The entry in the Topical Guide.

See also Accountability; Adversity; Fall of Man; Initiative; Liberty

My Favorite Scriptures

• Genesis 4:6-7
  • “And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”
• Deuteronomy 11:26-28
  • “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.”
• Matthew 26:38-39
  • “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
• 2 Nephi 2:11
  • “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.”
• 2 Nephi 2:16
  • “Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.”
• 2 Nephi 2:26-27
  • “And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.”
• 2 Nephi 10:23
  • “Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.”

Teachings of the Prophets

• Howard W. Hunter
  • The Golden Thread of Choice, October 1989 General Conference
    • “Part of our reassurance about the free, noble, and progressing spirit of man comes from the glorious realization that we all existed and had our identities, and our agency, long before we came to this world.”
    • “So we came to our mortality, like Jeremiah, known by God as his literal spirit children, having the privilege to choose our personal path on matters of belief and religious conviction.”
    • “God’s chief way of acting is by persuasion and patience and long-suffering, not by coercion and stark confrontation. He acts by gentle solicitation and by sweet enticement. He always acts with unfailing respect for the freedom and independence that we possess. He wants to help us and pleads for the chance to assist us, but he will not do so in violation of our agency. He loves us too much to do that, and doing so would run counter to his divine character.”
    • “Given the freedom to choose, we may, in fact, make wrong choices, bad choices, hurtful choices. And sometimes we do just that, but that is where the mission and mercy of Jesus Christ comes into full force and glory. He has taken upon himself the burden of all the world’s risk. He has provided a mediating atonement for the wrong choices we make. He is our advocate with the Father and has paid, in advance, for the faults and foolishness we often see in the exercise of our freedom. We must accept his gift, repent of those mistakes, and follow his commandments in order to take full advantage of this redemption. The offer is always there; the way is always open. We can always, even in our darkest hour and most disastrous errors, look to the Son of God and live.”
  • As He Thinketh, April 1960 General Conference
    • “Although Adam was thus admonished not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, nevertheless he had the right to think for himself and the right to make his own choice.”
    • “Although God has pointed the way, He has given to all men the right to think for themselves and make their own choices.”
    • “God is our Father, and we are his children. From father to child there exists that same natural parental love that is expressed by our Heavenly Father for His children. When the prodigal boy, in that parable which most perfectly tells the story of the sinning, and repentant life, “came to himself,” his first words were, “I will arise and go to my father”. While he is yet afar off the waiting father sees him coming and is moved with compassion. Repentance is but the homesickness of the soul, and the uninterrupted and watchful care of the parent is the fairest earthly type of the unfailing forgiveness of God. The family is, to the mind of Jesus, the nearest of human analogies to that divine order which it was His mission to reveal.”
• Harold B. Lee
  • A Time of Decision, April 1972 General Conference
    • “One of the ambitious sons of God’s spiritual creations in the premortal world promised salvation for all mankind without effort on their part, provided he would be given almighty power, even to the dethroning of God himself, whose divine right it is to reign over the earth. Intense bitterness ensued between that son, who became Satan, and those who followed after him, and the beloved Son of God and those who followed after him, whose plan of salvation, by contrast, would give to every soul the right of choice, and the glory be to the Father.”
    • “Today we are constantly hearing from the unenlightened and misguided, who demand what they call free agency, by which they apparently mean, as evidenced by their conduct, that they have their agency to do as they please or to exercise their own self-will to determine what is law and order, what is right and wrong, or what is honor and virtue.”
    • “These are frightening expressions when you reflect upon what I have just quoted from the revealed word of God. A moment’s reflection will help you to see that when one sets himself up to make his own rules and presumes to know no law but his own, he is but echoing the plan of Satan, who sought to ascend to God’s throne, as it were, in being the judge of all that rules mankind and the world. There has ever been, and ever will be, a conflict between the forces of truth and error; between the forces of righteousness and the forces of evil; between the dominion of Satan and the dominion under the banner of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.”
    • “So, likewise, it is inspired wisdom that our efforts must be spent in teaching truth by the power of Almighty God, and thus we can forge the most powerful of all weapons against the vicious doctrines of Satan.”
    • “If we overemphasize the philosophies of the enemies of righteousness instead of teaching forcefully the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, such overemphasis can only serve to stir up controversy and strife and thus defeat the very purpose of our missionary work in all the nations of the world.”
    • “Wherever you are, wherever you live, pray for the leaders of your country, for remember that they too hold in their hands all that you hold dear.”
• David O. McKay
  • Man’s Free Agency, October 1965 General Conference
    • “These two great forces are hate and love. Hate had its origin in our preexistent state. There is a significant reference in the Apocalypse to “a war in heaven.” It is not only significant, but seemingly contradictory, for we think of heaven as a celestial abode of bliss, an impossible condition where war and contention could exist. The passage is significant because it implies a freedom of choice and of action in the spirit world.”
    • “The world does not comprehend the significance of that divine gift to the individual. It is as inherent as intelligence which, we are told, has never been nor can be created.”
    • “In the spirit of hate, as is manifest today in the world, the very existence of God is denied, the free agency of man is taken from him, and the power of the state supplanted. I do not know that there was ever a time in the history of mankind when the Evil One seemed so determined to take from man his freedom.”
    • “A fundamental principle of the gospel is free agency, and references in the scriptures show that this principle is (1) essential to man’s salvation; and (2) may become a measuring rod by which the actions of men, of organizations, of nations may be judged.”
    • “Man’s free agency is an eternal principle of progress, and any form of government that curtails or inhibits its free exercise is wrong. Satan’s plan in the beginning was one of coercion, and it was rejected because he sought to destroy the agency of man which God had given him.”
    • “When man uses this God-given right to encroach upon the rights of another, he commits a wrong. Liberty becomes license, and the man, a transgressor. It is the function of the state to curtail the violator and to protect the individual.”
    • “Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct our lives is God’s greatest gift to man. Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give. It is inherent in the spirit of man. It is a divine gift to every normal being. Whether born in abject poverty or shackled at birth by inherited riches, everyone has the most precious of all life’s endowments—the gift of free agency, man’s inherited and inalienable right. It is the impelling source of the soul’s progress. It is the purpose of the Lord that man becomes like him. In order for man to achieve this, it was necessary for the Creator first to make him free. To man is given a special endowment not bestowed upon any other living thing. God gave to him the power of choice.”
    • “With free agency, however, there comes responsibility. If man is to be rewarded for righteousness and punished for evil, then common justice demands that he be given the power of independent action. A knowledge of good and evil is essential to man’s progress on earth. If he were coerced to do right at all times or helplessly enticed to commit sin, he would merit neither a blessing for the first nor punishment for the second. Man’s responsibility is correspondingly operative with his free agency. Actions in harmony with divine law and the laws of nature will bring happiness, and those in opposition to divine truth, misery. Man is responsible not only for every deed, but also for every idle word and thought.”
    • “That man is not at peace who is untrue to the whisperings of Christ—the promptings of his conscience. He cannot be at peace when he is untrue to his better self, when he transgresses the law of righteousness, either in dealing with himself by indulging in passions or appetites, in yielding to the temptations of the flesh, or whether he is untrue to trust in transgressing the law.”
    • “Fundamental in all Christ’s teachings was the crime of wrong thinking. He condemned avarice, enmity, hate, jealousy as vehemently as he did the results that avarice, enmity, and hate produce.”
    • “He who harbors hatred and bitterness injures himself far more than the one towards whom he manifests these evil propensities.”

