Agency

2 Nephi 2

v. 15 And to bring about his eternal ^apurposes in the end of man, after he had ^bcreated our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the ^cfowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the ^dforbidden ^efruit in ^fopposition to the ^gtree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. 

v.16 Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should ^aact for himself. Wherefore, man could not ^bact for himself save it should be that he was ^centiced by the one or the other.


One of the greatest gifts God has given us is the freedom to choose our actions.  Christ invites all men to come unto Him; He stands ready, waiting, with open arms.  He stands at the door and knocks, but He waits for us to open.  No one is forced to follow Him.  No one is forced to accept His gift of repentance and the atonement.

v. 22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

v. 23 And they would have had no ^achildren; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no ^bjoy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no ^csin.

v. 2 4But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who ^aknoweth all things.

v. 25 ^aAdam ^bfell that men might be; and men ^care, that they might have ^djoy.

The only path to happiness is through sorrow.  When God "cursed" Eve, He said He would "greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." (Genesis 3:16).  And to Adam, God said, "^bcursed is the ground for thy sake; in ^csorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." (Genesis 3:17)

Mothers, isn't it true, that our children have the power to bring us so much sorrow?  How many nights have you spent walking the floors with worry, or crying yourself to sleep because of the mistakes of your children?  I just want my children to be happy, and my heart breaks when I see them make decisions that lead to heartbreak for them.  

And yet, is there any greater joy than that found in your children?  Their antics, their smiles, their giggles, their hugs and unconditional love.  The pride you feel in their accomplishments.  The joy when they learn and grow and are happy.

It is better that we should pass through sorrow, better than innocence and ignorance.