Three Gates to Open | Thomas S. Monson

To achieve exaltation, we must open the gate of preparation, the gate of performance, and the gate of service on our life's journey.

Sections:
Introduction - 0:14
The Gate of Preparation - 7:52
The Gate of Performance - 15:09
The Gate of Service - 21:06

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/thomas-s-monson_three-gates-open/

"Whether speaking of your generation or of mine, there are some constancies amid the changes of the times. The past is behind—we must learn from it. The future is ahead—we must prepare for it. The present is now—we must live in it.

Years ago, I discovered a thought which is true and, in a way, prophetic. It is this: The gate of history swings on small hinges, and so do people’s lives.

Today I have chosen to discuss three gates which you alone can open. You must pass through each gate if you are to be successful in your journey through mortality:

1. First, let us speak of the Gate of Preparation. The Lord has counseled, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” Fear is the enemy of growth and accomplishment. It is necessary to prepare and to plan so that we don’t fritter away our lives. Without a goal, there can be no real success. The best definition of success I have ever found goes something like this: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” Someone has said that the trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never crossing the goal line.

2. The Gate of Performance. The Apostle Paul provided sound counsel to guide our performance: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” Remember that the mantle of leadership, my brothers and sisters, is not the cloak of comfort but the robe of responsibility. Accountability is not for the intention but for the deed. You must continue to refuse to compromise with expediency. You must maintain the courage to defy the consensus. You must continue to choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong. The poet John Greenleaf Whittier expressed this truth when he wrote these lines:

3. The Gate of Service. Albert Schweitzer, the noted theologian and missionary physician, declared: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

Today I pray earnestly that all of us may open wide the three gates of which I have spoken—the Gate of Preparation, the Gate of Performance, and the Gate of Service—and walk through them to our exaltation." - President Monson

Thomas S. Monson was First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional talk was given on 14 November 2006.

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