Elder Allan Packer, BYU-Idaho Devotional, November 13, 2012

     "In God's Plan of Salvation, we are the ones who are being molded, shpaed and polished to become like Him.  It is something each of us has to do individually....

     "He has established what we must do and the standards that we must meet. Something quite remarkable is that He gives us the moral agency of deciding whether or not we choose to accept and meet those standards. However, there are consequences of our decisions. While He gave us agency, He does not give us the authority to change the standards or the consequences of our decisions.

     "As a teenager I spent my summers working on my grandfather’s ranch in Wyoming. It was a sheep and cattle ranch of more than two thousand acres plus additional rangeland. The ranch operation required a lot of equipment. Since the closest repair center was a long way away through part of the Wyoming Bad Lands my grandfather taught us to carefully maintain the equipment and inspect everything before we left the ranch house. If we had a breakdown, it was usually miles from the ranch house and that meant a long walk. It didn’t take long for me to learn the law of consequences. It was always better to avoid the problems than have a long walk. The same is true with the commandments of our Heavenly Father. He can tell the difference between someone who is striving to become like Him and an individual who is pushing the edges but trying to stay just inside the acceptable limits."

     "There are those, if they could, in the world today who are striving to dismiss or change the standards established by God. This is not a new phenomenon. We must not be deceived or give heed to those who would attempt to convince us that the standards have changed. They have no authority to change those standards. Only the designer, Heavenly Father, can change the specifications.

     "All of us easily recognize how ridiculous it would be for a Boeing supplier to listen to some unrelated individual who promoted making changes to the specifications or tolerances of a part. None of us would want to ride in an airplane manufactured with such a part. Parts that do not meet the Boeing specifications are rejected.

     "No one would accuse Boeing of being unthoughtful or intolerant when such parts are rejected. Boeing would not and could not jeopardize all of the passengers who may fly in their airplanes. They would not allow themselves to be intimidated or bullied into accepting parts that cannot be certified. To do so would jeopardize their business and the lives of their customers.

     "The same is true with God’s laws and commandments. His standards are fixed, and no one else can change them. Some individuals who think they can, will be greatly surprised in the final judgment."