Beliefs and Values

Our beliefs and values create our viewpoint, our paradigm.

We are all creatures of habit which also means we are creatures of conditioning. Call it domestication or socialization or brainwashing or the traditions of our fathers, we all are products of our past and parenting. The good news is we didn't come into the world this way and, with God's help, we don't have to wander too long in the dark.

Beliefs are fueled by ideas. Ideas are very powerful. Ideas come in many packages including words. Therefore, words are powerful. The most powerful words are the words of God. In order for us to tap into this power, we must tap into the word of God. We must “live by every word “ (D & C 84:44) we must “feast upon the word.”And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God. (D & C 98:11).

Using Alma Chapter 32, it is simple for us see how the process works and understand the importance of this fueling process. First comes the ideas or words. Second, they are planted in the central processing unit as beliefs. Third, if they are properly cultivated become our values, standards, & morals. If the words are truth, and they are nurtured with great care, they can become a greater light and grow brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

But the process can work the same way for darkness. We can plant bad ideas, images, events, that do not expand and become light and truth but can becomes fruits of darkness instead. By their fruits ye shall know them. (see 3 Nephi 14:16)

By now you have a bundle of bogus beliefs you are holding onto. The good news is beliefs are changeable. Even underlying beliefs we may not even realize we have. Beliefs that we may have held onto for a long time. Beliefs that we may not be aware where they even came from—even these beliefs are changeable.

If beliefs are changeable then behavior is changeable. We can even change habits and dispositions that seem firmly fixed in our personality and very nature. With correct ideas we can change the underlying beliefs that determine our behavior. Not matter what you believed before, people can change!

While beliefs are changeable truth is not . Truth is the same yesterday, today and forever, for truth is from God and God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, (Mormon 9:9). God is not a changeable being. (Moro. 8:18) If we search for and obtain truth, truth that isn’t changeable, and we trust in a God, the source of all truth, in whom there is not shadow of turning, (James 1:17) we can build our beliefs on a solid foundation of light and truth. These beliefs then become anchors. They become the values, standards, morals, and true principles we can rely on. We may need to do some serious spring cleaning to remove the faulty beliefs that are leftover from our previously held perceptions. We may need to make a major shift of mindset.

Some would argue that behavior is shaped by more than just thoughts and beliefs. What about experiences? Experiences like pain, hunger, sickness death, war, terror. These are real events and experiences that have real impact on our lives. Perhaps using the word belief overstates the obvious: it isn’t the event that necessarily shapes the soul, its how we react to it.

Consider this scripture that you are probably familiar with, from the Book of Mormon.

But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility. (Alma 62:41),

Same war, two different interpretations. Same length of time, two different responses. The reaction is a response, an interpretation, it really is a belief.

The burdens we carry are like tailings of radioactive waste. They are slivers to the soul that fester with infection. They become the landmines in a marriage, that at some point are set off and obliterate love. Like tooth decay, they grow slowly and unsuspectingly. These hidden wedges are obsessions, compulsions, repressions, and addictions. They are fear, doubt, resent. shame, jealousy, and hate. They are buried beneath layers of sugar coated cover up, denial, defensiveness, silent treatment, and even rage, for rage is often an adult temper tantrum of distraction to avoid exposing the hidden truth. They are both conscious and subconscious. But they are there, affecting our mind and heart, and even our physical body, for issues are in the tissues. Isn’t it time to let go? Cast your burden on the Lord for his yoke is easy and his burden is light.