100% responsibility means 100% control

One of the biggest lessons I was taught on my mission was the principle of responsibility and the blessing of agency. We have been given agency to be able to choose, not only to choose right from wrong but to be able to be in control of our lives. With the gift of agency we can choose to be happier, be better and most importantly we can choose to be responsible.

One of the most life changing teachings I have received came from Elder Lynn G. Robbins from the presidency of the Seventy, he is a general authority for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. He taught that we can only have complete control of our lives if we choose to be responsible for all our actions. For example, when we hurt someone's feelings the responsible thing to do is apologizing, when we apologize, we are accepting that we have done something wrong and we are assuming responsibility for our actions. If we weren't to apologize, we will give power to the issue by allowing it to make us feel remorse, maybe sadness and the matter will weigh in our minds, it won't allow us to be happy; there is where we lose control and we allow an issue to control us.

Another example can be a reverse situation where we are the ones who have been hurt and are saddened, angered or frustrated because of the matter. The only way that we will be in control of the situation is if we forgive. Forgiving others can have a healing effect, but most importantly it allows us to have control over our lives. We can choose to forgive even when the person who hurt us hasn't apologized. If we forgive we are choosing to take control, it is not a sign of weakness, rather it empowers us as we take control of our thoughts and feelings instead of letting the issue consume our thoughts and lead us to more anger. This concept is so hard for me to put into words, but simply put, if we choose to apologize, forgive, love, be patient, etc. We will feel like we are in control of our lives, instead of letting arguments, stress, fatigue, etc. dictate our mood and how we feel.

We can choose to be in control, we can choose to be happy, we can choose to be better. We were given agency to have power over ourselves, to "act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon" (2 Nephi 2:26), to choose to become like Christ little by little. I am grateful for the opportunity to choose, I am grateful for the knowledge I have that I can be in control of my life. I have chosen to be more like my Savior, I have chosen to love Him and serve Him. I truly know that Christ lives, I know that he will help us choose and He will help us be in control of our lives. He is the ultimate source of strength, light and perfect love.