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(6/11/05)
"When we feel the closeness to God
that comes with keeping His standards, we do not want to do anything
to offend Him. Joseph's experience in resisting Potiphar's wife is a
powerful example of this truth. His moral courage came from his
relationship with God, as illustrated by his words: "How then can I
do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Gen.
39:9).
"When God feels as close and real to us as He did to Joseph, we will
no longer view the gospel simply as a set of rules or standards to
be obeyed. We will move to a higher plane and realize that our
loyalty is really to a living, loving Father in Heaven who wants us
to become like Him and to share eternally with our families in all
He has. We must never forget that we are now becoming what we will
one day be. His standards will help us become what He is. God bless
us to succeed—on His terms!" - Marlin K. Jensen, "The
Message: Making a Mighty Change," New Era, June 2001
2/23/06
"The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that 'friendship is one of
the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism.' (Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 316.) That
thought ought to inspire and motivate all of us because I feel that
friendship is a fundamental need of our world. I think in all of us
there is a profound longing for friendship, a deep yearning for the
satisfaction and security that close and lasting relationships can
give. Perhaps one reason the scriptures make little specific mention
of the principle of friendship is because it should be manifest quite
naturally as we live the gospel. In fact, if the consummate Christian
attribute of charity has a first cousin, it is friendship. To
paraphrase the Apostle Paul slightly, friendship 'suffereth long, and
is kind; [friendship] envieth not; seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil; [friendship] never faileth.'
(1 Cor. 13:4-8.)"
- Marlin K. Jensen, "Friendship:
A Gospel Principle," Ensign (CR), May 1999, p.64
8/24/06
"I am often deeply moved by evidences of humility in the scriptures.
Consider John the Baptist declaring of the Savior, 'He must increase,
but I must decrease.' (John
3:30.) Think of Moroni pleading with us not to condemn him
because of his imperfections, but to thank God that He made Moroni's
imperfections manifest so that we can learn to be wiser than Moroni
was. (See Morm. 9:31.)
Nor should we forget the exclamation of Moses, who, after experiencing
the greatness of God and His creations, acknowledged that 'for this
cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.' (Moses
1:10.) Is not Moses' recognition of our complete dependence on
God the beginning of true humility?
"I resonate to the English author John Ruskin's memorable statement
that 'the first test of a truly great man is his humility.' He
continued: 'I do not mean, by humility, doubt of his own power. ...
[But really] great men ... have a curious ... feeling that ...
greatness is not in them, but through them. ... And they see something
Divine ... in every other man ... , and are endlessly, foolishly,
incredibly merciful.' (The Works of John Ruskin, ed. E. T. Cook and
Alexander Wedderburn, 39 vols. (1903-12), 5:331.)" - Marlin K. Jensen,
"To
Walk Humbly with Thy God," Ensign (CR), May 2001, p.9
4/14/07
"If we pay close attention to the uses of the word remember in the
holy scriptures, we will recognize that remembering in the way God
intends is a fundamental and saving principle of the gospel. This is
so because prophetic admonitions to remember are frequently calls to
action: to listen, to see, to do, to obey, to repent. (See 2
Nephi 1:12; Mosiah
6:3; Helaman
5:14.) When we remember in God's way, we overcome our human
tendency simply to gird for the battle of life and actually engage in
the battle itself, doing all in our power to resist temptation and
avoid sinning." - Marlin K. Jensen, "Remember
and Perish Not," General Conference, April 2007
3/18/12
I have come to appreciate the
Prophet Joseph Smith more than ever before because of his monumental
accomplishments as the founding prophet of this dispensation.
Of all the things I’ve come to treasure, I think the most important is
the conviction that if we’re honest in heart and desire to know God, we
can come to know Him and feel accountable to Him. We have the example of
the Prophet Joseph Smith to thank for that. He modeled it, he taught it,
and he held out the promise that we can come to know Christ also. That’s
priceless to me. - Marlin K. Jensen,
"There
Shall Be a Record Kept among You," Liahona, December 2007
1/3/13
As members of the Church from
many nations, we all share the early history of the Church in common.
It is important for all of us to become familiar with our Church’s
history, especially what I will call its “founding stories.” These
stories—Joseph Smith’s First Vision, the coming forth of the Book of
Mormon, angelic visitations by John the Baptist, Peter, James, and
John, Elijah, Elias, and others—contain the foundational truths upon
which the Restoration of the gospel is based. - Marlin K. Jensen,
"Stand
in the Sacred Grove," CES Devotional for Young Adults • May 6,
2012 • Sacramento, California
6/13/15
Another helpful perspective on humility can be obtained by examining
its antithesis—pride. Just as humility leads to other virtues such as
modesty, teachableness, and unpretentiousness, pride leads to many
other vices. In Latter-day Saint theology, it was through pride that
Satan became the adversary of all truth. It was the growth of this
arrogance, termed hubris, that the wise men of ancient Greece
portrayed as the sure road to destruction. - Marlin
K. Jensen, "To
Walk Humbly with Thy God," Ensign (CR), May 2001, p. 9
11/19/15
To
begin, it should come as no surprise that, in the estimation of
some, humility ranks quite low on the scale of desirable
character traits. Popular books have been written in recent
years on integrity, common sense, civility, and a host of other
virtues, but apparently there is little market for humility.
Obviously, in these coarsening times when we are taught the art
of negotiating by intimidation, and assertiveness has become a
byword of the business world, those seeking to become humble
will be a small and overlooked but critically important
minority. - Marlin
K. Jensen, "To
Walk Humbly with Thy God", Ensign (CR), May 2001, p.9