As he threw away his beggar’s coat, he got rid of all excuses.

 As he threw away his beggar’s coat, he got rid of all excuses.

And this is a second principle: we keep a clear spiritual vision when we leave the natural man behind, repent, and begin a new life in Christ.

The way to do it is by making and keeping covenants to rise to a better life through Jesus Christ.

As long as we make excuses to feel sorry for ourselves, sorry for our circumstances and problems, and sorry for all the bad things happening in our lives and even all the bad people who we think make us unhappy, we keep the beggar’s coat on our shoulders. It is true that at times people, consciously or not, hurt us. But we need to decide to act with faith in Christ by removing the mental and emotional coat that we might still wear to hide excuses or sin and throw it away, knowing that He can and will heal us.

There is never a good excuse to say, “I am the way I am because of some unfortunate and unpleasant circumstances. And I cannot change, and I am justified.”

When we think that way, we decide to be acted upon.

We keep the beggar’s coat.

Acting in faith means to rely on our Savior, believing that through His Atonement, we can rise above everything at His command.

Rise! He Calleth Thee

April 2024

Massimo De Feo

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/04/22de-feo?lang=eng&verse=#p

To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.

When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.

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 believe that someone or something can make us feel offended, angry, hurt, or bitter diminishes our moral agency and transforms us into objects to be acted upon. As agents, however, you and I have the power to act and to choose how we will respond to an offensive or hurtful situation.

 David A. Bednar, And Nothing Shall Offend Them, October 2006 General Conference