Inspirational Quotes: Race and the Church

“Repenting means giving up all of our practices—personal, family, ethnic, and national—that are contrary to the commandments of God.” Dallin H. Oaks, Repentance and Change, General Conference, October 2003.

“Appreciation for ethnic, cultural, or national heritage can be very wholesome and beneficial, but it can also perpetuate patterns of life that should be set aside by a devoted Latter-day Saint.” Richard G. Scott, Removing Barriers of Happiness, General Conference, April 1998.

The Book of Mormon teaches that our Savior “inviteth [all the children of men] to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile” (2 Ne. 26:33; see also Alma 5:49).

“He inviteth them all.” We understand “male and female.” We also understand “black and white,” which means all races.” Dallin H. Oaks, All Men Everywhere, April General Conference, 2003.

 

Inspirational Quotes: Agency

"We know there is a great purpose in Christ’s suffering because this was an act of free agency. Jesus could have called upon legions of angels to bring Him down from the cross, but He did not."
Robert D Hales, Lessons from the Atonement That Help Us to Endure to the End, General Conference, October 1985.

“Agency used righteously allows light to dispel the darkness and enables us to live with joy and happiness.” Robert D. Hales, To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency, April, 2006.

“We teach that agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and “to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon.” Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions. Our agency is essential to the plan of salvation. With it we are “free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil.” Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, General Conference, October 2010.

“Those who talk of blind obedience may appear to know many things, but they do not understand the doctrines of the gospel. There is an obedience that comes from a knowledge of the truth that transcends any external form of control. We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see. The best control, I repeat, is self-control.” Boyd K. Packer, Agency and Control, General Conference, April 1983.

“Men and women receive their agency as a gift from God, but their liberty and, in turn, their eternal happiness come from obedience to His laws.” L. Tom Perry, Obedience to Law is Liberty, General Conference, April 2013.

“Moral discipline is the consistent exercise of agency to choose the right because it is right, even when it is hard.” D. Todd Christofferson, Moral Discipline, General Conference, October 2009.

“You may be tired of others trying to run your life—always telling you what to do. After all, you have the right to make your own choices. That is correct. You have that right. It is your agency. The secret to solve problems in your life will be found in understanding and using the eternally beneficial interaction of your agency and His truth.” Richard G. Scott, Healing your Damaged Life, General Conference, October 1992.

“Agency is a divine gift to you. You are free to choose what you will be and what you will do. And you are not without help. Counsel with your parents is a privilege at any age. Prayer provides communication with your Heavenly Father and invites the promptings of personal revelation. And in certain circumstances, consultation with professional advisers and with your local leaders in the Church may be highly advisable, especially when very difficult decisions must be made.” Russell M Nelson, Choices, General Conference, October 1990.

“In the grand division of all of God’s creations, there are things to act and things to be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:13–14). As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of moral agency, the capacity for independent action and choice. Endowed with agency, you and I are agents, and we primarily are to act and not just be acted upon. To” David A. Bednar, And Nothing Shall Offend Them, General Conference, October 2006.

“Do we have a guide to help us choose the right and avoid dangerous detours? Positioned on the wall of my office, directly opposite my desk, is a lovely print of the Savior, painted by Heinrich Hofmann. I love the painting, which I have had since I was a 22-year-old bishop and which I have taken with me wherever I have been assigned to labor. I have tried to pattern my life after the Master. Whenever I have a difficult decision to make, I have looked at that picture and asked myself, “What would He do?” Then I try to do it. We can never go wrong when we choose to follow the Savior.” Thomas S. Monson, Choose You This Day, General Conference, October 2004.

“Korihor was arguing, as men and women have falsely argued from the beginning of time, that to take counsel from the servants of God is to surrender God-given rights of independence. But the argument is false because it misrepresents reality. When we reject the counsel which comes from God, we do not choose to be independent of outside influence. We choose another influence. We reject the protection of a perfectly loving, all-powerful, all-knowing Father in Heaven, whose whole purpose, as that of His Beloved Son, is to give us eternal life, to give us all that He has, and to bring us home again in families to the arms of His love. In rejecting His counsel, we choose the influence of another power, whose purpose is to make us miserable and whose motive is hatred. We have moral agency as a gift of God. Rather than the right to choose to be free of influence, it is the inalienable right to submit ourselves to whichever of those powers we choose.” Henry B. Erying, Finding Safety in Council, General Conference, April 1997.

