Standing for Something

There is a quote that has been on my mind recently since I saw it a few days ago, and it goes like this:

"You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for everything."

What exactly does that mean?  For me, it reminds me that in order not to be deceived or misled, I must live what I believe in, most importantly of which would be living the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Savior was a great teacher, among many things, and so when He taught, His teachings gave those who heard them a better way in which to live their lives.  That is why we have His teachings, so that we can live the best way we know, following Christ's example.  This principle reminds me of a few examples from the scriptures that teach the importance of following Christ's teachings.  After delivering the "Sermon on the Mount," the Savior added these verses, recorded in the gospel of Mathew: "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." (Mathew 7:24-27)  As is stated clearly in the scripture above, in order to not fall, we have to not only hear what is being taught, but then we also have to do it.  In the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Heleman taught a very similar principle to his sons before his death: "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Heleman 5:12) 

Challenges can and will come into our lives, but if we are built on the teachings of Jesus Christ, then we will have nothing to fear.  When you keep your feet firmly planted on strong moral principles, the most powerful of which were taught by the Savior, then you won't be misled in your life by anyone.  Jesus Christ is the surest way, and He will never mislead us.