“L” is for Life

“My life is a gift; my life has a plan.My life has a purpose; in heav'n it began. My choice was to come to this lovely home on earth and seek for God's light to direct me from birth. I will follow God's plan for me, holding fast to his word and his love. I will work, and I will pray; I will always walk in his way. Then I will be happy on earth and in my home above.”¹

The LDS consider our life on this earth to be a wonderful gift, something to be cherished, despite the difficulties that find their way onto our path. We believe, and the scriptures support this belief, that we lived in Heaven with God as his spirit children, before being sent here into this life. We were given a physical body that would allow us to have experiences that were not possible with only a spirit body. We would feel physical pain, and so be able to appreciate the lack thereof.

We were sent here without the memory of what our life was like before, and we were given the chance to make choices in every situation, knowing we would be responsible for those choices and either reap the benefits of those choices, or pay the consequences when we made bad choices. This body, despite its weaknesses, is a great blessing, something we had to fight for to obtain. The scriptures tell us that a third of God’s spirit children did not obtain, and will never obtain, a physical body because they chose to not accept God’s plan. If we follow his commandments, we will be able to return and live with him again. I’m so very thankful for this.

Life is so sweet, despite the sadness we face, the pain that afflicts us, although we may not think so at the time. I know that I don’t always appreciate the pain and sadness; it’s a human failure, but these and other experiences make us strong, even though we may ask at times, “why me?” But you know what? Life is an experience that I’m glad to live, because I know that with God’s help, I can overcome any and all obstacles thrown in my path (even though sometimes I may not want to at the beginning )

An important part of life is death, because it is through death that we may return to live with our Heavenly Father.

 

¹I will follow God’s plan, Vanja Y. Watkins, © 1981