It's No Fun Being Poor

...now before you think I'm being all negative (again), just keep reading.

This is the talk we had in Relief Society today and it hit the spot, so to speak. What great counsel we receive from the leaders of the church-it's a fabulous read!!

Elder Marvin J. Ashton was assigned the topic for a BYU devotional back in 1982. Reading it seems as if he could have given it yesterday (it's amazing how the words of yester-year seem to apply just as much today as then).

It’s no fun being poor. It is much more fun to be rich. I hope we will see that we can be rich if life’s ledger is filled with daily entries that show bottom line totals including sound moral conduct, uprightness, and incorruptibility.

He states 10 "commandments" to follow to "avoid being poor".
1. Thou shalt not lose a friend or cease being one.
No man is useless while he has a friend. No man can declare personal bankruptcy if he has one friend.
Very often friends are lost because we are unwilling to pay the price it takes to maintain them. It was Emerson who said, “The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
No matter what the conduct or negligence of others may be, we cannot afford to yield in our sincere efforts to be a friend. Very often our family members and friends need our friendship
most when they least deserve it.

2. Thou shalt honor thy character and protect it from self destruction.
We are poor in character when we think getting by is a substitute for doing our best. Virtue, action, and truth properly blended in life make a person rich.

3. Thou shalt not deceive.
Whenever deception is encouraged, the promoter is the greatest loser. He must bear the responsibility for those he injures.

4. Thou shalt not compromise they principles.
All of us should constantly remind ourselves that character is education properly applied. The sharing and encouraging of truth on a continuing basis shelters one from poverty.
How rich are those who can live by worthy principles and manage the results!

5. Thou shalt love thyself.
The worst form of defeat is to be conquered by self.
We should teach, particularly ourselves, that nobody is a nobody.
A person is poor when he places despair over hope. A person is poor when he fails to remember who he really is and forgets his relationship to God, family, and self.

6. Thou shalt be honest.
A person is poor when he thinks honesty is a policy instead of a proper way of life.
Mark 8:36, read this.
Without honesty there is no foundation upon which to build.

7. Thou shalt not wrongfully exploit others for personal advantage.
Those of us who knowingly give ear to dishonesty in any form are moving in the direction of poverty.

8. Thou shalt not believe that repentance is an announcement.
Repentance is not an announcement.
It is improved conduct.

9. Thou shalt not stay poor.
It's not fun being poor, but no one has to be.
Through prayer and action God helps us avoid being poor.

10. Thou shalt not allow thyself to be managed by money.
A person who allows his money to manage him instead of him managing his money is poor. No matter how much or how little we have to live on each week or month, it needs to be used wisely. We need to decide on a budget and live within it.
Things generally turn up for those who keep digging. Financial disaster can be avoided if we learn with others how to help ourselves.
No one needs to apologize for his success in financial achievement if the means of attainment have been honorable and he knows how to wisely use what he has.

After the pity party I served myself yesterday of why's, what if's this was the answer to my prayers. I am so grateful for the direction and advice and counsel given by the leaders of our church. It is so easy to forget the way of life we should live within the church as the world is so in-our-face. What a fantastic reminder to all of us. To get the full feature, you can read it here.

I hope your Sabbath was as uplifting as mine this first Sunday of September.