Chapter 13: My Way or God’s Way

            Frank Sinatra sang, “My Way,” about a man who as he approached death, “his final curtain,” reflected back on his life. He seemed somewhat regretful but expressed pride in the fact that he did everything his own way. He boasted of the fact that he was not a man “who kneels,” meaning to me that he did not seek God’s counsel in his life. In the world today most everyone believes it is perfectly normal, a right, to do your own thing. Has society taken a wrong turn?
            I think “doing your own thing” is in opposition to the way our Father in Heaven would have His children live their lives:

•  Jesus Christ labeled doing your own thing a sin. “Your sins have come up unto me, and are not pardoned, because you seek to counsel in your own ways” (D&C 56:14, italics added).
• Jesus said it is an error to do your own thing. They “do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways” (Hebrew 3:10, italics added).
• The Lord said His ways are higher than human ways: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8).
• "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6).

            Apostates and dissenters throughout the history of the world have elevated themselves above the obedient and faithful. Many boast of their intellect, which in their minds lifts them above the foolish traditions of believers. It has been my experience that those who disregard God’s ways often justify “doing their own thing” by accusing those who follow God of blind obedience. I believe the opposite is true. Those who are obedient are not blind, weak, or uneducated.
            Today’s apostates and dissenters have given themselves the title of “intellectuals,” implying that if others knew as much or were as intelligent as they are would also leave religion and God. This pattern of trusting human understanding has repeated itself throughout history. The Apostle Paul said when the gospel was preached to the Jews they required a sign and stumbled over the doctrine of Christ. He said the Greeks sought wisdom but when the gospel was preached to them they thought it was foolishness. "For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? (1 Corinthians 1:19-20).
            “Foolish traditions” is found six times in the Book of Mormon.
            Atheists profess not to believe in God; however, they have their own god(s) whom they worship and serve—mammon. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).
            In some ways atheists are gods unto themselves in that they feel superior to and look down on believers' “foolish tradition.” Atheists find pleasure and take their ease in eating, drinking, and being merry. “But God said..., Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee…. He that layeth up treasure for himself… is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:19-21).
            Scriptures provide evidence that those that trust God become more than they otherwise would be. The Apostle Paul described himself as someone who did not have “excellency of speech or of wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:1). Enoch argued that he could not be a prophet because he was too young “and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech” (Moses 6:31). Moroni said he was weak in writing and had awkward hands. (See Ether 12:23-24.) Yet Paul, Enoch, and Moroni were faithful to the assignments God gave them. They trusted God and reached heights unimaginable when they were called.
            If you doubt this to be true, perhaps statistics, those “stubborn facts” will change your mind. As John Adams phrased it: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” The amount of education believers in God have is measurable, as is believers’ commitment to religion. Who the real intellectuals are can be determined by facts.
            The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encourages education. For example, one of the fifteen topics addressed in For the Strength of Youth is education. An other example is the oft-quote verse: "The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth" (D&C 93:36).
            There’s more. A study performed and published by the Review of Religious Research found that “as members of various faiths receive increasingly higher education, their tendencies toward religion decreased…. This conclusion was true in all but one case — that of the LDS church.” The abstract concluded: “Higher education does not have a secularizing influence on Mormons” (“Secularization, Higher Education, and Religiosity,” Stan L. Albrecht and Tim B. Heaton).
            Another study from the Pew Research Center stated: “Mormons who have graduated from college display the highest levels of religious commitment (84%) followed by those with some college education (75%). Mormons with a high school education or less exhibit substantially lower levels of religious commitment (50% score high on the scale) than their more highly educated counterparts.”
            Drs. Bruce Chadwick and Brent Top combined seventeen years of data from three countries into the book titled Shield of Faith. Their purpose was to show scientific evidence that religion plays a significant role in lives young and old. “These analyses make it absolutely clear that members of the LDS Church have significantly more education than the general public. Among LDS youth, individual religiosity is associated with academic success and aspirations.”
            As you approach your “final curtain,” will you boast that you did life your way, feel thankful that you did things God’s way, or be somewhere in between? "How impossible it is to enact the surrender of the self by doing what we like" (C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, Touchstone Books, 1996, 88). It is my belief that turning my life over to will produce fewer regrets because: “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life” (President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), “Jesus Christ—Gifts and Expectations,” Ensign, Dec. 1988, 4).

(c) Marilynne Todd Linford, 2018