The Strength Of Youth

[Michael]

Agency And Accountability: Choose Righteousness and happiness, no matter what your circumstances. Take responsibility for the choices you make. Develop your abilities and talents, and use them for good. Avoid idleness and be willing to work hard.

Gratitude: Have a spirit of gratitude in all you do and say. Thank God for your blessings, and express appreciation to others who help you.

Education: Prepare to be an influence for good in the world. Obtain an education, and be enthusiastic about learning. Attend seminary.

Family: Do your part to build a happy home. Honor your parents, and strengthen your relationships with your brothers and sisters.

Friends: Choose friends who share your high standards. Treat everyone with kindness and respect. Invite friends of other faiths to Church activities. Reach out to new converts
and those who are less active.

Dress and Appearance: Dress modestly to show respect for God and yourself. Never lower your dress standards for any occasion. Do not disfigure your body with tattoos and body piercings.

Entertainment and the Media: Choose uplifting entertainment. Avoid anything that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Commit to keeping God's standards.


Music and dancing:Music is an important and powerful part of life. It can
be an influence for good that helps you draw closer to
Heavenly Father. However, it can also be used for wicked
purposes. Unworthy music may seem harmless, but it
can have evil effects on your mind and spirit.
Choose carefully the music you listen to. Pay attention
to how you feel when you are listening. Don’t
listen to music that drives away the Spirit, encourages
immorality, glorifies violence, uses foul or offensive
language, or promotes Satanism or other evil practices.

Language: How you speak says much about who you are. Clean
and intelligent language is evidence of a bright and
wholesome mind. Use language that uplifts, encourages,
and compliments others. Do not insult others or put
them down, even in joking. Speak kindly and positively
about others so you can fulfill the Lord’s commandment
to love one another. When you use good language, you
invite the Spirit to be with you.
Always use the names of God and Jesus Christ with
reverence and respect. Misusing their names is a sin.
Profane, vulgar, or crude language or gestures, as well
as jokes about immoral actions, are offensive to the
Lord and to others. Foul language harms your spirit and
degrades you. Do not let others influence you to use it.

Dating: In cultures where dating or courtship is acceptable,
dating can help you develop lasting friendships and
eventually find an eternal companion. Date only those
who have high standards and in whose company you
can maintain your standards. A young man and a young
woman on a date are responsible to help each other
maintain their standards and to protect each other’s
honor and virtue. You must honor the sanctity of the
priesthood and of womanhood.
Do not date until you are at least 16 years old. Dating
before then can lead to immorality, limit the number of
other young people you meet, and deprive you of experiences
that will help you choose an eternal partner.
Not all teenagers need to date or even want to.
Many young people do not date during their teen years
because they are not yet interested, do not have opportunities,
or simply want to delay forming serious relationships.
However, good friendships can and should be
developed at every age.

Sexual Purity: Physical intimacy between husband and wife is beautiful
and sacred. It is ordained of God for the creation of
children and for the expression of love between husband
and wife. God has commanded that sexual intimacy be
reserved for marriage.
When you obey God’s commandment to be sexually
pure, you prepare yourself to make and keep sacred
covenants in the temple. You prepare yourself to build
a strong marriage and to bring children into the world
as part of a loving family. You protect yourself from the
emotional damage that always comes from sharing
physical intimacies with someone outside of marriage.
Do not have any sexual relations before marriage,
and be completely faithful to your spouse after marriage.
Satan may tempt you to rationalize that sexual intimacy
before marriage is acceptable when two people are in love.
That is not true. In God’s sight, sexual sins are extremely
serious because they defile the power God has given us to
create life. The prophet Alma taught that sexual sins are
more serious than any other sins except murder or denying
the Holy Ghost (see Alma 39:5).

Repentance: The Savior gave His life for us and suffered for
our sins. This great sacrifice is called the Atonement.
Through the Atonement, you can receive forgiveness
and be cleansed from your sins when you repent. When
you do what is necessary to receive forgiveness, you will
know for yourself the power of the Atonement and the
love God has for you. You will feel the peace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, which will bring you great strength.

Honesty: Be honest with yourself, others, and the Lord. When
you are honest in every way, you build strength of character
that will allow you to be of great service to God
and others. You will be blessed with peace of mind and
self-respect. When you are honest, you will be trusted by
the Lord and by those around you.
Dishonesty hurts you and usually hurts others as well.
When you lie, steal, shoplift, or cheat, you damage your
spirit and become less able to do good things. Be honest
in your job, giving a full amount of work for your pay.
Don’t rationalize that wrong is right, even though
many people around you may think there is no harm
in being dishonest. Being honest requires courage and
commitment to do what you know is right.

