Decide

Decide

DECI'DE, verb intransitive To determine; to form a definite opinion; to come to a conclusion.
We cannot decide how far resistance is lawful or practicable.
The court decided in favor of the defendant.

SCRIPTURES:

D&C 130:16

• Doctrine and Covenants

I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face. 

D&C 136:7

• Doctrine and Covenants

Let each company, with their captains and presidents, decide how many can go next spring; then choose out a sufficient number of able-bodied and expert men, to take teams, seeds, and farming utensils, to go as pioneers to prepare for putting in spring crops. 

D&C 107:79

• Doctrine and Covenants

And the Presidency of the council of the High Priesthood shall have power to call other high priests, even twelve, to assist as counselors; and thus the Presidency of the High Priesthood and its counselors shall have power to decide upon testimony according to the laws of the church. 

1 Kings 20:40

• Old Testament

And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. 

Joseph Smith—History 1:9

• Pearl of Great Price

...the cry and tumult were so great and incessant. The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all the powers of both reason and sophistry to prove their errors, or, at least, to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand, the Baptists and... 

D&C 42:72

• Doctrine and Covenants

Or they are to receive a just remuneration for all their services, either a stewardship or otherwise, as may be thought best or decided by the counselors and bishop. 

Acts 15

• New Testament

The Acts of the ApostlesChapter 15Great dissension arises at Antioch concerning circumcision—The Apostles at Jerusalem decide the issue—Paul chooses Silas as his companion. 

D&C 67

• Doctrine and Covenants

...revelations already received from the Lord through the Prophet was considered and acted upon (see the heading to section 1). It was decided that Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer should take the manuscripts of the revelations to Independence, where W. W. Phelps would publish them as the Book... 

Judge, Judgment

• The Guide to the Scriptures

To evaluate behavior in relation to the principles of the gospel; to decide; to discern good from evil. 


QUOTES:



















 

 

 

 

“We hope we can help our young men and young women to realize, even sooner than they do now, that they need to make certain decisions only once. … We can push some things away from us once and have done with them! We can make a single decision about certain things that we will incorporate in our lives and then make them ours—without having to brood and redecide a hundred times what it is we will do and what we will not do.

“… My young brothers, if you have not done so yet, decide to decide!” ~Spencer W. Kimball

 "Decide to work. Work is necessary if you are to reach your goal


 ...decide to believe. Believe in God. Believe in yourself. Believe that God is very interested in you as an individual, that he is anxious for you to succeed. He has provided in the gospel of his Son Jesus Christ the sure pattern for ultimate success.

Decide to make decisions about certain things once—those things will push from you that might otherwise destroy you—and decide about other things that you will incorporate into your life, things that will bring you eternal happiness. Decide to set goals which are consistent with your divine destiny. Decide to believe in God, who created you. Decide to believe in yourself, that you truly can reach goals—your goals. Decide to work. You can be successful in any righteous endeavor when you are willing to work under the guiding hand of the Lord.

May we all make our decisions in the favorable light of the gospel of Jesus Christ"

 ~Rex D. Pinegar

PERSONAL DEFINITION:

I think to decide means to make a choice. To commit to a choice, and then go forward with it. 

To truly decide, I think we must take action on our resolve, whatever it is.
If we really want to accomplish anything, we first have to decide to do it.
I believe there is great wisdom in deciding beforehand, what your standards are so that you don't even have to be shaken when something arises that could cause you to go astray.

Decide is a very strong word. I think true decision is immovable.
It is my hope to make immovable decisions regarding where I stand in my beliefs. In fact, I already have! :)

Charity

Charity

CHARITY, noun
1. In a general sense, love, benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men.
1 Corinthians 8:1. Colossians 3:14. 1 Timothy 1:5.
2. In a more particular sense, love, kindness, affection, tenderness, springing from natural relations; as the charities of father, son and brother.
3. Liberality to the poor, consisting in almsgiving or benefactions, or in gratuitous services to relieve them in distress.
4. Alms; whatever is bestowed gratuitously on the poor for their relief.
5. Liberality in gifts and services to promote public objects of utility, as to found and support bible societies, missionary societies, and others.
6. Candor; liberality in judging of men and their actions; a disposition which inclines men to think and judge favorably, and to put the best construction on words and actions which the case will admit. The highest exercise of charity is charity towards the uncharitable.
7. Any act of kindness, or benevolence; as the charities of life.
8. A charitable institution. Charity-school, is a school maintained by voluntary contributions for educating poor children.

SCRIPTURES:

Charity

• The Guide to the Scriptures

The pure love of Christ (Moro. 7:47); the love that Christ has for the children of men and that the children of men should have for one another (2 Ne. 26:30; 33:7–9; Ether 12:33–34); the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection.


