Thus, we must refrain from making final judgments on people, because we lack the knowledge and the wisdom to do so. Many of our challenges are different from those faced by former pioneers but perhaps just as dangerous and surely as significant to our own salvation and the salvation of those who follow us. Similarly, with our children and others we have a duty to teachsuch as in our Church callingsour duty to truth is paramount. I testify of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the vineyard. Apostles have the calling and ordination to be special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world (see D&C 107:23), but the duty to witness and testify of Christ at all times and in all places applies to every member of the Church who has received the testimony of the Holy Ghost. In earlier times the Savior had declared, I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Sorrow that the eye cant see. You know what is right and what is wrong, and no disguise, however appealing, can change that. I have spoken to you as one of those watchmen on the subject the Spirit has assigned me. A final ingredient or principle of a righteous judgment is that it will apply righteous standards. 8, 11). We discuss the talks given by President Dallin H. Oaks and Hugo Montoya about service and love and wish you all a wonderful Christmas this year!Music acknowledgementsMusic: In Dulci Jubilo by J.S. The Savior also commanded individuals to be judges, both of circumstances and of other people. A testimony of the gospel is not a travelogue, a health log, or an expression of love for family members. All rights reserved. I will speak first of the final judgment. Iassure you that my message is true. Did Herod the Great Claim to Be the Messiah? Even He refrained from a final mortal judgment of the woman taken in adultery. If a person you have trusted with your property has been indicted for embezzlement, would you continue to leave him in charge of your life savings? The Law of Timing (#19) The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Top 40 Quotes from The Coddling of the American Mind, Best 70 Quotes from Beyond Order by Jordan Peterson, The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek: Videos and 10 Great Quotes. . President Dallin H. Oaks speaks at the 192nd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 2-3, 2022.President Oaks t. I dont need to entertain thoughts of revenge. He is a native of Provo, Utah (born . This Christmas, as with every Christmas, we focus on loving one another just as our Savior loved us. For example, an atheist has no need to decide what kinds and occasions of profanity or blasphemy can be tolerated and what kinds should be confronted. In any event, as defenders of the faith, believers can and must seek laws that will preserve religious freedom. How can I keep my covenant to stand as a witness and not offend these people?13. Yet we dare to judge our fellow man by single acts and words, misleading glimpses, and deceptive moments of special strain. Persuaded by this philosophy, many of the rising generationyouth and young adultsare caught up in self-serving pleasures, pagan painting and piercing of body parts, foul language, revealing attire, pornography, dishonesty, and degrading sexual indulgence. First,when believers in Jesus Christ take their views of truth into the public square, they must seek the inspiration of the Lord to be selective and wise in choosing which true principles they seek to promote by law or executive action. President Oaks asks BYU: How are we measuring up to President Kimballs 1975 call to be unique, special? The gospel is a gospel of hope, and none of us is authorized to deny the power of the Atonement to bring about a cleansing of individual sins, forgiveness, and a reformation of life on appropriate conditions. And we must also acquire the discretion that God exercises in being able to look into futurity, and to ascertain and know the results of our acts away in the future, even in eternity, before we will be capable of judging. May we grow in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom I testify, as our Redeemer, our Creator, and our Savior. When I was a young adult, about sixty years ago, it was only in books and magazines that most Americans were exposed to great differences in cultures, values, and peoples. I am listing below all President Dallin H. Oaks talks, not just those that he gave when he was as a General Authority of the Church, but also those given by him before, with the links to the text, video, or audio available. I may need to do something. That wise answer illustrates my point about stewardship in judging. We frequently update our Latter-day Saint history content related to Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, the Book of Mormon, and Come Follow Me 2023. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives. Whether or how we might seek to obtain laws that would compel or influence behavior that we deem desirable because of our belief in God and His commandments is too large a subject for adequate treatment in the concluding few minutes of my talk. And we must all oppose violence and thievery. A loving Heavenly Father gives us those feelings to impel us to help His children. Legal experts, including a former federal judge and a former Utah Supreme Court justice, examine the General Conference talk by Latter-day Saint apostle Dallin H. Oaks on the U.S. Constituiton. We must work harder to build mutual respect, an attitude of forbearance, with tolerance one for another regardless of the doctrines and philosophies which we may espouse.8, Note that President Hinckley spoke of mutual respect as well as tolerance. All efforts begin with desire. On Sabbath observance, Latter-day Saints know that we are taught to observe the Sabbath day in a different way than many other Christians. This belief system can tolerate almost any behavior and almost any persons. How can we have the Spirit of the Lord to guide our choices? The theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints centers on the family. We call this quality of life spirituality. 3740]. Second,when believers seek to promote their positions in the public square, their methods and their advocacy should always be tolerant of the opinions and positions of others who do not share their beliefs. From time to time some diligent defenders deny this reality, such as the writer of a letter to the editor who insisted that certain publicly reported conduct should be ignored because in this country you are innocent until you are proven guilty. The presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law is a vital rule to guide the conduct of a criminal trial, but it is not a valid restraint on personal decisions. . We are to beinthe world, but notofthe world. . As the Book of Mormon teaches: All things which are good cometh of God. When we understand our relationship to God, we also understand our relationship to one another. That approach to differences will yield tolerance and also respect. The scriptures give a specific caution against judging where we cannot know all the facts. Profanity, cohabitation, and Sabbath breakingexcellent examples to illustrate how Latter-day Saints might balance their competing duties to truth and tolerance in their own lives in these difficult circumstances. that ye do not judge . The character of transgression remains the same. That is athirdabsolute truth: We do not abandon the truth and our covenants. Dallin H. Oaks. It is a very unstable virtue.12. 