Speaker's Notes | Y Magazine
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Speaker’s Notes


The following is an excerpt from “Allegiance to God,” a devotional address given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Presidency of the LDS Church’s Quorums of Seventy, on Oct. 19, 1999, in the Marriott Center.

If we are honest, we must first acknowledge that God has every right to direct us. We are, after all, His creation….Even so, our submission to God is not simply a question of duty or obligation. The blessings that flow from welcoming God’s rule in our lives are so enticing, and the alternative so appalling, that if we see things in their true light, we cannot be kept from walking in wisdom’s paths. Among the greatest of the blessings that come from yielding to His will, though it seems ironic to some, is freedom….

This path is one of increasing knowledge and capacity, increasing grace and light. It is the freedom to become what you can and ought to be. But for your freedom to be complete, you must be willing to give away all your sins (see Alma 22:18), your willfulness, your cherished but unsound habits, perhaps even some good things that interfere with what God sees is essential for you….It is exciting to realize that we can expand our freedom by perfecting our obedience.

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