2. Be confident about and live your beliefs.

In our personal lives, we should avoid the sometimes evil and destructive pursuits of the world—especially when they are contrary to the gospel standards. We should not be caught up in the current trends of society when they are not in harmony with revealed truth.

A derogatory comment occasionally made about members of the Church is: "They are like sheep waiting to be told what to do by their leaders. Why can't they think for themselves?" While this comment may sound plausible on its face, the truth is that faithful Latter-day Saints, in a thoughtful and prayerful manner, study the doctrines and principles in the scriptures and in the counsel from living prophets and then seek to receive a confirming witness from the Holy Ghost. They don't have to make every heartbreaking mistake in life. They know what is right and what is wrong. They don't have to decide over and over again how they will live. They can benefit from the life experiences of all those generations that have preceded them and from instructions from our Father in Heaven and His anointed servants. They can turn away from temptation.

We inevitably must make choices. If we know the doctrines and principles of the gospel, we can make wise decisions. If our lives are pure, the Spirit will guide us. Then we will be able to symbolically pitch our tents toward the temple (see Genesis 13:18) and the covenants we have made to the Lord, and we will be in the world and not of the world.

We must do as Abraham did when he pitched his tent and built "an altar unto the Lord," and not do as Lot did when he "pitched his tent toward Sodom."

If our lives are pure, the Spirit will guide us. Then we will be able to symbolically pitch our tents toward the temple and the covenants we have made to the Lord.

Notes

1.

Gordon B. Hinckley, "Living in the Fulness of Times," Ensign, Nov. 2001, 6.

2.

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (1997), 196.

3.

Spencer W. Kimball, "The Gospel Vision of the Arts," Ensign, July 1977, 5.