Wickedness Never was Happiness

Today I read Alma 41, a continuation of Alma's talk with his son Corianton. In this chapter Alma talks more about the judgment and about the type of person his son is. This chapter also contains the line, "wickedness never was happiness".

Yesterday in Stake Conference Elder Bednar said something that reminded me of this chapter. He gave us a measuring stick to determine what our level of conversion to the gospel is. He asked us to examine our lives and to find out if we enjoy living the gospel, or do we find it a burden?

I thought that was really profound and yet really simple. It goes along with what we have talked about before this and really makes you evaluate yourself. It makes you think about what type of friends you hang out with and how you are spending your time. Elder Bednar also made the statement yesterday that the world has nothing to offer, nothing of real value at all.

Nothing about the world brings happiness or even joy, just gratification, another statement Elder Bednar made yesterday. I know it doesn't seem like it, but he really did talk about more than just the type of people we are. Verse 6 contains a really interesting phrase, "desired righteousness". Like we've talked about before in the past it really is all about what type of person we are. And that is really the key I think, what are our desires?

We can change ourselves. The scriptures teach us that this is the time to prepare to meet God, and we can repent and we can change ourselves. The problem is we need to want to change. Some people have been deluded into thinking that they are happy not living the Gospel. That's why it is important to surround ourselves with those that help make it easier to live the Gospel. That's how I knew I wanted to marry my wife. When I was considering whether or not to marry my wife, I was amazed at how easy it was to live the Gospel. That's when I knew that she was the one for me.

As we grow, we have the opportunity to live whatever life we want to live. It is a true test of who we want to be when there is no longer anyone to tell us what to do anymore. I don't believe people when they say they are only doing things to check it out and find out if they want to keep doing it, to see what's it like, what the hype is. People use this excuse all the time to do things they should not be doing, like drink alcohol. There is no reason to drink alcohol to find out what it is all about, all you have to do is watch other people make the mistake. People drink alcohol because they want to, regardless of what they say.

The long and short of it, we are who we choose to be. Just like we will end up where we choose to end up after this life. Our actions will determine where that is, and where ever it is, we will be pleased with it, because we will be surrounded by those people we want to be around. We can make changes and can ask God for help in changing ourselves, because we can't really change ourselves on our own. But with God's help we can change ourselves. All we have to do is ask Him. Until tomorrow.