Principles and preferences

Principles and preferences 

We were fortunate to have had an acquaintance with Elder Neal A. Maxwell. He was in our bishopric when we were first married and taught our Sunday school class. We invited him to speak at a fireside when we lived on the avenues when I was in my residency where he introduced this concept. He came to Wyoming and was the general authority who released me from my calling as stake president. We saw him in Frankfurt when he came as a member of the council of the twelve. 

He taught us the doctrine of principles and preferences. It is a good way to make decisions. You may ask yourself this question. Is it principle or is it preference? Our life should be guided by the principles of the gospel. These are unchanging doctrines that will lead us back to our Father in Heaven. 

It takes study and time to learn these principles. The scriptures and the prophets are the source of true principles. 

If we use these principles to guide us in our decisions then we will always make the correct choice. It may not be, and often isn't, easy but it will always be correct. 

We make decisions almost every day. They affect our lives and often the lives of people around us. 

I remember reading the biography of President Spencer Kimball. He would milk the cow and say to himself, I Spencer Kimball will never drink coffee. I Spencer Kimball will never drink tea. I Spencer Kimball will never use tobacco or alcohol. 

 

He made those decisions early in life using the principles of the gospel. Once he had made the decision he did not have to make it again. If the opportunity arose where someone would offer him tea or coffee or tobacco or alcohol he did not have to decide what to do. He had already made the decision based on true principles. 

Now what about preferences? The illustration that I have used in the past is candy bars. If you are in the store and at the candy counter there are many choices. It is your preference to choose a Milky Way our a Snickers or any other one. You can also elect not to buy any. This preference does not effect your eternal salvation. It is what you desire at the time. 

In the case of Elder Maxwell, he knew that I would have a choice of what to do with the training I had received. My decision to go into pediatrics and practice in Lander, Wyoming was a decision of preference. It is true that it affected my life and that of my family just like many other choices we make in life. I had other choices, but that is a story for another time. President Monson said in a talk when he visited our stake long after I was released as stake president, that I was drawn back to the area for a purpose. I think that the Lord guided me in my decision of preference, but it was still a decision of preference and not a decision of principle. 

Often we do not make the difference in our decisions, because we have not yet encountered the principles. We therefore have to constantly study for further light and knowledge. The Lord does not overwhelm us, but gives us line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little as we are able to receive and understand. It requires work and effort on our part.

To start out,  we can use the Ten Commandments and then add to them the principles Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount often referred to as the beatitudes. Then add my post of sixes and sevens. Then there are others as we study and get inspiration from the Holy Ghost.

In order to apply these principles into our decision making we must have a testimony that they are true principles. Then, when a decision needs to be made, we can ask what principle is involved in my making this decision or is this a decision of preference? 

Then ask the question what will be the short and long term effect of this action? In other words, what will be the long term consequence of this decision?

Often we may not have time to ponder. Our experience will then help us the next time. Thus, we learn and become better at making decisions. We therefore become agents unto ourselves and have the liberty wherewith we have become free.