Watch Yourselves!
David came home from his mission all excited about a concept he had learned from his mission president, which he shared with us at that first family night.
He started out by drawing the above diagram as a review of the plan of salvation. Then we read Mosiah 4:30 and noticed we're supposed to watch four things: our selves, our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. The question is, why four things? In the past we've often talked about thoughts coming before words and deeds, but what does "watch yourselves" mean? We had a great discussion, and came up with several things:
As I remember it, our conclusion was that things like our attitude and desires determine what our thoughts will be, and so if we want to avoid sin, we start before actions, words, and thoughts. We start with our individual will and determination to be Christ-like.
One of my more memorable "AHA" moments occured one day when I was feeling overwhelmed and picked on. I had been praying that I would be happy and even that wasn't working. Then all of a sudden the thought came that I was enjoying feeling miserable and sorry for myself. I wanted those around me to know I was miserable. Maybe then they would try harder to help or even just be nicer. Once I "watched myself" and changed my prayer for the desire to be happy, the happiness came.
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