Summary and Conclusions
The motivation for raising the warning voice is love—love of God and love of fellowman. To warn is to care. . . . It can be urgent as when we warn a child not to put his or her hand in a fire. It must be clear and sometimes firm. On occasion warning may take the form of reproof, . . . but always it is rooted in love. ~D. Todd Christofferson, “The Voice of Warning,” Ensign, May 2017
The Lord is not only a loving, caring Heavenly Father, but a wise one as well. He cares for His children and wants us to be happy and safe and cherished and fulfilled and free. Everything in His plan is designed to accomplish this purpose. But moral agency, which is the ability and the right to choose between moral alternatives—or opposites, as Lehi called them—is also a factor. This is part of the required education: choice comes with consequences. We can and will learn that lesson through our own experience. As the saying goes, “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgment.”
To close this discussion on the voice of warning and the voice of promise, consider the words of President James E. Faust of the First Presidency: “I wish to sound a voice of warning to this people. I solemnly declare that this spiritual kingdom of faith will move forward with or without each of us individually. No unhallowed hand can stay the growth of the Church nor prevent fulfillment of its mission. Any of us can be left behind, drawn away by seductive voices of secularism and materialism. To sustain faith, each of us must be humble and compassionate, kind and generous to the poor and the needy. Faith is further sustained by daily doses of spirituality that come to us as we kneel in prayer. It begins with us as individuals and extends to our families, who need to be solidified in righteousness. Honesty, decency, integrity, and morality are all necessary ingredients of our faith and will provide sanctuary for our souls (Faust, “The shield of Faith,” Ensign, May 2000). ~Gerald N. Lund, The Second Coming of the Lord (Deseret Book: Salt Lake City, 2020), 30-31
