I have such great respect for this man and his life that I felt it important to honor him on our blog. Our prophets have quoted him and given many talks regarding things we can learn from Abraham Lincolns life.
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809. 194 years ago today. He was the 16th President of the United States. One of his quotes that I just came across is:"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. As these brave men were threatened they did not know that Shakespeare, long centuries later, was to say; 'There is no terror in your threats; for I am armed so strong in honesty that they pass by me as the idle wind, which I respect not'.
Integrity in men should bring about inner peace, sureness of purpose, and security in action. Lack of integrity brings disunity, fear, sorrow, unsureness".
Integrity is not shortsighted—it is not just a temporary change of behavior; it is a permanent change of nature. This group of young people are here sharing these teachings with a group of older men that have made some bad choices lacking integrity and have now become a slave to the choices they previously made.
King Benjamin told us how we might change our natures from a natural man to a spiritual man: “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19)
“When I do good I feel good,” said Abraham Lincoln, “and when I do bad I feel bad.” Sin pulls a man down into despondency and despair. While a man may take some temporary pleasure in sin, the end result is unhappiness. “Wickedness never was happiness.” (Alma 41:10.)
Just this morning as I was updating our computer I looked over to a couple of business men and noticed they were blessing their food. They were doing what is expected of all of us with integrity and humbly doing so. Live as to be thoughtful toward that which makes us strong rather than that which robs our character, not just on this day which is celebration of a Life well lived, but each and everyday we live.
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