Know Your “Rights”

by Elder Jacob de Jager

of the Seventy

You have the right to be successful. If you choose to be successful, your other rights can and must be exercised. Everything you do will work for or against you in the course of life.

As sons and daughters of God, you have certain valuable rights. One of these is the right to be successful in the things the Lord expects of you. For example, through his prophet the Lord has said that every young man should fill a mission. (And that every young woman may fill a mission if she desires to do so.) He also desires that you have a temple marriage when the time is right for you to marry.

But you must be prepared if you are going to exercise your right to spiritual success. To help you with that preparation, here are some additional “rights” that you should exercise in your daily life.

The Right Perspective

You must understand that you are part of the great plan of salvation. Also, that you, as a teenager, have an important role to play in preparing the kingdom of God on the earth before the second coming of the Lord. That’s why you are living in this day and age.

Although you are young, you can increase your understanding. When you seek the Lord in prayer and study the scriptures and ponder about these things, your understanding of your place in that great plan will increase. You truly belong to the covenant people of the Lord. You became a member of the Church through the covenant of baptism, and when you enter the Lord’s church you belong to the covenant people.

As time goes on, you will begin to see more clearly that you have responsibilities towards other people—in your family, in your school environment, through callings and stewardships in the Church.

You will also begin to see more clearly your accountability to the Lord, that sometime in the future you will stand before the Lord. He will ask you questions, and you will have to answer him.

There is a saying that the “doors of history move on small hinges, and so do people’s lives.” Each event in your young life should be seen in the right perspective.

The Right Thoughts

Learn to apply gospel thinking in your daily life. The teachings of the Church are a way of life, and they require the whole person.

Cleanse your thoughts and resist going places where your mind will be bombarded with negative, unclean thoughts. Clean living in mind as well as in body is an essential preparation.

The Right Speech

It is interesting how your speech varies with the place where you are. Some of you live three lives: (1) Life with your parents at home. You certainly watch your language there and dare not use language that would upset your parents. (2) Life with your friends in school. Some of you may say things in the locker room that you would never say at home. (3) Life in the bishop’s office, where you are meek and mild and say, “Yes, bishop. No, bishop.”

Now, right speech doesn’t just mean avoiding profanity, although that is very important. There is more.

We have a hymn that says, “Let us oft speak kind words to each other” (Hymns, no. 232). That is great counsel. We must get used to speaking kind words to each other. And the home is a good place to begin to practice this.

Right speech also means that we avoid gossip and criticism. The Lord has said: “Thou shalt not speak evil of thy neighbor, nor do him any harm” (D&C 42:27). According to my feelings, this means that you do not gossip about a person. And “do no harm” means do no spiritual harm to others by criticizing them.

Try always to communicate with your fellowmen in a spirit of love, and the Lord will bless you accordingly. Using clean language at all times, in all places, under all circumstances, will make you a respected, loved, personable Latter-day Saint.

The Right Action

Learn to let all your doings be in harmony with the gospel so that you truly can represent the Lord wherever you go.

In another great hymn titled “Ye Elders of Israel,” we sing “O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell; We’re going to the mountains of Ephraim to dwell” (Hymns, no. 319).

I learned that the mountains of Ephraim are 50 miles north of Jerusalem. The Savior went there when he wanted to be away from the world to meditate and to communicate with his Father in Heaven. We also have to move from Babylon (the world) to Zion, which means “where the pure in heart dwell.” In other words, Zion is where you will be when your actions are right.

The Right Effort

When we have learned to act right, we must put forth the right effort. This is also called diligence, or “good works.”

To illustrate, let me relate to you the dream a young man had. In his dream, he was walking in the shopping mall close to his home. And he saw in his dream all the familiar shops—his favorite music store, the ice cream store, the place where he got his newest T-shirt. But in his dream, all of a sudden, he saw a new store. It was made of white marble and it had no show windows, only a door.

Now, he was a curious young man, so he entered the new shop. And, lo and behold, behind the counter stood an angel. The young man looked around and asked, “What do you sell here?”

The angel smiled and said, “In this store we sell everything that your heart desires.”

Well, he was a worthy, active Latter-day Saint young man (and besides, he could see that he was talking to an angel), so after a moment’s thought he answered: “Then, I want to serve a successful mission and then get married in the temple to a wonderful girl, and …”

Then the angel raised his hand and smiled and said: “You have not understood. In this shop we do not sell fruit, but only seeds. You have to plant the seed, and then the seed will sprout and a small plant will develop. You give this plant your tender care so that it will grow into a big tree that will bear fruit.”

Then the young man woke up, and he was a little bit discouraged because he did not receive what he had asked for. But he knew what to do when he was discouraged. He started to read the scriptures. And as he was leafing through the Book of Mormon, he read: “If you will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree … by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. And … by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, … which is sweet above all that is sweet … ; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, … Then … ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence” (Alma 32:41–43).

If we put in the right effort, by and by we can receive the fruits of our labors.

The Right Attitude

Some of you may have heard the saying that attitude is more important than aptitude. Being from Holland, and writing in what is for me a foreign language, I looked up the meaning of those two words and learned that aptitude is what you are able to do. Attitude is more a matter of what you are willing to do.

Your attitude is greatly influenced by your awareness of the importance of life, the existence of the plan of salvation, and the role that you play in it. With the right attitude you will develop a total perspective of your premortal existence, your mortal existence, and a postmortal existence. In other words, you learn to put everything in focus in your life.

Now, one dictionary definition of focus is “the center of interest and activity.” In other words, you have to concentrate on things that are really important in your life.

Consider how important focus is in photography. A camera has a device that enables you to focus on your subject. But notice that without light it is not possible to make pictures. The same is true for focusing on important issues in life. We need the light of the Savior, who said through the Prophet Joseph Smith: “And now, remember the words of him who is the life and light of the world, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God” (D&C 10:70). If you learn early in life to develop the right attitude, it will stay with you for the rest of your life.

In conclusion, remember that exercising your right to success depends on exercising these other “rights.” If you do so, you will not only be prepared for a mission and temple marriage, but for all of the rich blessings the Lord has in store for you.

With the right understanding you repent and improve and act in holiness.
With the right thoughts, iniquity has no place in you. The Spirit is your companion and guide.
The right speech lets you talk by the Spirit and touch and cheer up the hearts of others.
With the right actions you serve others with the pure love of Christ in your heart.
The right effort shows diligence and self-discipline, a willingness to sacrifice, to keep the commandments and make yourself eligible for the blessings of eternal life.
With the right attitude you focus your life on the things that are of greatest worth to you.

Illustrated by Roger Motzkus