In 2001 President Hinckley gave the youth of the church an inspirational list of B’s, but one BYU processor (2015) gives the modern man an F, or failing grade, in the dating-to-marriage category. He has narrowed down the failing reasons for delaying marriage to six words:
- Finances • Understandable but possibly misplaced concerns about getting enough education to provide for a family.
- Faith • In today’s hangout culture it takes courage to ask for dates, to continue in the process even after rejection and failure, and to commit to one person in the face of so many wonderful people.
- Family • Some parents emphasize getting a degree and/or a job before marriage and are overly protective.
- Fun • Having a good time, distracted by media and video games, dating many women.
- Fear • Shyness about putting oneself “out there,” anxiety about the divorce rate, fear of commitment, fear of choosing wrongly.
- Finickiness • Searching for the “perfect” mate
Source: David Dollahite, BYU professor of family life
Read the complete article from the SL Tribe here.
I personally like Elaine S. Daltons’ assesment on how Satan has intensified his attacks and what he uses to keep saints from entering the temple and “doing the very work you have been prepared and reserved to do.”:
- Distracted
- Delayed
- Disqualified
- Discouraged – from her talk Prophetic Priorities and Dedicated Disciples
Each of you has a great work to do. What you do and what you decide matters because you matter. You are “choice spirits who were reserved to come forth in the fulness of times to take part in laying the foundations of the great latter-day work, including the building of the temples and the performance of ordinances therein” (D&C 138:53–54).
I highly recommend reading the complete address or watching it here. A summary of topics covered include:
- The Lord Will Help You Make Important Decisions
- Lead the World in a Return to Virtue
- A Return to Virtue Is a Return to Purity
- “Ye Are a Chosen Generation”
- A Return to Virtue Could Save a Nation
- Be Guardians of Virtue
- Remain Virtuous in a Toxic World
- Press Forward—Don’t Get Discouraged!
- Unfurl Your Banner of Virtue
