Obedience

1) "Now, my dear young friends, I hope all of you are pointed in the direction of missionary service. I cannot promise you fun. I cannot promise you ease and comfort. I cannot promise you freedom from discouragement, from fear, from downright misery at times. But I can promise you that you will grow as you have never grown in a similar period during your entire lives. I can promise you a happiness that will be unique and wonderful and lasting. I can promise you that you will reevaluate your lives, that you will establish new priorities, that you will live closer to the Lord, that prayer will become a real and wonderful experience, that you will walk with faith in the outcome of the good things you do." ( To boys and To men Hinckley 1998 Oct)

2)“The two great commandments—to love God and our neighbor—are a joining of the temporal and the spiritual. It is important to note that these two commandments are called “great” because every other commandment hangs upon them.4 In other words, our personal, family, and Church priorities must begin here. All other goals and actions should spring from the fountain of these two great commandments—from our love for God and for our neighbor.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf  PROVIDING IN THE LORD’S WAY General Conferences October 2011)

3)“But it will help us recognize this truth: God is close to us and aware of us and never hides from His faithful children.” (President Eyring Where Is the Pavilion? General Conferences October 2012)

4)“Part of being prepared is to know and obey the relevant teachings of the Lord.” (Russell M.  Nelson  Ask, Seek, Knock.  General conference October 2009)

5)"Your Father in Heaven expects your loyalty and your love at every stage of your life.” (Jeffrey R. Holland The First Great Commandment General Conferences October 2012)

6)“the key characteristics associated with conversion are experiencing a mighty change in our hearts, having a disposition to do good continually, going forward in the path of duty, walking circumspectly before God, keeping the commandments, and serving with unwearied diligence. Clearly, these faithful souls had become deeply devoted to the Lord and His teachings.” (Converted unto the Lord (General ELDER DAVID A. BEDNAR Conferences October 2012) 

7)You and I are to be valiant and “obedient to Him under all circumstances.” Thus, obedience is the principal weapon upon which the rising generation must rely in the latter-day battle between good and evil.”(President  Boyd K. Packer Guided by the holy spirit General Conferences April 2012)

8)   ” Obedience opens the door to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. And the spiritual gifts and abilities activated by the power of the Holy Ghost enable us to avoid deception—and to see, to feel, to know, to understand, and to remember things as they really are. You and I have been endowed with a greater capacity for obedience precisely for these reasons.”(President  Boyd K. Packer Guided by the holy spirit General Conferences April 2012)

9)  "Obedience is liberty" (L. Tom Perry 2013 April) 

10)“This feeling of accountability, which is encompassed by the first great commandment to love God, has been described by some as “obedience to the unenforceable.” 3 We try to do what is right because we love and want to please our Father in Heaven, not because someone is forcing us to obey.” “We live in perilous times when many believe we are not accountable to God and that we do not have personal responsibility or stewardship for ourselves or others. Many in the world are focused on self-gratification, put themselves first, and love pleasure more than they love righteousness. They do not believe they are their brother’s keeper. In the Church, however, we believe that these stewardships are a sacred trust.” (Elder Quentin L. Cook Stewardship—a Sacred Trust General Conferences October 2010)

11)“ repentance means not only abandoning sin but also committing to obedience.” (D. Todd Christofferson The Divine Gift of Repentance General Conferences October 2010)

12)“We also understand how obedience to the commandments ultimately protects our agency.” (Elder Hales Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life General Conferences October 2010)

 Why does it matter?: Obedience seems to be such a simple term, someone says do it and you do. When it comes to obeying Gods commandments it seems equally as simple, but Satan is there to trip us up on the simple things of the gospel.  When I say simple I mean understandable, not easy. We know what we should do, but accomplishing this goal through the temptations of the world is difficult. I have a testimony though that if we are obedient that God blesses us even more than we can imagine. That when we sacrifice what we think is the best opportunity that we will get something much better. It may not be in the worldly aspect, but it will be in the eternal one.