Sunday citation

Here is a great quote that I found in the Old Testament institute manual. It's by President Joseph F. Smith:

"One of the highest qualities of all true leadership is a high standard of courage. When we speak of courage and leadership we are using terms that stand for the quality of life by which men determine consciously the proper course to pursue and stand  with fidelity to their convictions. There has never been a time in the Church when its leaders were not required to be courageous men; not alone courageous in the sense that they were able to meet physical dangers, but also in the sense that they were steadfast and true to a clear and upright conviction.

"Leaders of the Church, then, should be men not easily discouraged, not without hope, and not given to forebodings of all sorts of evil to come. Above all things the leaders of the people should never disseminate a spirit of gloom in the hearts of the people. If men standing in high places sometimes feel the weight and anxiety of momentous times, they should be all the firmer and all the more resolute in those convictions which come from a God-fearing conscience and pure lives. Men in their private lives should feel the necessity of extending encouragement to the people by their own hopeful and cheerful intercourse with them, as they do by their utterances in public places. It is a matter of the greatest importance that the people be educated to appreciate and cultivate the bright side of life rather than to permit its darkness and shadows to hover over them.

"In order to successfully overcome anxieties in reference to questions that require time for their solution, an absolute faith and confidence in God and in the triumph of His work are essential." (Gospel Doctrine, p. 155)

I love this quote because we all are leaders. As parents we are leaders, as friends we can be leaders as we stick to our convictions, as grandparents and family we are all leaders. By influence we can lead those around us to the true Leader, Christ. And since we can all be leaders, this quote applies to us in a particular way.

I believe that if we truly have faith in Christ, then despite what others around us may do with their agency, we can still have hope. This is possible because Christ has already overcome the world for us.