Seek the Higher Ground

"Those who journey to higher ground love the Lord with all their hearts. We see in their lives manifestations of that love. They seek their God in prayer and plead for His Holy Spirit. They humble themselves and open their hearts to the teachings of the prophets. They magnify their callings and seek to serve rather than be served. They stand as witnesses of God. They obey His commandments and grow strong in their testimony of the truth.

They also love Heavenly Father’s children, and their lives manifest that love. They care for their brothers and sisters. They nurture, serve, and sustain their spouses and children. In the spirit of love and kindness, they build up those around them. They give freely of their substance to others. They mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.

This journey to higher ground is the pathway of discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a journey that will ultimately lead us to exaltation with our families in the presence of the Father and the Son. Consequently, our journey to higher ground must include the house of the Lord. As we come unto Christ and journey to higher ground, we will desire to spend more time in His temples, because the temples represent higher ground, sacred ground.

In every age we are faced with a choice. We can trust in our own strength, or we can journey to higher ground and come unto Christ.

Each choice has a consequence.

Each consequence, a destination".-- Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

To seek spiritual high ground is to rise above the world and its temptation and to follow our Savior. As converted followers of the Savior, we are commissioned to strengthen those around us. We get on high ground not just to save ourselves from the adversary but also so that we can lift others to safety. An important lesson I have learned is that one must be on higher ground to be able to lift someone up. There is no use in trying to help another person if we ourselves are not on a stable foundation from above. As we seek the higher ground, we are blessed with strength beyond our own to carry us through the times we are "tried, and persecuted unjustly, and mocked unfairly, and face temporal and spiritual storms of a magnitude that will seem unbearable to us, and experience bitter cups that we pray would pass from us". Live a better life and spiritually avoid the low pathway where the things of this world dominate.