Sabbath Day Observance: The Lord has given the Sabbath day for your benefit
and has commanded you to keep it holy. Observing the
Sabbath will bring you closer to the Lord and to your
family. It will give you needed rest and rejuvenation.
Many uplifting activities are appropriate for the
Sabbath. Worship the Lord, attend church, spend quiet
time with your family, study the gospel, write letters,
write in your journal, do family history work, and visit
the sick or homebound. Your dress before, during,
and after church meetings should show respect for
the Sabbath.
When seeking a job, share with your potential
employer your desire to attend your Sunday meetings
and keep the Sabbath day holy. Many employers value

Tithes and Offerings: The law of tithing is an important commandment
that you should obey throughout your life. A tithe is
one-tenth of your income.
Paying tithing shows your gratitude for all that God
has given you. It is a way to help build God’s kingdom
on earth. Tithing is used to build temples and meetinghouses,
translate and publish the scriptures, provide
Church materials to members, do missionary work,
perform temple and family history work, and support
seminaries and institutes.
Your attitude is important in paying tithing. Pay it
because you love the Lord and have faith in Him. Pay it
willingly with a thankful heart. Pay it first, even when
you think you don’t have enough money to meet your
other needs. Doing so will help you overcome selfishness
and be more receptive to the Spirit.

Physical Health: The Lord has commanded you to take good care
of your body. To do this, observe the Word of Wisdom,
found in Doctrine and Covenants 89. Eat nutritious
food, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep. When
you do all these things, you remain free from harmful
addictions and have control over your life. You gain
the blessings of a healthy body, an alert mind, and the
guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Never use tobacco products, such as cigarettes, snuff,
chewing tobacco, cigars, and pipe tobacco. They are very
addictive and will damage your body and shorten your
life. Also, do not drink coffee or tea, for these are addictive
and harmful.
Any form of alcohol is harmful to your body and
spirit. Being under the influence of alcohol weakens
your judgment and self-control and could lead you
to break the law of chastity or other commandments.
Drinking can lead to alcoholism, which destroys
individuals and families.

Service to Others: Service to others is one of the most important characteristics
of a disciple of Jesus Christ. A disciple is willing
to bear other people’s burdens and to comfort those
who need comfort (see Mosiah 18:8–9). Often Heavenly
Father will meet the needs of others through you.
When serving, look to the Savior as your example.
Although He came to earth as the Son of God, He
humbly served those around Him.
There are many ways to serve others. You can serve
in your Church assignments and in your home, school,
and community. Seek daily the guidance of the Holy
Ghost to know whom to serve and how to help
meet their needs. Often the most important service
is expressed through simple, everyday acts of kindness.
As you devote yourself to serving others, you will
draw closer to Heavenly Father. Your heart will be filled
with love. Your capacities will increase, and your life
and the lives of those around you will be blessed.

Go Forward with Faith The standards presented in this pamphlet will help you
make correct choices. Review them often and ask yourself,
“Am I living the way the Lord wants me to live?”
To help you become all that the Lord wants you to
become, get on your knees each day and express to Him
the desires of your heart. He is the source of all wisdom,
and you need His help. He will hear and answer you.
Read the scriptures daily. They are a powerful source
of personal revelation and a constant strength to your
testimony.
Remember and keep the covenants you made when
you were baptized and that you renew each week when
you partake of the sacrament. You young men should
keep the covenants you made when you received the
priesthood. Keeping these covenants now will help you
prepare for the temple covenants you will make in the
future.
Be true to the Lord and to His Church in all circumstances.
The authorities of the Church will lead you in
paths of happiness. Be grateful for your membership
in God’s great kingdom.
Be humble and willing to listen to the whisperings of
the Spirit. Place

Amen

[maedoc]

Wow! Thanks for adding this!

[Michael]

Your welcome

[Dream.Hunter_13eta]

So my question is this... when we watch entertainment and avoiding violence, where's the limit? Of course, we avoid the R-rated movies, books, M-rated video games, etc, where the blood and gore are glorified so we do not make the Spirit leave, but even PG-13, sometimes PG stuff can feel violent.

The pamphlet is pretty direct-forward in what to do and what to avoid; I've also heard stories where they thinking, "just this once, it's not that bad" led them to a path of sin. While they do repent, their actions will stay with them for the rest of their live. Then what about the popular movies, like Iron Man, Dark Knight, and some more I can't think of on the top of my head with a little bit of violence? How much are we REALLY allowed to tolerate?

[Michael]

Well. i seen the Dark Knight. I think it wasn't that bad with the violence, Tho if the movies books and games. it is a free will. they tell us what to do in the Strength Of Youth. some youth don't follow it. some do. i myself is working on it so i can follow it 100 %

[Dream.Hunter_13eta]

Ah I see. I guess it's up to each's agency then. Now that I think about it, I guess I haven't been following the pamphlet even 70% of the time. Better start working harder from now on =P

[Michael]

that will be good

[LDSgirl]

I try to follow it pretty close!

[Michael]

i been following it and i'm doing good right now