Outside of my first full time job, there was a “no right turn on red” sign at the intersection where I turned out.
And of course, it always took a good couple of minutes, with no cars passing by, for that light to turn green so that I could turn right onto the main road.
I could clearly see the oncoming traffic, and after the groups of cars from the previous light, there would be long stretches of empty road while I just waited.
And so… I turned right on red all the time.
But I started noticing something interesting about myself.
If I was alone and there was no one in sight, I would turn right on the red.
But if there was a car that was following me, I would wait at that red light until it turned green.
Basically, I only cared about following the traffic rules if there was someone else there to watch me or judge me.
My integrity wasn’t strong, and my accountability was to random strangers’ cars and judgments.
It’s kind of a trivial example, but when I realized my patterns of stopping or going, I felt like it really betrayed where my heart was.
The Lord taught the saddened saints in D&C 63:47: “He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world.”
How do we overcome the world?
One way that I’ve noticed is that my accountability has shifted.
Instead of relying so much on the praise or judgment of others, I’m starting to become accountable to God.
And accountable to God alone.
It’s tough sometimes.
It’s still easy to get caught up in that fear of what others will say or think. Especially when they are people that I care about a lot.
But the process of overcoming the world to me has been the process of learning to be accountable to God, and to let all my other worries slide away.
To do the “right thing” because I know that it is something God has asked me to do.
And to avoid the “wrong thing” because I know it’s something that God has advised would not be good for me.
(And ideally, because it’s something I’ve also gained a testimony of for myself.)
And to be honest, when I’m totally aligned and focused on only being accountable to God, my life gets a whole lot more peaceful.
To overcome the world, I am learning to become completely accountable to God.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
5 Responses
I love your comments and perspective…. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for us.????
<3
So often the comments you make so closely align to my own thinking, but you take it further and put meaning to it. Thank you so much.
Thank you for following along!
We had a spot where we could not turn left, unless the light was green; even when there was no one coming through the light. They finally put in a yellow caution light; what a reasonable thing to do! Now you are not left sitting there through 2 lights, when you could have safely turned left. We need to be fully accountable; but it would help to have more CAUTION lights too!
I love your insights, and often treat them as CAUTION lights in my thinking.