Things as They Really Are

Jacob 4:16 "Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old."

What I got out of Elder Bednar's powerful talk on the use of Mass Media is going to be very beneficial to me as a communication's professional and as a member of the LDS church. {Click here to listen/watch a re-broadcast} I found I need to be more aware of what I am consuming and to what extent I am involved so that I will better be able to stay in-touch with reality. Also, I found it is important to listen to the spirit and to prioritize. We should be deciding what is best for us to be doing right now. If we spend all our time online with games and social media we will be missing opportunities to learn vital things to are more important to our eternal progression. In class we talked about how there is not even enough time in our lives to do all the worthy things that we want to do. This talk reminds me of the cumulative effect. It is important to consume things that are going to be a benefit to us later. We need to be aware of who we are becoming. We don't want to look back and regret forming more interpersonal relationships or forgetting those who are closest to us to a social media online. It is important to view things as they really are and not as how they seem to be.

Also, the correlation between our bodies and the way we use the media that Elder Bednar brought to our attention is one that we should pay particular attention to. Elder Bednar taught that Satan seeks to influence us to misuse our bodies...they only thing he does not have. In minimizing the importance of our physical bodies in God’s plan, he distorts our view of body image and urges us to defile our body outwardly and inwardly. He invited us to learn "by study and also by faith" the ways we can discern what is and isn’t correct in relation to the proper use of the gift of a physical body.