2022. that which is good and of God to be of the devil. Here I remember a conversation with an LDS newspaperwoman who described what happened when she reported that the Prophet Joseph Smith received the golden plates in 1826a mistake of one year from the actual date of 1827. As was wisely taught in a BYU devotional, The Lord does not grade on a curve. He will judge us in terms of qualities, not quotas (in Janet G. Lee, The Lord Doesnt Grade on a Curve,BYU 199495 Devotional and Fireside Speeches[Provo: Brigham Young University, 1995], pp. [William George Jordan, Sitting in the Seat of Judgment,The Crown of Individuality(New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1909), pp. . In all of this we should not presume to judge our neighbors or associates on the ultimate effect of their behaviors. The most fundamental principle is contained in the Saviors commandment that we judge not unrighteously . Her 1986 memoir, Goodbye, I Love You, is considered a landmark in discussions of homosexuality and Mormonism. During his mortal ministry the Savior made and acted upon many intermediate judgments, such as when he told the Samaritan woman of her sinful life (see John 4:1719); when he rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy (see Matthew 15:19, 23:133); and when he commented on the comparative merit of the rich mens offerings and the widows mites (see Mark 12:4144). The Lord obviously did not justify the womans sin. What does this scripture mean for our day and how can it be applied by Latter-day Saints? Subscribe To Our Newsletter. [Teachings,p. 218]. As a student of the scriptures and as a former judge, I have had a special interest in the many scriptures that refer to judging. (See D&C 20:77.) After the class, one of them came to me and apologized that she hadnt explained to me before class that her friend was deaf. I just reread it and appreciate the good counsel he gave. He talked about "good, better and best " choices. . The kingdom of God is like a leaven, Jesus taught (see Matthew 13:33). There is one qualification to this principle that we should not judge people without an adequate knowledge of the facts. The Lord did not go into the kitchen and tell Martha to stop cooking and come listen. Do not be deceived; behind that faade is heartache, unhappiness, and pain. The philosophy of moral relativism, which holds that each person is free to choose for himself what is right and wrong, is becoming the unofficial creed for many in America and other Western nations. The parents have insisted that he not smoke in their home or in front of his younger siblings. See Heidi S. Swinton,To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), especially chapters 25 and 28 and pages 46263. 11:1011). : but judge righteous judgment (JST, Matthew 7:12; see also John 7:24, Alma 41:14). by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. If you have doubts about this, or if you have questions about how to apply these principles in your own life, I urge you to seek guidance from the same source. Elder Dieter F. Ucthdorf back in 2017 said, I do not need to destroy myself with anger and hate. The best known of these is Judge not, that ye be not judged (3 Nephi 14:1, Matthew 7:1). Each of us is part of a great family, the human family, sons and daughters of God, and therefore brothers and sisters. Because He loves us, He challenges us to focus on Him instead of the things of this mortal world. As we draw farther from worldliness, we feel closer to our Father in Heaven and more able to be guided by his Spirit. I am a survivor of childhood physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. I have found that observance of the Sabbath is almost obsolete. . . About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. President Oaks and his late wife, Sister June Dixon Oaks, are the parents of six children. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Law of E. F. Hutton (#5). We make better choices and decisions if we look at the alternatives and ponder where they will lead. He simply told her that he did not condemn herthat is, he would not pass final judgment on her at that time. It is important to remember that the illumination and revelation that come to an individual as a result of the gift of the Holy Ghost do not come suddenly or without seeking. The guilty parties were not hard to spot because they continued whispering all through the class. Surely Latter-day Saints do need to be more wise and skillful in explaining and pursuing our views and in exercising our influence when we have it. In this context the wordcondemnapparently refers to the final judgment (see John 3:17). deaton funeral home, red bay, al obituaries. In subsequent portions of her talk, Professor Parry observed that in this instanceand also in the example of Simon the Pharisee, who criticized the woman who anointed the feet of the Savior (see Luke 7:3650)the Savior took one individuals judgment of another individual as a standard and applied that judgment back upon the individual who was judging. While there are many things we must make judgments about, the sins of another or the state of our own souls in comparison to others seems not to be among them. The doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance. A Relief Society worker visiting a sister in her ward asked whether the womans married children ever visited her. . By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Two hypotheticals illustrate this principle: 1. We should limit our judgments to our own stewardships. We should all be edified and strengthened by this example of speaking both tolerance and truth: kindness in the communication, but firmness in the truth. 15. Eric Rassbach, quoted in William McGurn, Religion and the Cult of Tolerance,The Wall Street Journal,16 August 2011, A11. Josephs candor about his shortcomings is evident in the fact that one of the first revelations he recorded in writing and published to the world was a crushing rebuke he received from the Lord. It is significant that when we partake of the sacrament we do not witness that we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. . 9. But rather, a plea for unity and cooperation on strategy and advocacy toward our common goal of religious liberty for all.. Commandments mark the path and show us the way to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. That is a wise judgment of a situation, not a person. I left last weekend's LDS General Conference inspired and uplifted. He was president of Brigham Young University from 1971 to 1980, and a justice of the Utah Supreme Court from 1980 until his resignation in 1984 to accept his calling to the apostleship. That's definitely what we want. As the Apostle Paul taught, Christians should follow after the things which make for peace (Romans 14:19) and, as much as possible, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18). Alsosee other collected talk by Church Leaders.
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