Are you ashamed to partake of the fruit of the tree?
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Have you shared what you learned today with someone, or were you ashamed of what you did?
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Did you read your scriptures today and discuss them with a friend, or were you ashamed of what you did?
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Are you going to bear your testimony to a member, less active member, non-member, or are you ashamed?
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When your friends ask you if you’re a “Mormon,” are you going to say, “I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” or are you ashamed to be a member of Christ’s church?
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There are so many things we can be PROUD of!! Partaking of the fruit of the tree of life is nothing to be ashamed of.
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When we feel ashamed because we “don’t fit in,” just remember your purpose. God isn’t going to force you to follow His commandments; he isn’t going to force you to have faith in His Son, and He isn’t going to make you read scriptures or pray to Him.
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The Devil wants you to feel ashamed. He wants you to turn away from the Lord and listen to your peers. He wants to deceive you.
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“He has no power over us unless we permit him.” (Teachings).
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He is going to try and manipulate our choices in life—we have consent!! He has no ultimate power over you unless you consent to it. That’s why God rejected Lucifer’s idea. He didn’t want an atonement. He wanted agency to come without the Saviors Atonement.
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“During all of the taunting, the abuse, the scourging, and the final torture of crucifixion, the Lord remained silent and submissive. Except, that is, for one moment of intense drama, which reveals the very essence of Christian doctrine.
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One can only imagine the quiet majesty when the Lord responded to Pilot. “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above” (John 19:11).” Packer.
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We, too, have power. It’s the power of the atonement that the devil will never have! Hear Him and be not ashamed to follow Him!