So it is that real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed! Such is the 'sacrifice unto the Lord... of a broken heart and a contrite spirit,' (D&C 59:8), a prerequisite to taking up the cross, while giving 'away all [our] sins' in order to 'know God' (Alma 22:18) for the denial of self precedes the full acceptance of Him.
Neal A. MaxwellThe flame of family can warm us and at the same time be a perpetual pilot light to rekindle us.
Neal A. MaxwellAny assessment of where we stand in relationship to Him tells us that we do not stand at all. We kneel.
Neal A. MaxwellIt is better to trust and sometimes be disappointed than to be forever mistrusting and be right occasionally.
Neal A. MaxwellBrigham Young observed, "Man's machinery makes things alike" (JD 9:370), while God gives to seemingly like individuals pleasing differences. Secularism is no friend of righteous individuality.
Neal A. MaxwellThus it is that our faith and trust in our Heavenly Father, so far as this mortal experience is concerned, consists not simply of faith and gladness that He exists, but is also a faith and trust that, if we are humble, He will tutor us, aiding our acquisition of needed attributes and experiences while we are in mortality. We trust not only the Designer but also His design of life itself, including our portion thereof!
Neal A. Maxwell