The Gift of Agency

I did something that I shouldn't have done.  I know better than to read the comments on articles of a certain newspaper.  But I did just that.  It doesn't matter what the subject of the article is, the comments inevitably turn to the church-- derogatory, persecutory, and even blasphemous comments.  There are a lot of bitter, angry people out there.

The comments, in and of themselves, are not upsetting.  Although that seems to be the intent of the author.  Generally, the comments are so out in left field that they would be comical if it weren't so sad.  What upsets me about the comments is knowing how lost my fellow man can get by misusing his agency. Bad choices leading to more bad choices.

That got me thinking about agency.  Well, let me back up.  I'll get a little more specific.  The particular comments I read today were basically people talking about how wonderful it is to break the Lord's commandments.  Specifically the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy.  And then they were talking about all ways they "worship".  Instead of going to church, they go shopping or golfing or skiing or any number of recreational activities.

This is a sore spot with me because there are those of us who want more than anything to go and worship the Lord in his house on Sundays.  But for myriad reasons can't.  And then there are these flippant apostates and nonbelievers who have nothing better to do than make fun of those who want to do what's right.  All the while flaunting their sinful lifestyle.

So I started thinking about agency.  Agency -- our God-given gift of being able to choose for ourselves -- is central to our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness.  In fact, agency is so central to our eternal progression that it is the one thing that Satan tried to take from us in our pre-mortal existence.

In our pre-mortal existence, Heavenly Father presented His plan to us.  Wherein we would come to earth to receive a physical body, make choices between good and evil, and progress towards Eternal Life with Him and become like Him.

"Our agency—our ability to choose and act for ourselves—was an essential element of this plan. Without agency we would be unable to make right choices and progress. Yet with agency we could make wrong choices, commit sin, and lose the opportunity to be with Heavenly Father again. For this reason a Savior would be provided to suffer for our sins and redeem us if we would repent. By His infinite Atonement, He brought about “the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice.”" ¹

Satan rebelled and presented his own plan. Satan's plan was to "redeem all mankind" (Moses 4:1).  But doing so would have denied us our agency. Therefore his plan was rejected by our Father in Heaven.

Moses 4:3-4:

3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;

4 And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.

Ironically, a third of our brothers and sisters used their agency to lose their agency.

"Because of Lucifer’s rebellion, a great spiritual conflict ensued. Each of Heavenly Father’s children had the opportunity to exercise the agency Heavenly Father had given him or her. We chose to have faith in the Savior Jesus Christ—to come unto Him, follow Him, and accept the plan Heavenly Father presented for our sakes. But a third of Heavenly Father’s children did not have faith to follow the Savior and chose to follow Lucifer, or Satan, instead." ¹

In another bit of irony, all of us here on earth chose to follow our Savior Jesus Christ.  Yet, using their God-given agency, many of those who chose to follow the Savior, now surrender their agency by turning away from the Savior and allowing Satan to deceive them.

Many people, because of the misuse of their agency in making wrong choices, lose their ability to act for themselves.  They have allowed Satan to deceive them, and now blindly follow the father of all lies as they are "led captive at his will".

"Those who followed Satan lost the opportunity to receive a mortal body, live on earth, and progress. Because of the way they used their agency, they lost their agency.

"Today the only power Satan and his followers have is the power to tempt and try us. Their only joy is to make us “miserable like unto [themselves].” Their only happiness comes when we are disobedient to the Lord’s commandments."  ¹

 I just feel that our agency is such a magnificent gift from our Heavenly Father.  I find it so ironic that so many people use their agency to lose their agency.

I feel so sad for those who choose to exercise their agency by turning away from the Savior.  Thereby losing the opportunity to progress here in mortality and for eternity.  We have such a short journey here on earth to prove ourselves and to progress toward eternal life. It is imperative that we use our agency wisely.

"But think of it: in our premortal state we chose to follow the Savior Jesus Christ! And because we did, we were allowed to come to earth.  I testify that by making the same choice to follow the Savior now, while we are here on earth, we will obtain an even greater blessing in the eternities. But let it be known: we must continue to choose to follow the Savior. Eternity is at stake, and our wise use of agency and our actions are essential that we might have eternal life."  ¹

As we exercise our agency to follow the Savior, we are blessed in many ways including full use of our agency to continue on the path of progression.  When we exercise our agency to not keep the commandments, our spiritual progression slows or stops.

"Whenever we choose to come unto Christ, take His name upon us, and follow His servants, we progress along the path to eternal life.

"In our mortal journey, it is helpful to remember that the opposite is also true: when we don’t keep the commandments or follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, our opportunities are reduced; our abilities to act and progress are diminished. When Cain took his brother’s life because he loved Satan more than God, his spiritual progress was stopped."  ¹

 A good example of how using our agency to disobey God's commandments leads to loss of agency is addiction.  Those who choose to break the Lord's law of health, for example, often times become addicted to those substances the Lord has commanded us to refrain from using.  Thereby becoming slaves to their addiction and losing their agency.  Alcoholics and drug addicts come to mind. How pathetic to live your life enslaved to a chemical substance.

Another example is sex addiction. By breaking the law of chastity, many people lose their agency by becoming sex addicts.  Just look at the recent news stories of all the famous people being exposed as sexual predators.  Sex addiction is one of Satan's greatest tools to cause misery because it not only destroys individuals but often times entire families.

It truly is ironic how Satan convinces people that by disobeying commandments, they are "thinking for themselves" and are "free" from restrictions.  When the reality is, by disobeying the Lord's commandments, they are doing just the opposite.  By disobeying the Lord's commandments, people lose their agency.  They lose the ability to think for themselves and are slaves to Satan and his philosophies.

"The world teaches many falsehoods about agency. Many think we should “eat, drink, and be merry; … and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved." (2 Nephi 28:8)  Others embrace secularism and deny God. They convince themselves that there is no “opposition in all things”(2 Nephi 2:11) and, therefore, “whatsoever a man [does is] no crime.”(Alma 30:17) This “destroy[s] the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes.” (2 Nephi 2:12)

"Contrary to the world’s secular teaching, the scriptures teach us that we do have agency, and our righteous exercise of agency always makes a difference in the opportunities we have and our ability to act upon them and progress eternally."  ¹

The very thing that Satan tried to take from us in the pre-mortal existence -- our agency -- is the very thing he tries to take from us now.  Satan teaches the philosophy -- and convinces many -- that there is no right and wrong, there is no good and evil, do whatever you want, there is no sin.  In essence, there is no agency.  By stripping people of their agency, Satan also strips them of eternal progression, Eternal Life.  Without agency there is no progression.

 To my comment happy friends, and all those who deny Christ and persecute those who follow Him, there is still hope.  Thanks to the very being whom you deny, and His infinite atonement, you can come back! If you are captive because of unrighteous use of agency, through Christ's atonement and the miracle of forgiveness, you can come back!  All is not lost.  It may be a rocky and steep road back but it is certainly worth it!

Agency is a magnificent and precious gift given to us by our loving Heavenly Father.  Agency is central to our journey through mortality.  By choosing to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, and by wisely using our agency, we are given countless opportunities to act righteously and progress toward eternal life with our Heavenly Father.

I echo the words of the prophet Jacob, "O be wise; what can I say more?"  (Jacob 6:12). May we all be wise as we exercise our agency.  Let us not use our agency to lose our agency. 

Life is too short and too precious to squander by misusing our God-given agency.

That's my two cents.

Reference:
1 -- "Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life", Elder Robert D. Hales, October 2010