Mosiah 4: 29-30

 

If you are a soldier, how does keeping your armor on, and guarding (watching over to protect and control) help you survive in a war?

"29 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.

30 But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not." (Mosiah 4: 29-30)

And here's the commentary entitled: "I must watch my thoughts, words, and deeds." :

"God doesn’t give us a list of every possible sin. According to Mosiah 4:29–30, what does He do instead? Ponder how your thoughts, words, and deeds affect yourself and others. How do they affect your relationship with God? How do you “watch [yourself]”?"

God gave us instructions and warnings through his servants to provide us with enough knowledge and give us a heads-up on the challenges we're about to face as we navigate through our journey in this earthly existence. He also promised to send us His Spirit to guide us. He gave us our agency so we could make our own choices. We can choose our own thoughts,, words, and deeds which affect ourselves and others. It's important to watch ourselves if we want to stay on the right path, the covenant path. And when we are consistently making the choice to stay on the right path, we're able to show Heavenly Father that we are worthy to return to His presence someday. 

There's a video I watched when I was a seminary student. A soldier with all the pieces of his armor on was in the position ready to strike with his weapon whenever the enemy arrived. His were constantly watching, observing what was going on around him, and his ears were listening constantly to the sounds as he was anticipating an attack from his enemy anytime. And so when his enemy did attack him, he was all ready and was able to defend himself and conquer his enemy. On the other hand, there's another soldier, who took no thought of what could be the consequence of his actions. When he saw how the water of the river could refresh him, he immediately took off some pieces of his armor and started heading off to swim in the crystal-clear water. And as he was about to plunge in to start swimming, the weapons of the enemy started coming and he was easily hit and hurt by them. 

This contrasting story of the two soldiers did have a great impact on me. I realized how it's so important for me to watch myself--my thoughts, words, and actions. Every word we say and every action we take starts with a thought. And so it's important to stand guard at the door of our minds, as the author and speaker Jim Rohn taught. The actions taken by the two soldiers in the story start with their thoughts. Their own thoughts moved them to action. The first soldier could be thinking,, "My enemies are everywhere and they could hit me anytime soon and I want to be prepared so I'm gonna watch myself." And the second soldier could be thinking, "I'm strong enough to fight my enemies. I can fight them even if I'm not wearing some pieces of my armor." 

I'm grateful for this powerful story. Even though I've watched it on video only once, I remember every detail and what each of them meant to me until now. I learned the value of watching myself and I've been able to apply what I learned in my life. Learning to watch myself consistently just as the first soldier did is a challenge. And yet as I learn more from my reading of the scriptures, the general conference talks, and other books, I've been able to rise above this challenge. I've had mindset shifts over the years and my mindset has never been stronger. I've been able to make the choice to look at the brighter side or think positively more than ever before. The choice to change the way I think led to the change in the way I speak and the way I do things. For example, I used to complain whenever I was sweating a lot because of the hot weather. When I decided to look at the sun differently and appreciate it for the good things it's doing for the plants and all the living things, I stopped complaining whenever I'd be sweating. I even notice my sweating no more and even love how I feel when I'm sweating. And I realized that my body actually loves summertime! Before I would wish that I lived in a country where there is snow. And now I would just wish I could visit such a country so I could experience winter and play with the snow at least once in my whole lifetime. Living in Asia is just perfect for me. I'm really happy that I was born and grew up in this part of the world. 

In the 2023 general conference talk given by President Henry B. Eyring, he mentioned the tendency to choose to feel lonely. This tells us that we also choose how we feel. I understand we can't help to feel a certain way in some circumstances we don't really have control over. Initially, when we feel hurt, we feel like crying and it's totally ok to cry. It's natural for us to feel sad and want to cry because of this emotion. There are times we also cry because of joy. And yet we can make the choice whether to reach out to that feeling that we want more of or to stay feeling such that we don't want to feel more of. If we are making the choice to watch ourselves more, what kind of feeling do we want to have more of? We know that "happiness is the object of this existence" (Prophet Joseph Smith) and our common enemy wants our lives to be miserable and we would want to make the choice to feel more joy, don't we?