THREAD: The one thing people who leave the church don’t have. #DezNat #churchofjesuschrist 1/16

A while back, when many around me were dropping like proverbial flies, right out of the church, I was very troubled by their declarations of happiness. I’d think “How can they say they’ve never been happier?? Wickedness never was happiness!” 2/

I prayed to know the answer and line upon line, I have truly been taught. I am finally at peace with it. 3/

Aside from some quotes from past conferences about how either in this life or the next, each person will reap what they sow, etc. I recently had a realization in the form of a life lesson. 4/

For the first time in years, for about 3 months I quit running. I also didn’t watch what I ate. It was winter and the holidays and I basically turned into a slob 5/

It was awesome on the one hand—I was “fat and happy.” And going running in the cold is not as tempting as you may think . During this time if you’d asked me, I was “happy.” It was fun to be lazy and carefree. 6/

But the time came that my clothes were too tight and I felt...super lame...and needed to make a change. So, I started running again & eating healthy. It was HARD. And I’m actually still a little slower than usual. But I lost the lazy-time weight & am getting stronger. 7/

As I look back at this experience, I now realize that deep down, I wasn’t at peace with myself. I let myself go. I gave into my “natural man.” It was fun for a time, but not joyful. Enjoyable, but not worthwhile.8/

Then it dawned on me. This is the perfect example of what ppl go through when they let go of their faith. They leave & they enjoy the noncommittal lifestyle. No callings, no rules, no discipline, no guilt. They become “fat and happy” on a diet of telestial & terrestrial norms. 9/

Some spiral into darkness and sin like Kate Kelly and others. These are the obvious losers in the game. But others are simply indifferent. And they seem to live lives of contentment. Good career, kids, marriage, vacations, etc. What of them? 10/

During my “lazy time,” I was happy and content but not at peace with myself. I had guilt. Health guilt? Haha. The thing is: Even those who say they are happier outside of the church have to pretzel their minds into a way of reckoning their existence. 11/

Thus, no matter how happy they appear to be, there is one thing they will never have until they choose to believe. Until they choose faith over doubt. And that thing is peace. That’s the peace that THIS is the Kingdom of God in the Earth. It is the knowledge of the Plan. 12/

It is the clear direction each disciple has. It is the peace of mind in knowing exactly why you’re here, what your mission is, and where you will go after this life. Those that leave don’t have that peace. They choose to think superficial thoughts in order to not dwell on it. 13/

They cloud their minds with the world, and “hope for the best” if they’re “good people.” And the truth is, many of them are and they will get exactly what they want out of their existence. But until then, they hold onto their mortal lives bc that’s what they know. 14/

And they try not to think about the purpose of life, bc they rejected that in favor of their desire to sin, live life as a skeptic, or simply reject the commitment the Gospel requires. 15/

When you can’t answer as Peter when he said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life,” you have to come up with an alternative. And that alternative isn’t a peaceful assurance, but a man-made hypothesis. 16/16