Life Lessons Learned about the Principle of Free Agency

Life's struggles can be full of heartache, but they can also be the teachers of important lessons. A lesson I learned through many years of struggle is the importance of the principle of free agency. As members of the LDS church know, free agency is "the ability and privilege God gives people to choose and to act for themselves." In the pre-mortal existence, we actually fought to keep this privilege. Lucifer suggested an alternative plan to God's that would have nullified our ability to choose to return to our Heavenly Father or not. Instead, he suggested a plan that would guarantee that all of God's children would return. On the surface, Lucifer's plan appears the ideal - why would it be bad? On the contrary, it was not the ultimate purpose. The purpose of God's plan was to find out what each of us is made of.

As we descended to this earthly life, we gained bodies, lost remembrance of our previous existence, and received direction that we should faithfully uphold; we were given the opportunity to prove ourselves. Our Heavenly Father wanted to see if we would be willing to be directed by spiritual influences or earthly influences. Would we conform to higher law or would we rebel or ignore it? Following our Heavenly Father's plan would mean that many would fail the test and not return to Him. To effectuate His plan would require that we be given our free agency, freedom to choose.

It's amazing how often our freedom is tampered with. Throughout history, governments have forced their citizens to live a certain way. Leaders have passed laws that took away freedoms. Society has developed rules that took away the freedom of certain groups. Employers have worked their employees like slaves. Wives have been oppressed by husbands and vice versa. Children have lost their will in the face of parental controls. Some call people who swap freedoms as controlling. There are many ways to be controlling: silence, anger, withholding privileges, issuing demands and ultimatums, etc. and many more.

I realized I had lost my free agency when I finally had it returned to me. The lack of agency made me question myself, my role in this life, my testimony, and about every other thing. I found it difficult to live the Gospel. Happiness was contrived. For anyone to accept the Gospel, free agency is necessary. No one should have their freedom taken from them. Now that freedom is flourishing, I try to safeguard it for myself and everyone around me.