Your Life on Earth

Our purpose in life is to have joy and prepare to return to God’s presence.  “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."

Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:25

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Purpose of Life

Purpose of Life
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Science has few answers for the greatest questions in life. I could not imagine that life just ceased at death.

Linda talks about the purpose of life

Linda talks about the purpose of life
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I always felt that this life is not all there is. My purpose in life is to return to live with my Heavenly Father again. 
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You have a divine mission in Heavenly Father’s plan.  You came to earth to receive a body and to gain knowledge and experience to help you become more like your Heavenly Father.  Specifically, He wants you to learn to control your body, to choose right over wrong, and to walk by faith in Jesus Christ.

Knowing that you could not progress continually if you remained in the pre-mortal world, Heavenly Father sent you to Earth, much as a parent sends a child to school.

Lessons you must learn here in mortality include how to:

  • Be humble, obedient, and kind.
  • Love and serve Him and His children.
  • Devote your life to doing good and helping His other children to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ.
  • Overcome the appetites of the flesh and follow the promptings of the spirit.

You make many choices every day.  Whatever you choose—good or bad—you also choose, knowingly or not, the consequences of your choices.  Lasting happiness and progression come from choosing to do what God wants you to do.

Heavenly Father knew that sometimes you would make incorrect choices, so He provided a way for you to overcome your mistakes and weaknesses through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Through Christ’s Atonement you can repent and be forgiven of your poor choices and learn from them.

Many aspects of life bring happiness and some bring sorrow.  These experiences help you learn to distinguish between good and evil and to make correct choices.  God influences you to do good and to follow Him, while Satan tempts you to ignore God and commit sin.  When you choose to follow God and keep His commandments, you grow in wisdom and strength of character.  You can experience joy even in times of trial, and you can face life’s challenges with a spirit of peace.

Many people define happiness as possessing things that, of themselves, cannot bring lasting happiness—such as wealth, power, beauty, and fame.  From an eternal perspective, true happiness comes from developing attributes such as goodness, love, justice, and mercy.  It comes from serving God and others and from preparing to live with your Father in Heaven again. Heavenly Father knows that many things contribute to your happiness—such as work, a healthy lifestyle, friends, family, and personal achievement, and He may choose to bless you with these things.  Regardless of what you do or don’t have in this life, however, your deepest, most lasting happiness will come from knowing God’s plan and following it.

Have you ever wondered why God allows all of the suffering in the world?  Why it is that even the innocent or those who are trying to do good are subjected to pain, sickness, tragedy, and death?  Perhaps even you or your family are experiencing or have experienced severe trials.

God has a plan for your life, and He knows and understands you.  As part of that plan, you came to this earth and are subject to natural and physical laws.  You are also subject to the consequences of sin and the results of choices made by you and by others, and God will not thwart His children’s ability to choose good or evil.  Yet, no matter what happens, you are a child of God and He loves you.  He knows everything you go through and wants you to know that your time on this earth is just a small part of your eternal life.

God takes no pleasure in your suffering, but He knows that difficulties, regardless of their cause, can bring His children closer to Him and can make them stronger as they endure faithfully ( Revelation 3:19) .  His Son, Jesus Christ, suffered all things. When you turn to Him you can be assured that He understands and can help you through your trials with His love and direction.  When you have faith in God and His plan, you can be assured that there is purpose in all that happens to you here on this earth.  Coping with calamities can strengthen you and call forth compassion, helping you learn, grow, and serve others.  Dealing with adversity is one of the chief ways in which you are tested and tutored in mortality.  Our loving Heavenly Father has the ability to compensate us for any injustices we may be called upon to endure in this mortal life.  If we endure faithfully he will reward us beyond our ability to comprehend in the life to come.

As the Lord told Joseph Smith during a period of intense suffering: “Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all.  Art thou greater than he?” ( Doctrine and Covenants 122:7–8).