To live in America is an awesome blessing and opportunity. I always look forward to each year when we celebrate the birth of this country. At that time I like to reflect back on all the memorable moments of the year. We have so much for which we can be grateful. This country was found on the principles of God The Father.
I feel honored to be a citizen of this great country. It is a land of many opportunities and accomplishments. We have had many setbacks and downfalls, but through it all she still tops the rest. We each have a great responsible to this country we reside in.
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons).
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law and the leaders. (Twelfth Article of Faith)
Obeying the law means we will have good intention rooted in our hearts to do our part to make our country a great place. In honoring our country we look upon it as something important to us. We sustain our country when we refrain from saying or doing anything, which will weaken or make our country ineffective.
Have you ever thought about what condition our society would be in if we didn’t have leaders or rules? We would use our free agency to make our own rules, responding at whim to any and all situations as we would choose. However,this would cause our country as a whole to suffer.
We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every.(Doctrine & Covenants 134:5)
Our responsibility as citizens is to strive to make our country strong and worthy of God’s blessings. Working to make our homes strong and good will make good people, good people will make a great nation. It is important that we teach our children to love this country and to respect the leaders in authority. When we make this a part of our lives we will be rewarded for all our efforts.
President Harold B. Lee taught: “When one sets himself up to make his own rules and presumes to know no law but his own, he is but echoing the plan of Satan.”(Conference Report,July 1972)
Our righteous behavior will make all the difference in how great this nation will become and be. Let’s not give Satan any entrance into our lives, and we do this by striving to be good law abiding citizens. This is my prayer.
