Many religions and philosophies teach ‘predestination.’ To quote from the Koran, “God misleadeth whom He pleaseth and guideth whom he will aright” Those who believe this way and/or in similar doctrine, also believe that man’s life and being are directed by a controlling god. To them man is no more than a puppet. This concept makes it easy for those who wish to rationalize their wayward behavior. They may say, ‘It isn’t my fault for what I do or what I am. God is to blame for He made me as I am and I can’t help it!’ Or, God has made one man rich, and one man poor, and there is nothing either can do about it. There is very little reason or incentive to try to improve ourselves or progress in life if we have the idea that, ‘I am what God chose to make me.’ That’s the Popeye doctrine: “I yam what I yam!”
One of the greatest revelations given to man, through a prophet of God, was that man is co-eternal with God. As an individual entity (Intelligence), man has always existed and always will exist in one form and place or another. The second most important revelation pertains to man’s relationship to God. That we are His spirit offspring whom He loves and wants to bless. As such, we have the potential to become whatever we choose to become. We’re limited only by our innate abilities and our personal drive to become. The third most important revelation (I believe) given to man, is the revelation that assures us that we are agents unto ourselves, meaning that we have the freedom to choose. God has given us guidelines which, if followed, will make it possible for us to find joy and fulfillment while we sojourn here in mortality. Our agency, however, allows us to choose to be obedient to those guidelines or disobedient. We are also given to understand that with that agency, we are responsible for the consequences of the choices we make. We can’t blame God, or anyone else, for bad choices. He is not a puppet master or a controlling despot. Along with that agency, however, God has provided a way to rectify our mistakes or bad choices, through a process of humbling ourselves, expressing sorrow, and making retribution, where possible. The repentance process leads to forgiveness of the mistakes we make. Man’s destiny is eternal in nature, meaning that while here and throughout all eternity we may aspire to try to become like our Father.
We can become whatever we are capable of becoming. Progression and/or self improvement should be the modus operandi of those who have been enlightened by these revelations. The scripture in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect,” is our green light to go for it. We are not competing with God; our perfection will be based on the talents we have been given and the level of our own intelligence. He is the most intelligent of all, and we could never be perfect according to His perfection. But obviously we can be perfect, like Him, according to our talents or intelligence.
It has been written that “the mind of man is like a captive eagle which forever frets at its hateful tethers.” This is only true for those who can still see the blue sky where they yearn to soar. Take away their dream and sooner or later they will no longer fret at their tethers but rather accept the limitations they impose on themselves. This is the same mindset that tethers those who believe that man is predestined by a controlling god of their own making.
“The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.” Any glory that a man may attain unto will come by the same source, light and truth.” (D&C 93:36) A deer, successfully leaping over a high fence, will not try to find a higher one to see if he can jump it, too; but a man, who has not been tethered by false doctrine or self imposed limitations, will and must seek for greater challenges to fulfill his destiny. There will always be a higher fence to test the skills and expand the view of the enlightened and untethered. Thank God for revelation!