I am a son of God, created in His image, in a fallen body with natural urges, and with the Light of Christ to lift me above my fallen state. I have been granted Agency to choose for myself whether I will love God, and to choose between my body's natural impulses and God's divine light. I am thereby endowed with a Divine Potential. I have also been trusted to hold some of His priesthood authority.
I have a responsibility and obligation to honor these gifts: 1) to ennoble His image, 2) to use my agency to choose wisely and consciously to remember and follow Christ and to stretch toward that divine potential, and 3) to honor the priesthood bestowed upon me and exercise it in righteousness.
1) I will honor His image by not defiling my body either superficially, chemically, or by engaging in activity that enslaves my spirit to the body's impulses. Instead, I will harness the body's influences and follow His commandments which allow their natural expression in a wholesome way.
I will honor His image by following the Word of Wisdom to subsist on herbs and fruit with prudence and thanksgiving, and on the flesh of beasts sparingly.
I will honor His image by scheduling time on my daily calendar for sufficient rest, exercise, and relaxation, and by resting on the Sabbath day.
2) I will choose wisely and consciously to remember and follow Christ by developing a habit of circumspect thought and scientific analysis, judging with a fair balance of justice and mercy. I will treasure up the Words of Life so they can inform my perception. I will pursue truth, keeping my goals centered (eye single to the glory of God), so my perception is not warped by aiming at the wrong targets.
As an extension of agency linked to being created in His image, I can shape creation by my words and actions. I will speak truthfully, and act in accordance with learned truth and taught truth.
I will reach towards my divine potential, first, by eliminating distractions that rob me of my time and supplant my goals (video games, excessive social media use, web-surfing). Second, by using my brain and organizing my time so that my highest priorities take precedence, so they are not displaced at the last minute by urgent concerns or bodily impulses in moments of weakness. Third, by striving to master difficult things that will yield greater understanding, competence, and opportunities. I will aim towards a high goal that aligns with the work and glory of God, and to care for the poor, heal the sick, and raise the dead, and aid His children in developing resilience, nobility, and mastery. I will learn by embracing failure as the path to development.
3) I will honor and exercise the priesthood in righteousness by cheerfully participating in the ordinance of the sacrament, striving to see others as God sees them, ministering to my brothers and sisters over whom I have been given stewardship, both by assignment and by circumstance.
