Monday, March 9, 2009

Motivational Monday - Self Reliant and Independent


“The Savior has commanded the Church and its members to be self-reliant and independent. …

“To become self-reliant, a person must work. Work is physical, mental, or spiritual effort. It is a basic source of happiness, self-worth, and prosperity. Through work, people accomplish many good things in their lives. …

“As people become self-reliant, they are better prepared to endure adversities” and are “better able to care for others in need.”

President Marion G. Romney (1897–1988) taught: “Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak.”

President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) said: “The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”

William George Jordan put it this way: “The world is busy with its own cares, sorrows and joys, and pays little heed to you. There is but one great pass-word to success,—self-reliance.”

From my experience, I believe that a few simple but very important principles can help prepare us to become more self-reliant.

Find Answers through the Spirit

First, every person must know that he or she is a child of God and is loved by Him. People need to realize that regardless of their circumstances, as desperate as those may be, they are entitled to the Light of Christ in their lives.

From Moroni we learn, “The Spirit of Christ is given to every man” (Moroni 7:16). The promise is that every son and daughter of God can find, through the Spirit, answers to the challenges in their lives, including how to become more self-reliant. We must, therefore, ever keep in our minds how precious each child of God is and how important our service is to each one of them.

We become more self-reliant in some ways as we recognize our dependence on Him from whom all good things come. This is the spirit noted in Alma 34:27, in which we are counseled to cry unto the Lord over our homes, our families, and our work. “Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be … drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.”

At the root of self-reliance are the dignity and importance of seeing ourselves as children of God regardless of circumstance, culture, or location.

M. Russell Ballard, “Becoming Self-Reliant—Spiritually and Physically,” Ensign, Mar 2009, 50–55

4 comments:

CB said...

I love this post because I do think it is very important to be self reliant. I cheer for those who are and I have a problem with those who aren't.
I could really do a rant here but one of my big beefs in life are people who won't do for themselves and expect things of others when they are perfectly capable.
This is a great message and I love at the end that you bring out how self reliance brings dignity - it truly does :D

Autumn said...

I haven't been on forever but how did you get the twilght slideshow on your blog that is sooooooo awesome!

Small House said...

I like this post. I've enjoyed the quotes and I'm going to add a few to my scriptures.

I think it's good to remember, that when we choose to not be self reliant, it hurts us spiritually. Sometimes that's forgotten.

THANKS!
Sandra

TLC said...

Cherie said it exactly how I feel too. All my life I've been miss independent and self reliant. So now, as I look at my younger cousins not wanting to do a darn thing, I could just pull their hair out!

I loved reading all the prophets quotes. I just heart your motivational monday!

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