Gospel topic
Obedience: Selective
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Gospel Obedience
President James E. Faust
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Now is the time to obey
Elder Robert D. Hales
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Gospel Obedience (2)
Elder Robert D. Hales
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Of the Seventy
Elder Jörg Klebingat
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In the Savior’s day, there were many who claimed to be righteous in one or another aspect of their lives. They practiced what I have called selective obedience. For example, they kept the commandment to refrain from work on the Sabbath yet criticized the Savior for healing on that holy day. They gave alms to the poor but offered only their excess—what they did not need for themselves. They fasted but only with long faces. They prayed but only to be seen of men. Jesus said, “They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Such men and women may focus on mastering a specific attribute or action but do not necessarily become as He is in their hearts. Of these, Jesus declared: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” The attributes of the Savior, as we perceive them, are not a script to be followed or list to be checked off. They are interwoven characteristics, added one to another, which develop in us in interactive ways. In other words, we cannot obtain one Christlike characteristic without also obtaining and influencing others. As one characteristic becomes strong, so do many more.
Elder Robert D. Hales
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