As I was growing up a member of the LDS faith, I would always have friends at school and other activities ask me what were all the rules that I had, and all the things that I couldn't do. I would usually reply with the same rehearsed statement of, " Well I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't believe in being intimate before marriage, I go to church every Sunday, and I go to a church class every morning before school. I don't use foul language and I believe in serving a Mission for my Church and for the Lord when I turn 19. "
The responses to my statements were usually along the lines of this, " Man, you Mormons can't do anything fun !!! " I would then usually proceed to ask them some questions. " What do you do the next morning after getting drunk at a party? What happens to peoples' lungs when they become addicted to smoking cigarettes? How is someones life changed when they have a child in their teen years to take care of? "
Granted, there were times in my life when I felt like the commandments of the Restored Gospel where restrictions. Things that I was told I could not participate in by my Church leaders, just so that I would live a different life, a " Mormon life ". However, after growing a little older, and making some mistakes in my life which cost me the joy of life I had as an obedient child. I quickly came to the realization that the commandments offer us freedom from addiction and from bondage to sin, rather then restricting us from the world's " Fun ".
Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated in a recent address, " Sometimes we may feel that people will not be as accepting of us because of the high standards we have set for ourselves. " I sometimes felt like this among my friends in school and in sports. I felt like because I strive to live a different standard of life, I was not included in the group. So because of these feelings I chose to abandon the standards that I had been taught for a time, and to try things in my life that were not obedient to what I new were the commandments of God. I didn't become an alcoholic or anything of that nature. I just chose to not care so much about what was around me, and who I was with. Don't get me wrong, I have always, and will still always love my friends from Highschool. I simply wasn't the example that I know I should have been.
In that same address Elder Perry later made this statement, " I have found that if you live the way you should live, people notice and are impressed with your beliefs and you have an influence on the lives of others. " Because I knew that my decisions had been poor, I one day made a commitment to myself to once again be obedient to the things that I was taught, and to live as an "example of the believers... " ( 1 Timothy 4 : 12 ) I am glad to say that since I have made this conscience choice and commitment to myself, I have been a much happier person. I live a life of respect towards the laws and commandments of God. I choose to respect the council of the Lord given through his Apostle Paul when stated in 1 Corinthians 3 : 15-16, which reads, “ 15. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 16. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are”
I know that our bodies are gifts from a loving Heavenly Father. More then just our bodies, this life that we have on Earth is a gift from a loving God, and a Savior who payed for our disobedience and sin with his own blood. I hope that others don't have to make some the mistakes I made in my life in thinking that the commandments of God are a restriction from a "Higher Power". God does love his children, and he gives us boundaries in life to help us to grow and become the righteous examples of his Disciples to others around us. I am grateful for the blessing of the commandments of God given to men on Earth. I strive everyday to be obedient to those things that I know to be true, and to help others come to a realization of their loving Heavenly Father, his commandments, and the joy of Repentance.
I hope that all of us can one day come together in the knowledge that we are the " Temples of God ". This is my prayer for everyone, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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