Sunday, December 5, 2010

Standards

"If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." (Articles of Faith, 13)

I've always loved the 13th Article of Faith, even though it was the longest to memorize. I think it's a great summary of the way we should live our lives with integrity. It sums up pretty much everything that wasn't covered  in the previous 12 Articles.

I've come to realize that good entertainment doesn't come knocking at our doors. We have to be the ones to seek it out and judge it by the standards given to us by the Lord. Many movies that I used to watch I judged by rationalization. Well, everyone else in my ward likes it...and the bad part isn't that long. It's not part of the central theme anyway. I failed to listen to what the Spirit thought about those movies. To be truthful, he wasn't always there. I offended him by choosing to watch that stuff (and no, nothing was rated R.)

The standards that the Spirit "follows" don't change according to the whims of popular fads. I am grateful that society has set forth a rating system for movies, even though it's far from perfect. Having that guideline is certainly better than nothing. Because of the imperfection in that system, we have to be especially careful not to fall into the trap of rationalization. Society's standards are falling fast, but the Lord's have stayed the same.

We can rationalize all that we want, but no amount of rationalization can bring the Spirit back. God's standards are not up for discussion or review. 

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