Always Aligning His Will AND Behavior

Yet down through history many have simplified, even trivialized our image of Him and His witness of who He was. They have reduced His righteousness to mere prudishness, His justice to mere anger, His mercy to mere permissiveness. We must not be guilty of such simplistic versions of Him that conveniently ignore teachings we find uncomfortable. This “dumbing down” has been true even regarding His ultimate defining virtue, His love....The second characteristic of Jesus’s divine charity was His obedience to every word that proceeded from God’s mouth, always aligning His will and behavior with that of His Heavenly Father.

I Am He, Jeffrey R. Holland,  October 2024 General Conference

When [an individual] is motivated by great and powerful convictions of truth, then he disciplines himself, not because of demands made by the Church but because of the knowledge within his heart

President Hinckley said it this way: “When [an individual] is motivated by great and powerful convictions of truth, then he disciplines himself, not because of demands made by the Church but because of the knowledge within his heart.”⁵

 It’s True, Isn’t It? Then What Else Matters?

April 2007

General Conference

Neil L. Andersen

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2007/04/its-true-isn-t-it-then-what-else-matters?lang=eng&verse=#p

Don’t answer a behavioral question with a behavioral answer. It is much better to give an answer based upon a principle, or even better, with a doctrinal answer

 President Russell M. Nelson gave this wise counsel: “Don’t answer a behavioral question with a behavioral answer. It is much better to give an answer based upon a principle, or even better, with a doctrinal answer, if you can.” 

The Church News, August 3, 2020 Tad R Callister, Principles versus rules

Do or Be It Anyway

May I share with you some words of wisdom that were found on the wall of an orphanage in Calcutta, India: “If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God … anyway.”

For Him

October 2018

General Conference

Joy D. Jones

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/10/for-him?lang=eng&verse=#p

Genuine Discipleship Is a State of Being

Many people hear the word disciple and think it means only “follower.” But genuine discipleship is a state of being. This suggests more than studying and applying a list of individual attributes. Disciples live so that the characteristics of Christ are woven into the fiber of their beings, as into a spiritual tapestry....

We measure our faith by what it leads us to do—by our obedience. 


Becoming a Disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, Robert D. Hales, April 2017 General Conference

Understand Doctrine Is Understanding the Why of Obdience

President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015), President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, frequently taught: “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.”...we underst[and] doctrine, we underst[and] the “why” of obedience, not simply the “what” and “how.”

The Power of Teaching Doctrine, Douglas D. Holmes, Ensign March 2017