Thursday, May 13, 2010

The World has Enough Followers

I have had many opportunities in my life where I had to stand up and be a leader. High school especially was a turning point for me because I realized I could be a follower like the rest of the kids, or stand on my own. I realized the world has enough followers but not enough leaders.

In high school, I was practically the only member of the church and was in a position where no one lived my standards. I learned to stand up for whats right, but especially pray, and take advantage of those opportunities to share the gospel. Every day was an opportunity to somehow open my mouth about the gospel, I think its important to 'be a light among the world' instead of hiding amongst everything. A leader will stand up for what they believe.

Sometimes it's hard to stand up, but doing so will make you even stronger and you would be surprised how others admire you for sticking to your beliefs and will even follow you as they have many times for me. One of the Twelve Apostles (maybe Elder Oaks?) said there are three kinds of choices we make: good vs. good; bad vs. good; and action vs. inaction. We need to make sure that we are standing up and are following the commandment to "always remember Him" like we promise when partaking of the sacrament on Sundays. Not taking up opportunities to share the gospel or stand for what's right can diminish those opportunities the spirit can be with us.

In college, I've also had many other opportunities to be a leader within my church callings whatever they maybe, and those activities and behaviors I have decided to adopt. Reading my scriptures every day has helped strengthen me and kept my testimony burning bright. Prayer too has opened the door for me to become like Christ who is a Perfect Leader. When we learn about Christ and seek to be like Him, we too can be great leaders within our faith, community, our families, and all of those around us so we can better serve them and lift them up.

I've also worked with student government at BYU where we have learned from classes and living our lives to be great leaders. Setting goals is a great way too to become a better person and great leader. "Without leadership ability, a persons impact is only a fraction of what it could be with good leadership." Do you think being a leader is important? How can you be a better leader today? In becoming a leader you need to set goals and start living in a way to embrace those opportunties to stand up for whats right and follow Christ's example to always be serving and living the way we should. With this I know we can step into becoming the great individual we can.