One Talk : 38 Gems

Neal A Maxwell - Oct 2000

The Tugs and Pulls of the World

Written Talk

Audio Format

38 Gems from one talk!!

I've heard some good talks with some great gems...
but to have one talk that packed!

It really is like a mini-quote book or daily flip calender.
There is a word of inspiration for each day... plus some.

I've selected out my personal favorites.
I continue to listen to this talk over and over... and I thought it would be good to go through the written version and grab some of the key points and write them out.

And then why not share them? 

1. "For true believers, the tugs and pulls of the world--including its pleasures, power, praise, money, and preeminence--have always been there. Now, however, many once-helpful support systems are bent or broken."
2. "God's plan is not the plan of pleasure; it is the "plan of happiness."
3. "The tugs and pulls of the world are powerful. Worldly lifestyles are cleverly reinforced by the rationalization, "Everybody is doing it," thus fanning or feigning a majority. Products are promoted and attitudes engendered by clever niche marketing."
4. "Brothers and sisters, there are so many personalized prisons!"
5. "Like goldfish in a bowl, some are mindless of who changes the water and puts in the pellets"
6. "Granted, some sincerely wish for more power in order to do good, but only a few individuals are good enough to be powerful."
7. "Actually, discipleship may keep the honors of the world from us."
8. "those who bestow the transitory things of the world are, themselves, transients."
9. "How ironical that some go "into a far country" (Luke 15:13), leaving the nourishing family garden--in which there may be some weeds--and go into a desert with its tumbling sagebrush."
10. "Be wary, therefore, when some demand public tolerance for whatever their private indulgences are!"
11. "Whether young or old, we need to be good friends, but also to pick our friends carefully."
12. "By choosing the Lord first, choosing one's friends becomes easier and much safer."
13. "We can also emulate the spiritual reflexes of Joseph in Egypt: when he was tempted, "he . . . fled" (Gen. 39:12), showing both courage and good legs!"
14. "Youth and adults must get out of circumstances and situations which threaten."
15. "The returning prodigals are never numerous enough, but regularly some come back from "a far country"
16. "Like the prodigal son, we too can go to "a far country," which may be no further away than a vile rock concert."
17. "The distance to "a far country" is not to be measured by miles but by how far our hearts and minds are from Jesus! (see Mosiah 5:13). Fidelity, not geography, really determines the distance!"
18. "All the quick fixes do not really cure the emptiness and boredom of secularism."
19. "Further, some who laboriously scale the secular heights find, after all, that they are only squatting atop a small mound of sand! They have worked so hard to get there!"
20. "But why covet wealth anyway, if we only "spend money for that which is of no worth . . . [and] which cannot satisfy" (2 Ne. 9:51)."
21. "By our being understanding instead of abrupt, others, in turn, may decide to hold on a little longer rather than to give way. Love, patience, and meekness can be just as contagious as rudeness and crudeness."
22. "Hearts set so much upon the things of the world may have to be broken (see D&C 121:35). Preoccupied minds far from Him may be jolted by a "heads up" (see Mosiah 5:13)."
23. "Many individuals preoccupied by the cares of the world are not necessarily in transgression. But they certainly are in diversion and thus waste "the days of [their] probation" (2 Ne. 9:27)."
24. "Mark it down, brothers and sisters, people too caught up in themselves will inevitably let other people down!"
25. "Let us adopt the attitude recommended by President Brigham Young: "Say to the fields, . . . flocks, . . . herds, . . . gold, . . . silver, . . . goods, . . . chattels, . . . tenements, . . . possessions, and to all the world, stand aside; get away from my thoughts, for I am going up to worship the Lord" (Deseret News, 5 Jan. 1854, 2)."
26. "There are so many ways to say to the world, "stand aside.""
27. "Alas, so many couples are too busy."
28. "Moments are the molecules that make up eternity!"
29. "Mercifully, our errors can soon be swallowed up by resilient repentance, showing the faith to try again--whether in a task or in a relationship."
30. "The validation of our worth really comes from knowing who we are, not solely from what we do."
31. "By paying more attention to what we are rather than exclusively to what we do, our public and our private persons will be the same--the man or the woman of Christ."
32. "Our intrinsic value is not dependent upon mortal acclaim anyway; in fact, the world may actually see us as weak and foolish (see 1 Cor. 1:27)."
33. "God is infinitely more interested in our having a place in His kingdom than with our spot on a mortal organizational chart."
34. "We may brood over our personal span of control, but He is concerned with our capacity for self-control."
35. "Father wants us to come home, bringing our real resume, ourselves!"
36. "our mortal jealousies still occur regularly over money, turf, a slight, or the "robes" and the "fatted calf" given to others (see Luke 15:22-23)."
37. "True belonging occurs when we know who we are and to whom we really belong!"
38. "Isn't it marvelous, brothers and sisters, that God, who knows everything, still spends time listening to our prayers? Compared to that cosmic fact, what does the world really have to offer us? One round of applause, one fleeting moment of adulation, or an approving glance from a phantom Caesar?"