Teachings of the Apostles

• D. Todd Christofferson
  • Free Forever, to Act for Themselves, October 2014 General Conference
    • “It is His plan and His will that we have the principal decision-making role in our own life’s drama.”
    • “Misunderstanding God’s justice and mercy is one thing; denying God’s existence or supremacy is another, but either will result in our achieving less—sometimes far less—than our full, divine potential. A God who makes no demands is the functional equivalent of a God who does not exist. A world without God, the living God who establishes moral laws to govern and perfect His children, is also a world without ultimate truth or justice. It is a world where moral relativism reigns supreme.”
    • “It is God’s will that we be free men and women enabled to rise to our full potential both temporally and spiritually, that we be free from the humiliating limitations of poverty and the bondage of sin, that we enjoy self-respect and independence, that we be prepared in all things to join Him in His celestial kingdom.”
    • “But I know that beyond desiring His help, we must exert ourselves, repent, and choose God for Him to be able to act in our lives consistent with justice and moral agency. My plea is simply to take responsibility and go to work so that there is something for God to help us with.”
• Robert D. Hales
  • Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, October 2010 General Conference
    • “Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions. Our agency is essential to the plan of salvation. “
    • “Our agency—our ability to choose and act for ourselves—was an essential element of this plan. Without agency we would be unable to make right choices and progress. Yet with agency we could make wrong choices, commit sin, and lose the opportunity to be with Heavenly Father again.”
    • “Because of Lucifer’s rebellion, a great spiritual conflict ensued. Each of Heavenly Father’s children had the opportunity to exercise the agency Heavenly Father had given him or her. We chose to have faith in the Savior Jesus Christ—to come unto Him, follow Him, and accept the plan Heavenly Father presented for our sakes. But a third of Heavenly Father’s children did not have faith to follow the Savior and chose to follow Lucifer, or Satan, instead.”
    • “But let it be known: we must continue to choose to follow the Savior. Eternity is at stake, and our wise use of agency and our actions are essential that we might have eternal life.”
    • “Contrary to the world’s secular teaching, the scriptures teach us that we do have agency, and our righteous exercise of agency always makes a difference in the opportunities we have and our ability to act upon them and progress eternally.”
  • To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency, April 2006 General Conference
    • “Sometimes we forget that our Heavenly Father desires that each of us have this joy. Only by yielding to temptation and sin can we be kept from that joy. And yielding is exactly what Satan wants us to do.”
    • “It is our sins that make the devil laugh, our sorrow that brings him counterfeit joy.”
    • “Today I want to convey, in absolutely certain terms, that the adversary cannot make us do anything. He does lie at our door, as the scriptures say, and he follows us each day. Every time we go out, every decision we make, we are either choosing to move in his direction or in the direction of our Savior. But the adversary must depart if we tell him to depart. He cannot influence us unless we allow him to do so, and he knows that! The only time he can affect our minds and bodies—our very spirits—is when we allow him to do so. In other words, we do not have to succumb to his enticements!”
    • “I testify that how we choose to feel and think and act every day is the way we get on the path, and stay on it, until we reach our eternal destination.”
    • “Agency allows us to be tested and tried to see whether or not we will endure to the end and return to our Heavenly Father with honor. Agency is the catalyst that leads us to express our inward spiritual desires in outward Christlike behavior. Agency permits us to make faithful, obedient choices that strengthen us so that we can lift and strengthen others. Agency used righteously allows light to dispel the darkness and enables us to live with joy and happiness in the present, look with faith to the future, even into the eternities, and not dwell on the things of the past. Our use of agency determines who we are and what we will be.”
• Marion G. Romney
  • Decisions and Free Agency, October 1968 General Conference
    • “In this year of decisions, we shall have opportunity to exercise our voting franchise. There seems to be no end to the advice available as to how we should do this. Out of the din of confusion comes the contention that the way to exercise it and really demonstrate that we have it is to help make Utah a wide-open state by voting for liquor by the drink. With all right-minded people we reject this fallacious contention. By the same token, we join with all right-minded men in defense of every man’s right to make his own choice.”
