Be Willing to Sacrifice Yourself For a Good Cause

 Elder Bednar gave a talk at BYU Idaho about 20 years ago, right around the time the temple was being built. He said that the only other places where a temple was built so close were the MTC’s. So, in other words, BYU Idaho was a Disciple Preparation Center – where we learn how to become better disciples of Christ. “A disciple of Christ is a follower of Jesus who learns of and from Him and lives according to His teachings.” I have been trying to separate voices of the world from the voice of Jesus Christ, and lately I’ve been hearing or reading things like this to remind me that nothing can replace learning directly from Jesus. Pres Nelson at a Canada church devotional said that he would receive many scientific journals, and he would look through them quickly to see if they supported gospel doctrine and if they didn’t, he would throw them out. But if it did, then he would read it. That hit me, because I have been following some groups on Facebook that don’t necessarily lead back to Christ. So, I left those groups and decided that I needed to read the Ensign instead. Now with the reading from this week’s lesson at school, it just confirms what I have been feeling.

Also in this week’s lesson, we watched a video from Jim Ritchie, and he quoted from a book about from Good to Great. Why be good when you can be great? Being a great leader is being willing to sacrifice yourself for a good cause. He told the story of Captain Moroni and the title of Liberty and how he was a great leader and rallied his people to a good cause. They went on to win a battle that seemed doomed from the beginning. He also said that leaders cause things to happen. Captain Moroni didn’t just sit there and let the Lamanites destroy his people, he got up and made something happen. And in return, they were blessed by God and defeated the Lamanites.