Jesus Christ is the Son of God: Mormon Messages

I testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and I know that the greatest happiness comes in and through Him. Knowledge of His character is the greatest blessing we can receive. The greatest joy is to share that knowledge with our families.

Seven Principles for Highly Effective Economies

Here are some ideas for strengthening the economy.

First principle: the real goal of the economy is always quality of living. Unemployment rates, productivity measures, wages, goods, and services are all aimed at improving quality of life. The value of money is always measured by how much quality of life it can buy you. So, whenever the government increases the money supply without increasing the goods and services that are available, the money-to-quality-of-life ratio increases, and the value of money decreases.

Second principle: work is the staple of the economy. Work produces everything that improves our quality of life. If work ceases, then the value of money drops. If productivity decreases, then the value of money will as well.

Third principle: the economy is and must be dynamic. It is ever changing. Government bail outs are probably a bad idea, because they slow down that change. As the population size changes, as immigrants move in, as new products, services, and technologies are developed, new businesses and operations will grow and old ones will die off.

Fourth principle: all economic transactions should, ideally, maximize the overall improvement of the quality of life. This happens naturally, because people will not usually agree to a transaction that does not benefit them. Dishonesty slows down and drains the economy because only one party benefits from the transaction, and sometimes their increase of quality of life is less than the harm they caused to somebody else, resulting in an overall drop. Unnecessary debt decreases quality of life, as do unnecessary government spending, wasteful personal spending, and so on.

Fifth principle: poorer people benefit more from the same amount of money rich people do. This does not mean that the government should always intervene. It does mean that richer people funding non-profit organizations, paying for the education of those who are less fortunate, and helping those who cannot help themselves is an economically intelligent decision for the group as a whole. According to the Bible and the revelations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this will also allow those who have more than they need to draw closer to God and avoid hell.

Sixth principle: reasonable volunteer work makes everyone happy. When people have more time than they need, using that extra time to work to benefit others may result in a higher overall quality of living, since the poor generally benefit more from the same goods and services than the rich do, since the rich are already comfortable and have their needs met.

Seventh principle: love is more valuable than anything that money can buy. Therefore, a mother staying home to nurture her children more, or a father turning down a lucrative job that would take him away from his family, are often wiser decisions that will result in a higher quality of life for the family. A lower standard of living, in some cases, can lead to a higher quality of life.

Responsibility and Liberty

Does a Statue of Responsibility impose values on others? Yes. But only values that are necessary for society to function.

Democracy is designed to encourage freedom of religion, speech, belief, and life goals. However, this freedom depends on honesty. It depends on trust. It depends on us respecting each others' rights. Compassion alone does not protect others' rights. We must fulfill our duties: to our families, to our communities, to our country.

Liberty does not, and cannot, mean freedom from the consequences of our actions! If you steal or kill, you are punished. If you are intimate with someone, the girl can get pregnant. If you have children, you have a deep responsibility to take care of them.

Every action has natural consequences. Every choice has responsibilities. It's even true in physics and biology! You reap what you sow. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

If America continues its current route of avoiding responsibility in favor of freedom from consequences, then it will fall apart as surely as the Soviet Union did. We will take out debts with no intention of repaying them. We will have children with no intention of raising them. We will get jobs with no intention of producing the promised goods or services with good quality.

Hence, responsibility is the necessary counterpart for liberty, or the people of the United States of America will never achieve the unity envisioned by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and, I believe, by God.

Selflessness out of Discipline or Selflessness out of Love

Most people who are selfless have a mix of two methods for their selflessness: discipline motivated by an abstract ethical code and love motivated by relationships, particularly a relationship with Christ.

Selflessness is never truly absolute. Why? Because we must obtain for ourselves power, spiritual gifts, and knowledge which we can use for others. It also also right to rejoice, rest, and play. Some of the greatest acts of love consist of simple play.

However, most of our lives and most of our times will be devoted to serving other people if we love God. Therefore, it is useful to inspect where our motivation for this altruism can come from.

The more we are motivated by discipline stemming from an abstract to-do list, set of expectations, or commandments, the quicker we will become weary. Psychologists are researching a new theory called "ego depletion," which states that discipline drains a person's energy and that people only have so much capacity for discipline. This theory at least partially accounts for burning out, cycles of addiction, and general low energy. Of course, service from discipline is better than nothing. However, it is often typified by high stress, either arrogance or discouragement, and perfectionism.

Service from love is typified by joy, satisfaction, and happiness. It also involves more meaningful prayer, greater sincerity, and less self-focus. If a person serves out of love, others will feel it. When others reject their love, they are hurt and disappointed, but they don't feel worthless or discouraged. They keep on trying. I believe that is how the Savior feels about us.

Discipline has its place. It must have taken all the love and all the discipline the Savior possessed to keep going through the pains of hell (D&C 19:15-19). Because He had no lack of love, discipline took its proper place as He kept His vision and His determination.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

The traditional King James Version of these two verses is extreme and has hurt and confused many peoples' understanding of the general role of women:

"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church" (1 Cor. 14:34-35).

Joseph Smith changes the word "speak," in both cases, to "rule," in the Joseph Smith Translation/Inspired Version of the Bible. Also, the Greek word translated as "silence" can also be translated "tranquility" or "peacefulness," according to my Greek lexicon. According to the footnote, the Greek word translated "obedience" should be translated "submissiveness." Finally, my personal interpretation of the word "learn," based on context, is that is applies to Church government--meaning that if the Bishop's wife disagrees with Church or Ward policy, or, for that matter, if any spouse has ideas, counsel, encouragement, or concerns about the way their husband or wife is performing their calling, they should discuss it with their spouse in private.

So, here's my personal (not doctrinal) interpretation of that scripture, with the changes in italics:

"Let your women keep the peace in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to rule; but they are commanded to be submissive, as also saith the law. And if they will learn (or change, understand) any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to rule in the church" (1 Cor. 14:34-35).

Note that this scripture repeatedly uses the phrase "in the church." Not once does it make a comment about the differing roles of father and mother in a family setting. It seems clear to me that, in the formal organization of the Church, men should and will be more prominent than women--not more important, but more prominent. (Since it is Church doctrine that the simplest Sunday School teacher or nursery leader is just as important as the President of the Church, just with a different role, "for without the feet how shall the head be able to stand?) However, in the patriarchal order of the family, husband and wife have equal authority and power. If one gets a revelation concerning the family, the other has the right and responsibility to know whether it is a true revelation.

Gratitude

I was just thinking about the scripture "And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more" (D&C 28:19).

First of all, that's both a difficult commandment to keep and a blessing that certainly attracts the eye of anyone who either (a) has trouble supporting themselves, (b) wants money for its own sake, or (c) wants to use money, directly or to free up personal time for service, for the benefit of others.

It just occurred to me that this promise could apply to blessings of talents, spiritual gifts, or Christlike virtues. If we, by the grace of Christ, develop a new ability, we can respond in several ways. If we respond with gratitude to these blessings, then we will continue to receive until we have received a hundred times what we started with and beyond. If we respond with pride, thinking that our virtues lend us some sort of superiority or independence from God, then we will fall.

Gratitude leads to humility. We are reminded that although we may have gained something through effort, it was through a combination of effort and grace. Merit and entitlement have no place in our growth from grace to grace (D&C 93).