Agency

"Sometimes the Lord reveals truth to you when you are not actively seeking it, such as when you are in danger and do not know it. However, the Lord will not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you. As you make this practice in your life, you will be more perceptive to the feelings that come with spiritual guidance."

Richard G. Scott, “To Acquire Spiritual Guidance”, November 2009


"We have implanted in our souls a desire to be free. The Lord understood this when He granted us our mortal probation. With that freedom, however, comes accountability. We are instructed not to idle away our time nor bury our talents and not use them. We are expected to make our lives better through our own initiatives and efforts."

L. Tom Perry, “Youth of the Noble Birthright”, November 1998

"Wise parents prepare their children to get along without them. They provide opportunities for growth as children acquire the spiritual maturity to exercise their agency properly. And yes, this means children will sometimes make mistakes and learn from them."

Larry Y. Wilson, “Only Upon the Principles of Righteousness”, April 2012

“Brothers and sisters, in a world where everyone is granted agency, some of our loved ones may stray for a season. But we can never give up. We must always go back for them—we must never stop trying.”

Bradley D. Foster, “Mother Told Me”, May 2010

“Agency—our power to choose—is fundamental to the gospel plan that brings us to earth. God does not intervene to forestall the consequences of some persons’ choices in order to protect the well-being of other persons—even when they kill, injure, or oppress one another—for this would destroy His plan for our eternal progress (compare Alma 42:8). He will bless us to endure the consequences of others’ choices, but He will not prevent those choices (compare Mosiah 24:14–15).”

Dallin H. Oaks, “Love and Law”, November 2009

"We were given our agency. We must use it wisely and remain close to the Spirit; otherwise, we foolishly find ourselves yielding to the enticements of the adversary. We know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ our mistakes can be washed clean, and our mortal body will be restored to its perfect frame.”

Boyd K. Packer, “Prayer and Promptings”, November 2009

“Impressions of the Spirit can come in response to urgent prayer or unsolicited when needed. Sometimes the Lord reveals truth to you when you are not actively seeking it, such as when you are in danger and do not know it. However, the Lord will not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you. As you make this a practice in your life, you will be more perceptive to the feelings that come with spiritual guidance. Then, when that guidance comes, sometimes when you least expect it, you will recognize it more easily.”

Richard G. Scott, “To Acquire Spiritual Guidance”, November 2009

“Being provident providers, we must keep that most basic commandment, ‘Thou shalt not covet’ (Exodus 20:17). Our world is fraught with feelings of entitlement. . . . If our family does not have everything the neighbors have, . . . we go into debt to buy things we can’t afford—and things we do not really need. Whenever we do this, we become poor temporally and spiritually.”

Robert D. Hales, “Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually”, May 2009

"We tend to think of agency as a personal matter. If we ask someone to define 'moral agency,' the answer will probably be something like this: 'Moral agency means I am free to make choices for myself.' Often overlooked is the fact that choices have consequences; we forget also that agency offers the same privilege of choice to others. At times we will be affected adversely by the way other people choose to exercise their agency. Our Heavenly Father feels so strongly about protecting our agency that he allows his children to exercise it, either for good or for evil."

M. Russell Ballard, “Answers to Life’s Questions”, May 1995

"Endowed with agency, you and I are agents, and we primarily are to act and not just be acted upon. To believe that someone or something can make us feel offended, angry, hurt, or bitter diminishes our moral agency and transforms us into objects to be acted upon. As agents, however, you and I have the power to act and to choose how we will respond to an offensive or hurtful situation."

David A. Bednar, “And Nothing Shall Offend Them”, November 2006


       In the premortal existence, we were given a choice.  Lucifer presented a plan, which gave us the chance to surely return back to our father in Heaven.  All we had to do was do exactly as he said.  The plan Jesus presented was very different from Lucifer's.  We would have a choice in all of our actions.  While we would have this freedom, the chance is there that we will not make it back to God's presence.
       Clearly, the plan that won was Christ's.  We have the great gift of agency.  We are able to make our own choices.  When an action is done because it is truly what we believe, and who we are, and not because we are forced into it, it is so much more meaningful.  It shows that we are making those decisions because it's who we are inside.  It's a matter of "being", and not simply "doing".