What is "given"? D&C 82:3

[Seminarysnoozer]

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

When we realize that what lies within us is God's then, and only then, can you understand what you are talking about properly. I have come to find in life's journey that those people who get stuck on themselves and their talents as though they are gifts of self entitlement do a lot of self-stroking. It is a selfish and wicked pride. The truth of it is that when people start realising that all things whether they came in the spirit or not are gifts of God and belong to Him. To have the opinion that we are more than someone else or are entitled to more than someone else OR that our talents belong to us is ludicrous and dangerous. If anything, one should take into account that the Lord will hold us more accountable for what we do on Earth to serve him based on our opportunities to serve. We all came in spirit with different levels of intelligences. That matters not, What is important is that we fulfill the measure of our creation and put them in use for the glory of God. Think of the war in Heaven. Satan thought he was entitled. That was the reason Satan fell.

Thanks .... exactly!

This is why I have a hard time understanding why sometimes when people find a talent in themselves they say they must have had it before, as if it is not given but owned. If one has a talent and love for music, as an example, that doesn't necessarily mean that it came from the previous life. That, I agree, is a form of "selfish and wicked pride" as you put it.

[Seminarysnoozer]

And whether or not we bring anything from the preexistance with us, EVERYTHING has been given to us. Heavenly Father is the creator of all things, including our spirits, so whatever we had in the preexistance was also given to us. Nothing we have, even our personalities, is something we can truly call our "own". It was all given to us. Does that take away our individuality, our uniqueness, our self? I don't think so, because with everything we've been given we also have the ability to choose what we will do with it. How and what we choose, based on what we've been given, what to do with what we've been given, and how to achieve even more, is what makes us truly unique and carves out our individuality.

How about being valiant or not, is that given? How about whether a person is self centered or not, is that given? Is Satan's level of selfishness given?

Some of the choosing you are talking about happened before this life. I don't know if it is a totally clean slate before coming here, as if all the valiant choices we made before are made even with everyone else. There is something that is carried through, distinguishing that from things that are given in this life may be difficult.

[Seminarysnoozer]

Well put, Dove,

Your last paragraph reminds me of one of the best talks I ever heard on service. When my wife and I and our little family lived in Japan, we attended a ward whose Bishop had a severely handicapped girl in her tweens. This girl was so handicapped she could do nothing but sit there in her wheelchair and basically drool (not trying to sound dramatic or anything, but that was how severely handicapped she was). Her folks brought her to church every week, and we all loved to see her there, because she did smile a lot when she was happy, or talked to.

One Sunday the Bishop got up and talked of service, and serving our fellow man. Then he made reference to his daughter, and told us 'we don't know what we or anyone else agreed to in the premortal life. Perhaps even my daughter agreed to come in the condition she did. And by agreeing to give up a normal life for herself, to have obstacles placed on her during mortality, she renders service by helping us learn what service is.'

I have never forgotten that. And the Spirit bore witness to me at that time, many years ago, that what that Bishop said was true. So I agree with you. I believe we worked out and were very aware of what trials awaited us when we came here, and agreed and covenanted to overcome them, obey and return back to live with our Heavenly Father. And I also believe that we didn't truly realize how truly difficult it would be once we got here, fully in Satan's playground, as it were, where he is the big bully in the yard.

Thankfully, He doesn't leave us alone. We have the scriptures, prayer, and those tender mercies of our Heavenly Father to help us return home...

If we believe that we made informed decisions about the trials of this life even though we may have been naive about how tough it would be, that shows you how far we have fallen in terms of our comprehension and rote or fact based knowledge. Most can barely understand what is expected of them (this includes me). We struggle to understand why we have to go through certain trials, where before it seemed clear. This is why the most important knowledge we obtain here is not comprehension but faith based experience. Our spirits already have comprehension and we will get it back when we leave this existence whether or not we live up to our promises though will determine how valuable the faith based experiences will be to us in the future. In other words, learning algebra or how to play the tuba, etc. isn't that important unless it gives more opportunity for faith based experiences (i.e following God's will).