Voices!

I love this article that I read about Voices. It is so true, that there are so many different voices in the world shouting demands at us. Demands on what to watch, what to wear, who we should be.
I will only share part of it with you, if you would like to read it all...check the website at the bottom.
It is definitely something to think about...good night dear friends!


Voices of the World

But we hear other voices. Paul said, “There are … so many kinds of voices in the world” that compete with the voice of the Spirit. The Spirit’s voice is ever present, but it is calm. Said Isaiah, “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.” The adversary tries to smother this voice with a multitude of loud, persistent, persuasive, and appealing voices:

• • Murmuring voices that conjure up perceived injustices.
• • Whining voices that abhor challenge and work.
• • Seductive voices that offer sensual enticements.
• • Soothing voices that lull us into carnal security.
• • Intellectual voices that profess sophistication and superiority.
• • Proud voices that rely on the arm of flesh.
• • Flattering voices that puff us up with pride.
• • Cynical voices that destroy hope.
• • Entertaining voices that promote pleasure seeking.
• • Commercial voices that tempt us to “spend money for that which is of no worth, [and our] labor for that which cannot satisfy.”
• Delirious voices that spawn the desire for a “high.” I refer not to a drug- or alcohol-induced high, but to the pursuing of dangerous, death-defying experiences for nothing more than a thrill. Life, even our own, is so precious that we are accountable to the Lord for it, and we should not trifle with it. Once gone, it cannot be called back.

Bombarded with Messages

Today we are barraged by multitudes of voices telling us how to live, how to gratify our passions, how to have it all. At our fingertips we have software, databases, television channels, interactive computer modems, satellite receivers, and communications networks that suffocate us with information. There are fewer places of refuge and serenity. Our young people are bombarded with evil and wickedness like no other generation. As I contemplate this prospect, I am reminded of the poet T. S. Eliot’s words: “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” 

Many in the younger generation have been conditioned by the world to want it all and to want it now. They do not want to save or work. Such self-centered, impatient desires make them susceptible to temptation. 

• Getting gain.
• • Gaining power over the flesh.
• • Gaining popularity in the eyes of the world.
• • Seeking the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world.
• Hearing Righteous Voices

How are we possibly going to select which voices we will listen to and believe? The implications for us as individuals are staggering. To spiritually survive, we must do at least these four things.

First, we must exercise moral agency wisely. As tiny drops of water shape a landscape, so our minute-by-minute choices shape our character.

Second, we must have a purpose. “You must stand up for something, or you will fall for everything.” 

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Third, we must strengthen our testimony. We all need to study the plan of salvation and learn of our relationship to God. As we walk by faith, we will have confirmed in our hearts spiritual experiences which will strengthen our faith and testimony.

Fourth, we must search the scriptures, which are “the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.”

I suggest a simple solution for selecting the channel to which we attune ourselves: listen to and follow the voice of the Spirit.

We need to learn how to ponder the things of the Spirit and to respond to its promptings. 

http://www.lds.org/liahona/2006/06/voice-of-the-spirit?lang=eng&query=diamonds