 

Inspirational Quotes: Atonement

"Paul said, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” ¹⁴ The Atonement of Jesus Christ became the immortal creation. He volunteered to answer the ends of a law previously transgressed. ¹⁵ And by the shedding of His blood, His ¹⁶ and our physical bodies could become perfected. They could again function without blood, just as Adam’s and Eve’s did in their paradisiacal form. Paul taught that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; … this mortal must put on immortality.” ^{17    
Russel M. Nelson, The Atonement, October 1996 General Conference} 

"I weep for joy when I contemplate the significance of it all. To be redeemed is to be atoned—received in the close embrace of God with an expression not only of His forgiveness, but of our oneness of heart and mind. What a privilege! And what a comfort to those of us with loved ones who have already passed from our family circle through the gateway we call death!" Russel M. Nelson, The Atonement, October 1996 General Conference.

"By this infinite sacrifice, through this atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel." Boyd K. Packer, Atonement, Agency, Accountability, April 1988 General Conference.

"In the Book of Mormon the word atone in form and tense appears fifty-five times. I quote but one verse from Alma: “And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also” (Alma 42:15; italics added)." Boyd K. Packer, Atonement, Agency, Accountability, April 1988 General Conference.

"There is no greater expression of love than the heroic Atonement performed by the Son of God. Were it not for the plan of our Heavenly Father, established before the world began, in a very real sense, all mankind—past, present, and future—would have been left without the hope of eternal progression. As a result of Adam’s transgression, mortals were separated from God (see Rom. 6:23) and would be forever unless a way was found to break the bands of death. This would not be easy, for it required the vicarious sacrifice of one who was sinless and who could therefore take upon Himself the sins of all mankind." M. Russell Ballard, The Atonement and the Value of One Soul, April 2004 General Conference

"The Atonement of Jesus Christ was an indispensable part of our Heavenly Father’s plan for His Son’s earthly mission and for our salvation. How grateful we should be that our Heavenly Father did not intercede but rather withheld His fatherly instinct to rescue His Beloved Son. Because of His eternal love for you and for me, He allowed Jesus to complete His foreordained mission to become our Redeemer. The gift of resurrection and immortality is given freely through the loving grace of Jesus Christ to all people of all ages, regardless of their good or evil acts. And to those who choose to love the Lord and who show their love and faith in Him by keeping His commandments and qualifying for the full blessings of the Atonement, He offers the additional promise of exaltation and eternal life, which is the blessing of living in the presence of God and His Beloved Son forever...

Brothers and sisters, I believe that if we could truly understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how precious is one son or daughter of God. I believe our Heavenly Father’s everlasting purpose for His children is generally achieved by the small and simple things we do for one another. At the heart of the English word atonement is the word one. If all mankind understood this, there would never be anyone with whom we would not be concerned, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, or social or economic standing. We would strive to emulate the Savior and would never be unkind, indifferent, disrespectful, or insensitive to others." M. Russell Ballard, The Atonement and the Value of One Soul, April 2004 General Conference

“Our understanding of and faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ will provide strength and capacity needed for a successful life.” Richard G Scott, He Lives! All Glory to His Name, General Conference April, 2010. 

“What eternal purpose would our Father’s plan of happiness have had except it be made alive through the infinite and eternal Atonement of His gloriously obedient Son? “Richard G Scott, He Lives! All Glory to His Name, General Conference April, 2010. 

“We know there is a great purpose in Christ’s suffering because this was an act of free agency. Jesus could have called upon legions of angels to bring Him down from the cross, but He did not. He endured to the end that we would have the benefits of the atoning sacrifice; that mercy could be brought into the world; that justice would be satisfied; that we might be resurrected; and that we might be able to earn, through our obedience, eternal life in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ.” Robert D Hales, Lessons from the Atonement That Help Us to Endure to the End, General Conference, October 1985.

“The gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ provides us at all times and at all places with the blessings of repentance and forgiveness.” Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Points of Safe Return, General Conference, April, 2007.

“Protection against the influence of the devil comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the good news that Jesus Christ has made a perfect Atonement for mankind. It is the message of love, hope, and mercy that there is a reconciliation of man with God.” Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Points of Safe Return, General Conference, April, 2007.

“The Messiah’s atoning sacrifice is the central message of the prophets of all ages. It was prefigured by the animal sacrifices prescribed by the law of Moses, whose whole meaning, one prophet explained, “point[ed] to that great and last sacrifice [of] … the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.” (Alma 34:14.)” Dallin H. Oaks, What Ye Think of Christ, General Conference, October, 1988.

“By identifying our ancestors and performing for them the saving ordinances they could not themselves perform, we are testifying of the infinite reach of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.” D. Christofferson, The Redemption of the Dead and the Testimony of Jesus, General Conference, October, 2000.