Whom then shall I fear?

I think of how much we tend to value public opinion… especially with all of the social networking and status updates now days. Advertising sells that, “image is everything”. We spend so much time checking ourselves in the mirror but so little time checking our hearts with the Lord. Public opinion becomes our God and we so freely sacrifice the majority of our energy and time on the altar to uphold it.

Depression seems to be such a rising problem in society. I know for some people it is a very real illness but there are those who needlessly suffer with anxiety and depression from fear of what others think or don’t think of them.

“who art thou, that thou shouldest be ^aafraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; 13 And ^aforgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the ^bearth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? 15 But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the ^asea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name.16 And I have put my ^awords in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

Why should we lose hope or why should we fear? When it's all said and done, who's opinion really matters most?

A Voice of Warning

My husband and I listened to this fireside talk by Elder David A. Bednar last weekend. We loved it and I wanted to share parts of it. For the full talk you can watch it or listen to it here http://lds.org/broadcast/ces/0,7341,538,00.html
My heart is full of so much gratitude for the loving counsel and guidance from Apostles and Prophets of God in our day!! I don't know where I would be without them.



"Today I raise an apostolic voice of warning about the potentially stifling, suffocating, suppressing and constraining impact of some kinds of cyberspace interactions and experiences upon our souls. The concerns I raise are not new, they apply equally to other types of media such as television, movies and music. But brothers and sisters in a cyber world these challenges are more pervasive and intense. I plead with you to beware of the sense dulling, and spiritually destructive influence of cyberspace technologies that are used to produce high fidelity [exactness or a accuracy in details] and that promote degrading and evil purposes. If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradually and physically from things as they really are…

Please be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pixels, texting, earbuds, twittering, online social networking and potentially addictive uses of media in the internet that you fail to recognize the importance of your physical body and miss the richness of person to person communication. Beware of digital displays and data in many forms of computer mediated interaction that can displace the full range of physical capacity and experience…

We need to heed the admonition of Paul, “that everyone of you should know how to posses his vessel in sanctification and honor” 1 Thes. 4:4

An immature or misguided spouse may devote an inordinate amount of time to playing video games, chatting online, or in other ways allowing the digital to dominate things as they really are. Initially the investment of time may seem relatively harmless, rationalized as a few minutes of needed relief from the demands of a hectic daily schedule but important opportunities are missed for developing and improving interpersonal skills, for laughing and crying together and for creating a rich and enduring bond of emotional intimacy. Progressively, seemingly innocent entertainment can become a form of pernicious enslavement.

Now brothers and sisters please understand, I am not suggesting all technology is inherently bad, it is not… Nor am I saying we should not use its many capabilities in appropriate ways to learn, to communicate, to lift and brighten lives and to build the Church, of course we should. But I am raising a warning voice that we should not squander and damage authentic relationships by obsessing over contrived ones."