September 3, 2025 — after ~20 listens/reads since last night
Intro
Elder Maxwell’s final BYU devotional (2004) feels like a compass: agency = joy + daily submissiveness. The line that keeps ringing: “Souls matter more than stars.” Freedom to choose is breathtaking—and sobering—because God honors our desires and won’t force us. That means peace is possible without compulsion, and accountability is real.
Straight Line
- Agency is God-given and personal. “I have given unto man his agency” (Moses 7:32). “Thou mayest choose for thyself” (Moses 3:17).
- Agency is complete—consequence included. We can “live and move and do according to [our] own will” (Mosiah 2:21), but “whoso doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself” (Hel. 14:30).
- Opposition is required, not optional. We’re enticed “by the one or the other” (2 Nephi 2:16); no neutral exists.
- Desires direct judgment. We receive “according to [our] desires” and “wills” (Alma 29:4). Educate desire = spiritual continuing ed.
- Real risk: some are “not willing to enjoy that which they might have received” (D&C 88:32). Tragedy = turning down joy.
- No decision is a decision. Delay discards the holy present; accountability stands “astride every path.”
- Lucifer can tempt but not compel. God won’t force; the devil can’t force.
- Patterns > moments. Repeated choices shape prayers, power, and promises kept.
- Souls > stars. The cosmos is vast, but the gift to choose—and choose God—is vaster. Joy needs freedom and submissiveness.
- God’s posture: “What could I have done more?” He gives the maximum reward and the minimum penalty justice allows.
Final Reflection
Agency isn’t adrenaline; it’s alignment. The Spirit clarifies; He doesn’t coerce. Maxwell hooks joy to two daily moves:
- Choose (don’t drift).
- Submit (trust the Father’s will), like the Savior did.
That mix removes panic from decision-making. It reframes boundaries as worship, not deprivation. It also explains why I can feel peace while longing tugs—the peace marks my stance, not the absence of pressure.
Pocket lines I’m keeping
- No decision is a decision.
- Educate your desires.
- Souls matter more than stars.
- He will not force us.
What I hear now
- Name the choice: I will use my freedom to choose covenant-keeping over compulsion.
- Educate desire (micro-habits): one scripture paragraph; one honest prayer; one tiny act of service. Desires follow diet.
- Boundary as submission: Not replying to triggering messages is choosing God now, not “avoiding.”
- Presence over pressure: Wife is in town—people > stars (and > screens). Focus mode stays on; lock-screen previews stay minimal.
- Work lens: In interviews, I’ll listen for agency patterns: signal → hypothesis → test → decision → ROI. Under heat, do they choose calmly and own consequences?
- One-line prayer: Father, I choose Thy will in this hour; educate my desires and make my joy clean.
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