“Principle 4: Make and Adjust Plans,” Help for Me (2019)
“Principle 4: Make and Adjust Plans,” Help for Me
Principle 4: Make and Adjust Plans
As we make plans, set goals, and counsel with Heavenly Father, we can make progress on improving our lives and overcoming our challenges. As we try our best to plan and progress, He will guide us and help us to move forward.
“Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you and want you to progress and return to Their presence and live with Them eternally. But that’s a journey. And we’re all on that journey to try and improve” (Ronald A. Rasband, “Make and Adjust Plans” [video]).
The plan of salvation teaches that we’re here on earth to learn, grow, and improve. This knowledge can inspire us to focus on setting goals that help us become more like our Savior. While setting goals to stop bad behavior is good, our lifelong goal is to be changed through the power of Jesus Christ. This type of change is deep and lasting and impacts our whole souls. It occurs as we take honest assessment of where we are, seek the help we need, make inspired plans, and practice accountability.
When we have setbacks and failures, we can revisit and adapt our plans to help us avoid those setbacks in the future. This is one way we respond to our loving Father in Heaven’s gift of continual repentance. He wants us to return to Him and receive all the blessings He has in store for us.
Our Heavenly Father gave us the principle of repentance to help us in our journey here on earth. The ability to repent is a gift. Repentance comes about by acknowledging our mistakes, making plans to change, and praying as often as we need to.
As we repent and progress, we can receive guidance, assistance, and nurturing by Christ through His Atonement. Further, we can feel an increase of the Holy Ghost’s influence in our lives. The Spirit will help us receive inspiration on our plans. Step by step, we can begin to address the various influences impacting our behaviors.
As we make plans and counsel with the Lord, we can not only overcome unwanted behaviors but also change our hearts. A changed heart leads to humility, a deeper desire to follow our Savior, and true and abiding faith in Jesus Christ.
Capture Impressions
Take a moment and write down what you’ve felt as you’ve studied this principle.
Apply This Principle
The following are some helps on additional topics to enhance your learning and application of this principle.
“What do I need to focus on to overcome my pornography habit?”
Making effective plans starts with understanding what’s happening. Unhealthy behaviors like pornography use are often the result of biological, psychological, social, and spiritual influences that are affecting us. Understanding how these influences can strengthen or weaken our resolve to stop viewing pornography is part of finding a solution that will work for us.
“How do I make a plan that will actually work?”
An important part of overcoming a pornography habit is addressing the influences in our lives and making effective plans to respond to them.
Additional Study
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Gary E. Stevenson, “How Does the Holy Ghost Help You?” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 117–120
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M. Russell Ballard, “Return and Receive,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 62–65
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Ronald A. Rasband, “Let the Holy Spirit Guide,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 93–96
Related
“Principle 3: Connect and Build Relationships”
“Overview for Pornography Users”