The Tale of Our Quest: 3 Damming Lies Some LDS People Believe

I noticed myself getting upset this week when someone I loved, and knew to be very intelligent, was keeping himself from Truth, Joy, Love and Beauty because of a lie he believed about himself.

He was not the first person I knew who had bought into this lie and others like it. Through the week, I had been having experiences with people who seemed unable to listen to truth because they were assuming a lie. I call these "damming lies" not because I think that those who believe them will go to hell (damning), but because it stops (dams) their progress. It keeps them from reaching their potential and doing God's work for them on earth. These lies lull us into "carnal security" and keep us asleep in an area of our lives where we could influence many if we were awakened.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that if you believe any of these lies in any area of your life, that is probably an area that is very important for you to be awake in. These lies come from Satan and if he has whispered them to you enough times so that you have come to believe them, he knows something about it that would disrupt his work if you were to wake up.

Lie #1:

I have heard people proclaim this lie in how we educate our kids, about the school system, homeschooling, about political views, scientific discoveries, governmental policies and just about anything they need an excuse in for not following a prompting.

"If it was important enough, God would tell the Prophet to announce it to the church so we would all know."

While this is true about church doctrine, it does not mean that God is going to tell us at general conference everything we need to know about what to learn, what to do with our time, or what changes we should make in our lifestyles.

He expects us to seek!

He wants us to ask. He wants us to be hungry for truth because we know that truth leads us to Him - to Joy, Love, Beauty, Peace, Understanding. He wants us to willingly choose Him - not because someone tells us what to do, but because we love Him and trust Him enough to want to follow Him. Instead we often assume He will come to us while we comfortably wait. He will not force us to Him. He wants us to want it bad enough to get up and search.

I am reminded of Nephi's question to his brothers when they didn't understand their father's vision, "Have ye inquired of the Lord?" And their response, "We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us." Then Nephi reminds us that the Lord has said, "If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you."

We will get answers to our questions at general conference, but often they will be personal commandments whispered to us by the Spirit as we are ready for them and not announced to those who are at a different place in their journey.

Lie #2

I hear this one about talents, areas of learning, and life missions. It's so subtle and so detrimental.

"It's just not my thing."

We assume that if we haven't yet found the beauty, excitement or applicable truth in a subject that the subject is not for us! Satan LOVES it when we compartmentalize truth and cherry pick which truth is pertinent to us. He knows this is the perfect way to keep us blind to what God would have us see about ourselves, this world, our place in it - and our relationship to Him and others. He knows he can limit our influence and our growth if we think some of God's truth is "not our thing."

It's true that God has different work for each person and that our part in building His kingdom is unique. It's true that our interests are one clue as to what He'd have us do. But it is a perilous lie that they are our only clue. People with experience will testify that they discovered much of their life's work and passion through their weaknesses.

In addition to weaknesses, we can look at where Satan has attempted to lie to us. If he is whispering to us that some truth is "not our thing," there is very likely something important to us there. Or something important we should know for those we will have the privilege to influence. We must remember that our work on this Earth is not about us but about helping God's children grow closer to Him.

Another big clue to what we ought to learn is the opportunities we are blessed with. Some will be of our choosing, some will not, but either way we should learn as much as possible from each one. This attitude will take us where we are meant to be. And it shows gratitude for those who sacrificed so much so we could have these learning opportunities, including our Savior.

All truth is one whole. Every Truth we learn takes us closer to Christ because He is the Complete Truth. And the more truth we receive, regardless where it comes from, the more ability we have to receive more truth - even in a totally different area.

"For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light"

Let's not ever block Him out because it's not "our thing."

Lie #3

I have a lot to say about lie #3, but this post is getting pretty long and I could write a lot on this one so I think I will save it for the next post.

In the meantime, here are some more updates from the week: