily basis, and it is important that we continue to steer clear of the devil's territory. As President George Albert Smith stated, “There is a line of demarcation well defined between the Lord's territory and the devil's territory. If you will stay on the Lord's side of the line you will be under his influence and will have no desire to do wrong; but, if you cross to the devil's side of that line one inch you are in the tempter's power and if he is successful you will not be able to think or even reason properly, because you will have lost the Spirit of the Lord”

We must continually strive to abide in in the Lord's territory, and encourage others to do the same. We must model our lives after that of Jesus Christ, so that we may fulfill our sacred covenants. We must keep ourselves worthy to enter the kingdom of the Lord.

President Gordon B. Hinckley explained “Great are the promises of the Lord. The marvelous thing to me is that the Lord never asks us to do anything that He does not attach to it a blessing. It is not a sacrifice to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is never a sacrifice when you get back more than you give. It is an investment. And the living of the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes a greater investment than any of which I know because its dividends are eternal and everlasting.”.

Heavenly father knew when he gave us our agency that we weren't always going to be perfect. He knew that we would stumble into the devil's territory time and time again. I know, Brothers and sisters, because prior to my membership in the church, I pretty much camped out in the devil's territory. I can tell you from experience that this is not somewhere you would like to be. Before I was a member, I found myself in a constant inner battle. I was making decisions that hindered my own happiness, and caused a lot of extra struggle in my life, struggle and regret that I still live with today, long after my repentance. However now, I am thankful that Heavenly father gave me an iron rod to grab onto and that I am striving daily to continue to make appropriate decisions.

So, if we strive to keep ourselves worthy, keep ourselves righteous, keep ourselves in the Lord's territory we will be blessed. Doctrine and Covenants says that individuals should “humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end”.  

So, I ask you brothers and sisters, do you abide in the Lord's territory?