Covenants

So it has been another while since my last post. I have not been writing as much as I usually do. I guess it has something to do with my internships, crazy class, my wonderful children, and my beautiful wife expecting. It is like there is nothing to do or something!
It is also Christmas time. A time I love because of the focus we can put on our Savior, but also a time that is considerably stressful because of strapped finances, worries about extended family and friends, and too many parties! Just kidding about the parties, my wife and I can't seem to say no to parties! Oh well.
A few things have been on my mind of late and I feel that this is my personal spot to talk about them without it having to make too much sense. After all the name of my blog is Insights, Thoughts, and a Little Insanity. Insanity seems to be a prevailing force in my life as of late, so I am glad I included it in the title. Who knew how prophetic it would be of the adult years: working, serving in the Church, and raising children.
Okay. So what's on my mind? Well there are a few things, but my main frustration lately is  the attitude many people take toward their Temple covenants.  If you think I am going to get really preachy from here on out, you may be right, but one of the most sacred things I have ever done was to go and covenant with God in the Temple that I would live his laws the rest of my life and beyond. It wasn't a joke. It wasn't a "if I feel like it". It was life or death. My soul is on the line.
Regardless of people's reflection on their Temple experience, the fact remains: They made a covenant. It needs to be kept. It is a matter of honor to God and self. If things have happened that have led to a slackening of commitment, I would say get back on track. We can't blame other people, no matter the situation, for our lack of commitment to God. It doesn't matter the 'hard' things we have gone through, or that we don't think we were prepared, or what not. We said we'd do something. So do it. Go back to the Temple, wear your garments properly. After all we have been taught that the way we wear them is a "outward expression" of our commitment to God. What else that we could be committed to could POSSIBLY be better than being committed to God in our personal and public lives?
I am usually a pretty patient and (I think) understanding person, but when it comes to throwing out promises we made to God, I boil inside. People act as if it is too hard to keep those commitments they made. I cannot understand or accept this. I feel that life is much harder and much more confusing when we don't keep those promises. They keep me safe. Anybody can do it, especially if a person as weak as me can do it.
Our lives revolve around our desires and our use of agency. How and where we spend our time, our money, and our words show our desires and our heart. I absolutely have things I need to fine-tune. But I can't do it on my own and keeping those Temple promises is one way for me to show God that I NEED his help. I NEED IT. How could I throw the only sure source of help out the window. Where much is given much is required (D&C 82:3).

There are people who have been to the Temple and who haven't. I absolutely believe that God will be more merciful to those who haven't been in some ways, rather than those that have been and then gone back on their word of honor. However I believe that he will be the most rewarding and happy with those who have been and who have kept their part of the covenant to the best of their ability.
We may not always live our covenants perfectly, we must always continue to get up when we fall, but we cannot quit, or give it away as if it has no worth, for those covenants are everything to this life and our eternal life after.
So, I would rather be a loser, in the eyes of the world, than a quitter in the eyes of my Father in Heaven and His Son. To those reading this, that I love, who have made covenants and who are struggling: Pick it up. There is no other source of joy or peace that can compare with the blessing of our Father in Heaven that comes through keeping our part of the bargain.