"We teach that agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and “to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon.” Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions. Our agency is essential to the plan of salvation. With it we 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.” Hales, R. D. (2010, October). Agency Essentiall to the Plan. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/agency-essential-to-the-plan-of-life?lang=eng&query=Agency
"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." Hales, R. D. (2010, October). Agency Essentail to the Plan. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/agency-essential-to-the-plan-of-life?lang=eng&query=Agency
“Mankind … must determine to travel in company with the one or the other. The reward for following the one is the fruit of the Spirit - Peace.The reward for following the other is the works of the flesh the antithesis of peace.” Further, he said: “The price of peace is victory over Satan.” (Ensign, Oct. 1983, pp. 4, 5.)
"Now may I make a recommendation? Develop discipline of self so that,more and more, you do
not have to decide and redecide what you will do when you are confronted with the same temptation time and time again.You need only to decide some things once. How great a blessing it is to be free of agonizing over and over again regarding a temptation. To do such is time-consuming and very risky.
Likewise, my dear young friends, the positive things you will want to accomplish need be decided upon only once—like going on a mission and living worthily in order to get married in the temple—and then all other decisions related to these goals can fall into line. Otherwise, each consideration is risky, and each equivocation may result in error. There are some things Latter-day Saints do and other things we just don’t do.The sooner you take a stand, the taller you will
be!” (President KimballSpeaks Out, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981, p. 94). Quoted in: Perry, L. T. (1993, October). Choose the Right. Salt Lake City, Ut. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1993/10/choose-the-right?lang=eng
"Through the years you will note that apostles and prophets teach the rule. We don’t teach exceptions to the rule. Exceptions are left to individual agency and accountability. The Lord knows we live in an imperfect world. He knows it is “ripening in iniquity” (D&C 18:6). His judgments will be fair, just, and merciful. Faith and Families. (2005, February 6). Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved from http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1419
"Free agency, the power to choose, is a gift of God, conferred on his children and exercised by them in the premortal existence. It is an essential precondition of the further progression we seek in mortality. But free agency cannot be exercised unless there is opposition in all things. That opposition is provided by Satan, who once sought to destroy our free agency. His effort continues. He tries to persuade us to do evil, and to make those choices that will finally give him the mastery he was denied in the premortal existence—to have all power over us, to lead us captive at his will. Oaks, D. H. (1987, October 11). Free Agency and Freedom. Provo, Ut. Retrieved from http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=573
"Perhaps these persons, as the saying goes, were “born that way.” But what does this mean? Does it mean that persons with susceptibilities or strong tendencies have no choice, no free agency in these matters? Our doctrine teaches us otherwise. Regardless of a person’s susceptibility or tendency, his will is unfettered. His free agency is unqualified. It is his freedom that is impaired. Other persons are more free; though they unwisely sample the temptations, they seem immune to the addiction. But regardless of the extent of our freedom, we are all responsible for the exercise of our free agency.
As Lehi taught, in mortality we are only free “according to the flesh” (2 Nephi 2:27). Most of us are born with thorns in the flesh—some more visible, some more serious than others. We all seem to have susceptibilities to one disorder or another, but whatever our susceptibilities, we have the will and the power to control our thoughts and our actions. This must be so. God has said that he holds us accountable for what we do and what we think, so these must be controllable by our agency. Once we have reached the age or condition of accountability, “I was born that way” does not excuse actions or thoughts that fail to conform to the commandments of God. We need to learn how to live so that a weakness that is mortal will not prevent us from achieving the goal that is eternal.
God has promised that he will consecrate our afflictions for our gain (see 2 Nephi 2:2). The efforts we expend in overcoming an inherited weakness build spiritual strength that will serve us throughout eternity." Oaks, D. H. (1987, October 11). Free Agency and Freedom. Provo, Ut. Retrieved from http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=573
"The choice between good and evil is at the very heart of our experience on earth. In the final review of our lives, it will not really matter if we were rich or poor, if we were athletic or not, if we had friends or were often forgotten.
We can work, study, laugh and have fun, dance, sing, and enjoy many different experiences. These are a wonderful part of life, but they are not central to why we are here. The opportunity to choose good over evil is precisely why we are here.
Not one of us would say, “I want to choose evil.” We all want to choose the right. However, the choice of good over evil is not always easy, because evil frequently lurks behind smiling eyes."
Andersen, N. A. (2005, April). Beware of the Evil Behind the Smiling Eyes. Salt Lake City, Ut. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/beware-of-the-evil-behind-the-smiling-eyes?lang=eng&query=
“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...” Lee, Harold B. A Time of Decision. Salt Lake City, April 1972. <https://www.lds.org/ensign/1972/07/a-time-of-decision?lang=eng>.
