Saturday Morning Common Sense 2 --- I Checked Every Box—But Did It Change Me?
Saturday Morning Common Sense
I Checked Every Box—But Did It Change Me?
A Little Common Sense for Latter-day-day Saints
Listen to the New Narration: Check the Boxes
I went to the temple today.
And before long, there I was—putting check marks in boxes.
Nothing wrong with that. Boxes keep things organized. They help us remember what has been done and what still needs doing.
And we Latter-day Saints do know our checklists:
Temple attendance? Check.
Scriptures read? Check.
Prayer said? Check.
Tithing paid? Check.
Calling fulfilled? Check.
If heaven were run entirely by clipboards, some of us would be in mighty fine shape.
But Jesus has a way of asking questions that do not fit neatly inside a little square:
Did I forgive someone?
Did I hear His voice?
Did I notice the lonely person?
Am I more patient than I was yesterday?
Did the covenant come home with me?
Jesus spoke of people who carefully paid their tithes while neglecting the “weightier matters”—judgment, mercy, and faith.
He did not tell them to stop being obedient.
He told them not to leave the heart unfinished. (Matthew 23:23)
That may be the danger of checklist religion.
The good things are still good. The temple is still sacred. Prayer still matters. Scripture still matters. Covenants still matter.
But a check mark can tell me that I completed something.
It cannot tell me what I am becoming.
Nephi asked almost the same question. After we enter the strait and narrow path, he asks:
“Is all done?”
His answer is simple:
“Nay.”
We must still press forward in Christ with hope and “a love of God and of all men.” (2 Nephi 31:19–20)
King Benjamin’s people did not merely attend a meeting and return home unchanged. The Spirit worked a “mighty change” in their hearts. (Mosiah 5:2)
That is the deeper purpose of every ordinance—not merely to record that something was done, but to help us become different.
The ordinance points toward Christ.
It does not replace walking with Christ.
A map can show me the road—but it cannot move my feet.
So perhaps the better question is not only:
Did I go through the temple?
But also:
Did the temple go through me?
Did I leave more loving?
More forgiving?
More willing to consecrate what I have?
More able to recognize the Savior’s voice?
I am not throwing away the checklist. I may need one just to remember where I put my glasses.
I am simply adding one more question at the bottom:
Did this help me become more like Jesus Christ?
Because Zion will not be built by people who merely completed all the forms.
Zion will be built by people whose hearts were changed.
Scriptures Behind This Message
Bible
Matthew 23:23 — Outward religious observance must not replace judgment, mercy, and faith.
James 1:22 — We must become doers of the word and not hearers only.
John 13:35 — Christ said His disciples would be recognized by their love.
Book of Mormon
2 Nephi 31:19–20 — Entering the path does not mean that everything is finished. We must press forward with faith in Christ and love for God and all people.
Mosiah 5:2 — King Benjamin’s people experienced a mighty change in their hearts.
Moroni 7:46–48 — Without charity, all our other religious accomplishments ultimately profit us nothing.
Doctrine and Covenants
Doctrine and Covenants 50:24 — Those who receive light and continue in God receive more light.
The checklist can remind me what I have done.
Only Christ can change what I am becoming.
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