No Solutions -- Only Sacrifice

[Carborendum]

The title of this thread is kind of a portmanteau of two sayings:

1) There are no solutions.  Only trade-offs (Famed economist, Thomas Sowell).
2) Sacrifice is giving up something good for something better.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf expounded a bit

Quote

forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice.

An acceptable sacrifice is when we give up something good for something of far greater worth.

Oct Gen Conf 2011

One thing about economics is that people think it is about money and finance.  Only as a secondary effect.  It is the science of human reactions via a cost/benefits analysis.  With financial transactions, we have a system (money) whereby we can easily quantify the cost/benefits according to mass judgment.  While not necessarily accurate on an absolute scale (i.e. God's judgment) we do get a quantifiable value as per man's assessment and man's understanding.

Thus we see that economics is really the science of making choices.  So, when we talk about "the economy of God" we're not talking about a monetary policy as we know it here on earth where we are bound by weights, measures, and media of exchange.  Rather, the economy of God is about the choices we make between temporally needful things vs spiritual/eternal goods that we don't want to give up.

What choices do we make?  Why?  What good do we get out of it?  Is there something better if we choose something else?  And is that "something better" only in the next life?  I believe I've lived long enough to be able to declare a judgment from personal experience on this matter. 

I believe every single commandment of God which (if we obey) will give us "something better" IN THIS LIFE than choosing the ways of the world that are in conflict with the truths of God.

An old saying is "An age is not considered dark because the light fails to shine, but because we refuse to see it."  I believe that is true every day, every week, every year throughout our lives.  Whenever we are obedient to the Lord's commandments, we are given something, whether visible or invisible, that is of far greater worth than what we perceive we could receive through disobedience.  I've seen it happen far too often to discount this idea because of the comparatively few times that I can't perceive it.

The failure to see it often comes from being so concerned about what "good" we give up, rather than the "something far better" that we receive.  The economy of God is always perfect.  While it still requires sacrifice, we will always get something better.

Edited June 24, 2024 by Carborendum

[Vort]

2 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I believe every single commandment of God which (if we obey) will give us "something better" IN THIS LIFE than choosing the ways of the world that are in conflict with the truths of God.

I agree. I think many Latter-day Saints join in with much of larger Christianity in thinking that the payoff is all in the eternities, not realizing that we are in the eternities right now. A good friend who was my elders quorum president many years ago put it this way: Many of you (fellow elders) are joined to your wife in an eternal marriage. Are you reaping the benefits of that eternal marriage right now? If not, why not? It's not all in the next life. God's commandments bring peace and prosperity now, to communities as well as to individuals.

Now, if you keep the commandments with an eye to enriching your pockets by so doing, you will be bitterly disappointed. But that's not because there are no blessings, including what we would call "temporal blessings", to be gained by keeping the commandments. Rather, it is because your heart is in the wrong place. You love the things of the flesh more than you love the things of God, even if you do love God a little.

[Carborendum]

2 minutes ago, Vort said:

Now, if you keep the commandments with an eye to enriching your pockets by so doing, you will be bitterly disappointed. But that's not because there are no blessings, including what we would call "temporal blessings", to be gained by keeping the commandments. Rather, it is because your heart is in the wrong place. You love the things of the flesh more than you love the things of God, even if you do love God a little.

I agree.  And I also agree that sometimes, financial blessings also come from obedience to God's law.  For me, tithing is the perfect example.

When I was dirt poor and had almost nothing, I still paid tithing. While tithing was virtually nothing (my income at the time was virtually nothing) it was a big deal because I had virtually no discretionary spending.

This made me REALLY examine what I NEEDED.  I found out how little I could get by on.  My mindset towards worldly goods completely changed.

As I look back, I realize that the Lord blessed me as the widow of Zarephath.  I always seemed to get just a little bit better gas mileage on my car than what I should have gotten.  My soap seemed to last forever.  That kind of thing.

Once I got my footing again, and I started making more money than most of my peers, I found that I still didn't like spending money on non-essentials.  I saved a lot of my income and invested it.  All the while I was a full tithe payer.

[mikbone]

4 hours ago, Carborendum said:

I believe every single commandment of God which (if we obey) will give us "something better" IN THIS LIFE than choosing the ways of the world that are in conflict with the truths of God.

A long time ago I put together two concepts that helped me reason why to act and do the right thing

1) Concept that our motivation for why we act is more important sometimes than the act itself.  From a BYU speech of Dallin Oaks 1998 - Why do we serve at BYU?  He listed the follow reason “in ascending order from the lesser to the greater.”

a) For riches or honor

b) To obtain good companionship

c) Fear of punishment

d) Duty or loyalty

e) Hope of an eternal reward

f) Love of God and fellowman

 

2) D&C 19:7 Again, it is written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more express than other scriptures, that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men, altogether for my name’s glory.

The above scripture, to me, means that God called punishment eternal so that men might be motivated by what Dallin Oaks listed as (c. Fear of punishment).

 

But if we learn to love and trust God, we will not need to act out of fear of punishment or hope for a reward.

So I don’t.  I don’t worry about Hell.  I don’t hope for the Celestial Kingdom.

I try to do the right thing for the right reasons.  And I trust God.  It has always worked out for me.  

When I heard Mossimo De Feo’s conference talk - Rise! He Calleth Thee.  I reflected that we have had very similar point’s of view.  Especially the prelude to his talk - 

Some time ago I asked my wife, “Can you tell me why, as far as I remember, we have never had any major problems in our lives?”

She looked at me and said, “Sure. I’ll tell you why we have never had any major problems; it’s because you have a very short memory!”

Edited June 24, 2024 by mikbone