"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." Hales, R. D. (2010, October). Agency Essentail to the Plan. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/agency-essential-to-the-plan-of-life?lang=eng&query=Agency
“Mankind … must determine to travel in company with the one or the other. The reward for following the one is the fruit of the Spirit - Peace.The reward for following the other is the works of the flesh the antithesis of peace.” Further, he said: “The price of peace is victory over Satan.” (Ensign, Oct. 1983, pp. 4, 5.)
"Now may I make a recommendation? Develop discipline of self so that,more and more, you do
not have to decide and redecide what you will do when you are confronted with the same temptation time and time again.You need only to decide some things once. How great a blessing it is to be free of agonizing over and over again regarding a temptation. To do such is time-consuming and very risky.
Likewise, my dear young friends, the positive things you will want to accomplish need be decided upon only once—like going on a mission and living worthily in order to get married in the temple—and then all other decisions related to these goals can fall into line. Otherwise, each consideration is risky, and each equivocation may result in error. There are some things Latter-day Saints do and other things we just don’t do.The sooner you take a stand, the taller you will
be!” (President KimballSpeaks Out, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981, p. 94). Quoted in: Perry, L. T. (1993, October). Choose the Right. Salt Lake City, Ut. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1993/10/choose-the-right?lang=eng
"Through the years you will note that apostles and prophets teach the rule. We don’t teach exceptions to the rule. Exceptions are left to individual agency and accountability. The Lord knows we live in an imperfect world. He knows it is “ripening in iniquity” (D&C 18:6). His judgments will be fair, just, and merciful. Faith and Families. (2005, February 6). Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved from http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1419
"Free agency, the power to choose, is a gift of God, conferred on his children and exercised by them in the premortal existence. It is an essential precondition of the further progression we seek in mortality. But free agency cannot be exercised unless there is opposition in all things. That opposition is provided by Satan, who once sought to destroy our free agency. His effort continues. He tries to persuade us to do evil, and to make those choices that will finally give him the mastery he was denied in the premortal existence—to have all power over us, to lead us captive at his will. Oaks, D. H. (1987, October 11). Free Agency and Freedom. Provo, Ut. Retrieved from http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=573
"Perhaps these persons, as the saying goes, were “born that way.” But what does this mean? Does it mean that persons with susceptibilities or strong tendencies have no choice, no free agency in these matters? Our doctrine teaches us otherwise. Regardless of a person’s susceptibility or tendency, his will is unfettered. His free agency is unqualified. It is his freedom that is impaired. Other persons are more free; though they unwisely sample the temptations, they seem immune to the addiction. But regardless of the extent of our freedom, we are all responsible for the exercise of our free agency.
As Lehi taught, in mortality we are only free “according to the flesh” (2 Nephi 2:27). Most of us are born with thorns in the flesh—some more visible, some more serious than others. We all seem to have susceptibilities to one disorder or another, but whatever our susceptibilities, we have the will and the power to control our thoughts and our actions. This must be so. God has said that he holds us accountable for what we do and what we think, so these must be controllable by our agency. Once we have reached the age or condition of accountability, “I was born that way” does not excuse actions or thoughts that fail to conform to the commandments of God. We need to learn how to live so that a weakness that is mortal will not prevent us from achieving the goal that is eternal.
God has promised that he will consecrate our afflictions for our gain (see 2 Nephi 2:2). The efforts we expend in overcoming an inherited weakness build spiritual strength that will serve us throughout eternity." Oaks, D. H. (1987, October 11). Free Agency and Freedom. Provo, Ut. Retrieved from http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=573
"The choice between good and evil is at the very heart of our experience on earth. In the final review of our lives, it will not really matter if we were rich or poor, if we were athletic or not, if we had friends or were often forgotten.
We can work, study, laugh and have fun, dance, sing, and enjoy many different experiences. These are a wonderful part of life, but they are not central to why we are here. The opportunity to choose good over evil is precisely why we are here.
Not one of us would say, “I want to choose evil.” We all want to choose the right. However, the choice of good over evil is not always easy, because evil frequently lurks behind smiling eyes."
Andersen, N. A. (2005, April). Beware of the Evil Behind the Smiling Eyes. Salt Lake City, Ut. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/beware-of-the-evil-behind-the-smiling-eyes?lang=eng&query=
“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...” Lee, Harold B. A Time of Decision. Salt Lake City, April 1972. <https://www.lds.org/ensign/1972/07/a-time-of-decision?lang=eng>.