    • “Latter-day Saints not only believe that freedom to make one’s own choices is an inalienable divine right; they also know that the exercise of it is essential to man’s growth and development. Deprived of it, men would be but puppets in the hands of fate.”
    • “The preservation of free agency is more important than the preservation of life itself. As a matter of fact, without it, there would be no existence.”
    • “Neither the Church, its officers, nor any of its responsible representatives ever seek to abridge one’s freedom to make his own decisions—be it in the voting booth or elsewhere. Representations to the contrary are either ignorantly or maliciously made. Usually such representations are calculated to influence people in the exercise of their agency—the very objective they impute to and so condemn in others. Only Satan and wicked men seek to abridge men’s agency. The Lord never does. Neither do his servants. The divine gift of free agency, however, is not a self-perpetuating endowment.”
    • “Every choice one makes either expands or contracts the area in which he can make and implement future decisions. When one makes a choice, he irrevocably binds himself to accept the consequences of that choice.”
    • [Discussing 1 Samuel 8] “The Lord here followed his uniform course. He refused to interfere with Israel’s right of choice, even though their choice was to reject him. Israel, having been warned by both their God and his prophet Samuel, exercised their agency, contrary to the advice of both. They got their king, and they suffered the consequences. In due time their kingdom was divided, they were taken captive, and ultimately they became slaves.”
    • “Let us he ever conscious of the fact that our characters are fashioned by the decisions we make. Free agency does not guarantee freedom and liberty. Freedom and liberty and peace are the products of right decisions made in the exercise of free agency.”
    • “By the making of proper decisions, Jesus Christ became the Son of God and our Redeemer. By making wrong decisions, Lucifer, “son of the morning,” became Satan.”
• Delbert L. Stapley
  • Using Our Free Agency, April 1975 General Conference
    • “The divine plan provided that they be freeborn in the flesh and become heirs to the inalienable birthright of liberty to choose and act for themselves in mortality. It was essential for their eternal progression that they be subjected to the influences of both good and evil.”
    • “As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have this gift of free agency to use in our mortal lives. We must be tried, tested, and proved to see if we will choose the right and do all things whatsoever the Lord our God shall command us. As spirit children of God, we have built-in powers of conscience sufficient to develop our free agency in right choices and to acquire qualities of goodness, humility, and integrity of purpose.”
    • “We cannot use our free agency as a justification to do evil. Man is free to choose the good or the evil in life, and to obey or disobey the Lord’s commands as he may elect. He can choose to act without compulsion or restraint.”
    • “Too many people have the wrong attitude about free agency. They use it as a negative force in their lives rather than as a positive one. Perhaps you have heard this statement: “I can smoke and drink if I want to. I have my free agency.” But why not think in terms of eternal values and say, “I can smoke and drink if I want to. I have my free agency, but I choose to use my agency in bettering my life—in choosing the right and not the wrong.” This can apply to any vice in one’s life. Have the right attitude and a vice can turn to a virtue, and virtue has its own reward. To use our agency for good, we must set aside the defensive, arrogant, and haughty attitude of a transgressor.”
    • “While Satan would like us under his control, God does not control the actions of men.”
    • “Be aware and warned of the subtle workings of Satan, for he never stops trying to lead us astray. He is an expert on making things seem appealing and right, when actually they can bring about our moral destruction. He does not believe in free agency, and would like to control our minds, thoughts, and acts.”
    • “Be suspicious of those who would put you in a compromising position. Never compromise the right, for compromise can lead to sin, sin to regret, and regret can hurt so very much.”
    • “No man is free who is not master of himself. True freedom of agency exists with the observance of God’s laws. Keep in mind that good and evil can never be amalgamated into one. They are at opposite ends. They do not abide in harmony within a person.”