 Moroni 7:

 44 If so, his ^afaith and hope is vain, for none is ^bacceptable before God, save the ^cmeek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and ^dconfesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

 45 And ^acharity suffereth long, and is ^bkind, and ^cenvieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily ^dprovoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

 47 But ^acharity is the pure ^blove of Christ, and it endureth ^cforever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Moroni 7:46

• Book of Mormon

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail— 

2 Nephi 26:30

• Book of Mormon

Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish. 

1 Peter 4:8

• New Testament

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 

1 Corinthians 13:13

• New Testament

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 

Ether 12:34

• Book of Mormon

And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father. 

Colossians 3:14

• New Testament

And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

1 Corinthians 13:2

• New Testament

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

D&C 4:5

• Doctrine and Covenants

And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. 

QUOTES:

 “Charity sees the need, not the cause”
German Proverb

 “He who wished to secure the good of others,
Has already secured his own.”
Confucius

 “If you haven't any charity in your heart,
You have the worst kind of heart trouble.”
Bob Hope

“Where there is charity and wisdom,
There is neither fear nor ignorance.”
St. Francis of Assisi 

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi

 "Every charitable act is a stepping stone towards heaven."
Henry Ward Beecher

 . We all work at feeling joy and finding peace. One of our greatest tools in the process is charity.
Elaine L. Jack

Charity is not a single act or something we give away but a state of being, a state of the heart, kind feelings that engender loving actions.
 Silvia H. Allred 

 When we have charity, we are willing to serve and help others when it is inconvenient and with no thought of recognition or reciprocation. We don’t wait to be assigned to help, because it becomes our very nature. As we choose to be kind, caring, generous, patient, accepting, forgiving, inclusive, and selfless, we discover we are abounding in charity.
 Silva H. Allred

 “Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.” ^{13
Thomas S. Monson
 
PERSONAL DEFINITION:
I think Charity is the pure love of Christ. In order for us to have charity, Christ must be at the center of our lives. It is only through Him that our hearts can be filled with that pure love. But before he can fill our hearts, we must open them up. We can do that by loving and serving God first (and serving His children in order to do so). We must also try to see others as divinity, and as children of God with true potential and worth. Then as we treat them as such, God will fill our hearts with more of that love, and it becomes a cycle of strengthening character, and building God's kingdom.
Charity is a way of being, and it is a process. When we fail, repentance and the atonement can repair us again. For true charity can really only come from the Lord. To have that gift, we must ask Him for it, and then do what He asks of us.}

Focus

Focus

FO'CUS, noun plural focuses, or foci. [Latin focus a fire, the hearth.]

1. In optics, a point in which any number of rays of light meet, after being reflected or refracted; as the focus of a lens.

2. In geometry and conic sections, a certain point in the parabola, ellipsis and hyperbola, where rays reflected from all parts of these curves, concur or meet.

The focus of an ellipsis, is a point towards each end of the longer axis, from which two right lines drawn to any point in the circumference, shall together be equal to the longer axis.

The focus of a parabola, is a point in the axis within the figure, and distant from the vertex by the fourth part of the parameter.

The focus of a hyperbola, is a point in the principal axis, within the opposite hyperbolas, from which if any two lines are drawn, meeting in either of the opposite hyperbolas, the difference will be equal to the principal axis.

3. A central point; point of concentration

SCRIPTURES:

Two men formed a partnership. They built a small shed beside a busy road. They obtained a truck and drove it to a farmer’s field, where they purchased a truckload of melons for a dollar a melon. They drove the loaded truck to their shed by the road, where they sold their melons for a dollar a melon. They drove back to the farmer’s field and bought another truckload of melons for a dollar a melon. Transporting them to the roadside, they again sold them for a dollar a melon. As they drove back toward the farmer’s field to get another load, one partner said to the other, “We’re not making much money on this business, are we?” “No, we’re not,” his partner replied. “Do you think we need a bigger truck?”

We don’t need a bigger truckload of information, either. Like the two partners in my story, our biggest need is a clearer focus on how we should value and use what we already have.

~Dallin H.Oaks

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Tim. 3:7).

Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Ne. 32:3). That is focus. Nephi also said that as he taught from the scriptures, “I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning” (1 Ne. 19:23). That is personal application.

 Each of us should be careful that the current flood of information does not occupy our time so completely that we cannot focus on and hear and heed the still, small voice that is available to guide each of us with our own challenges 

The ultimate Latter-day Saint priorities are twofold: First, we seek to understand our relationship to God the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and to secure that relationship by obtaining their saving ordinances and by keeping our personal covenants. Second, we seek to understand our relationship to our family members and to secure those relationships by the ordinances of the temple and by keeping the covenants we make in that holy place. These relationships, secured in the way I have explained, provide eternal blessings available in no other way. No combination of science, success, property, pride, prominence, or power can provide these eternal blessings!


PERSONAL DEFINITION:
We are always focused on one thing or another. It is a conscious choice to decide what that focus is. 
Priorities and focus are interlocked. Priorities are what we should choose to put our focus on. And we should choose the right priorities.
We know when our priorities are centered around God, and doing his will, and then we put our focus on that and act accordingly, we will live life to its fullest.