No Other Gods Dallin H. Oaks

During today's General Conference Review Lesson, we studied this passage from Elder Oaks' talk "No Other Gods.":

"The twelfth article of faith states our belief in being subject to civil authority and "in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."  But man's laws cannot make moral what God has declared immoral.  Commitment to our highest priority--to love and serve God-- requires that we look to His law for our standard of behavior."

Because serving God is our first priority, and as the laws of the land stray farther and farther away from what God has said is right and wrong, we must remember where to look for our standard of behavior...we look to His laws.  We use a ruler to measure things, because it is a standard that does not change.  An inch is always an inch.  God's laws are much the same.  They give us our bearings.  They are a standard upon which we can rely, and against which, we can measure everything else.

Quoting President Monson, Elder Oaks said, "Let us have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle.  Courage, not compromise (of principles), brings the smile of God's approval.  Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully, but as a determination to live decently.  A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he thinks is right because others will disapprove or laugh.  Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with dignity have courage as well."

And he ended by saying, "May God help us to understand this priority and to be understood by others as we seek to pursue it in a wise and loving way, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

"To pursue it in a wise and loving way."  I think this is so important.  In all of our zeal to have courage and to serve God, we must remember to do it in a wise and loving way.  We can stand for truth and still be loving, but we must follow Elder Oaks' example and also pray for God's help to do this in His way always and also pray for help in being understood by others.

To keep our hands busy and to help us internalize and remember Elder Oaks' message, we made "10 Commandment rulers".  Using the idea for 10 commandment folding sticks craft found here, we modified it just a bit to fit the lesson by turning our craft sticks into rulers to remind ourselves that "We look to His law for our standard of behavior."

To make them, you will need 11 jumbo craft sticks, masking tape, and a sharpie.  First tape the sticks together by twos.  Then flip all of your pairs of sticks over and tape the pairs together, adding the 11th last.  This makes them able to fold accordion-stye.  You can see more detailed instructions here.  Then glue the rulers on and write your 10 commandments.

The glasses...that just had to happen.  Get it?  We "LOOK to His law?"  We used an old pair of 3D movie glasses, since none of us actually wears glasses!

We just had so much fun with this one!

Here are our General Conference Review Lessons for the October 2013 Conference so far:

The Stronger the Wind, The Stronger the Trees - President Monson

Angels to Watch over Us - President Eyring

Come, Join With Us - President Uchtdorf

The Key to Spiritual Protection - President Packer

The Articles of Faith - Elder Perry

Like a Broken Vessel - Elder Holland

Trust in the Lord - Elder Ballard

No Other Gods - Elder Oaks

Beware of Bondage - Elder Cook

Decisions for Eternity  - Elder Nelson

Repentance: The Hope-filled Path - Elder Scott

The Moral Force of Women - Elder Christofferson

Each Day is a Day of Decision - Elder Nelson

Windows, Priesthood & Tithing - Elder Bednar & Elder Andersen

"Oh, How We Need General Conference!" - Elder Hales