Other Leaders in the Church

• Sharon G. Larsen
  • Agency—A Blessing and a Burden, October 1999 General Conference
    • “Agency is the power to think, choose, and act for ourselves. It comes with endless opportunities, accompanied by responsibility and consequences. It is a blessing and a burden. Using this gift of agency wisely is critical today because never in the world’s history have God’s children been so blessed or so blatantly confronted with so many choices.”
    • “Making right choices frees us and blesses us, even in choosing what may appear trivial in our lives.”
    • “Because our purpose here on earth has not changed, nor will it ever, our Father steadily and regularly supplies additional gifts to make our world safe and strengthen our wise use of agency. “
• Victor L. Brown
  • Agency and Accountability, April 1985 General Conference
    • “The closer I get to the time of departure from this life, the more concern I feel about what I will take with me.”
    • “Thus we see that free agency goes hand in hand with responsibility, and that consequences, good or bad, are the result of our personal decisions resulting from the exercise of free agency.”
    • “The Lord, understanding our frailty as human beings and recognizing the influence that Satan would exert, gave us standards by which we can live our lives and know good from evil. These standards are found in the holy scriptures.”
• John H. Vandenberg
  • The Agency of Man, April 1973 General Conference
    • “These persuasions of the heart are related to two opposing forces constantly at work within every human being. They are the forces of good and evil, which the Master referred to as God and mammon. Coupled with these forces is the individual’s power to reason, which only man, of all God’s creations, possesses. This enables him to make choices. It is man’s control valve of what he wants to be. The forces governed by his own reasoning determine the nature and quality of the choice made. Thus, that which we call character is formed. We refer to this privilege of choice as the agency of man.”
    • “Since the authorship of the agency of man is God’s, should we not look to him for the best media to help us to control our choices? The media he has given to us are the words spoken by his prophets, as are recorded in the scriptures. Jesus confirms this in responding to the recreant Jews of his time, who accused him of breaking the Sabbath by healing a man on that day.”
    • “As fellow workers for the cause of building the kingdom of God, they are our source of faith, commitment, determination, and leadership; doctrine for the foundation of our decisions.”
    • “He wants us to become acquainted with his gospel, to test it, to prove it, to participate in it, and to use it as a base on which to make our decisions. This is that men might base their choices on truth. When reason is joined with truth, there is convincing logic that sets up the path in our hearts that leads upward and onward to a nobler life.”