Principles vs Resolutions

And just what are principles? We had the discussion today at Relief Society that a resolution, made at the beginning of each new year, is different from a principle based creed that can be lived a lifetime. I quit making resolutions at the New Year. I have made some life-changing resolutions, from time to time, but I have not waited until New Year's Day to do so.

So what is the difference in a resolution, a guiding principle, a creed? My thoughts were still unclear. Are there different types of principles that would guide us? Are some of them religious and some not?

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The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: "When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel--you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil [died] before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 348).

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This is the way our Heavenly Father became God. Joseph Smith taught: "It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God. . . . He was once a man like us; . . . God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-46).

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“That word principle in the revelation is a very important one. A principle is an enduring truth, a law, a rule you can adopt to guide you in making decisions. Generally principles are not spelled out in detail. That leaves you free to find your way with an enduring truth, a principle, as your anchor."
(The Word of Wisdom: The Principle and the Promises, President Boyd K. Packer April 1996 Conference)

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"We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Fourth Article of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

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Definition of PRINCIPLE
1 a: a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption
b (1): a rule or code of conduct (2) : habitual devotion to right principles




c: the laws or facts of nature underlying the working of an artificial device
2: a primary source : origin
3 a: an underlying faculty or endowment
b: an ingredient (as a chemical) that exhibits or imparts a characteristic quality

Definition of RESOLUTION

1: the act or process of resolving: as
a: the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones
b: the act of answering: solving
c: the act of determining
d: the passing of a voice part from a dissonant to a consonant tone or the progression of a chord from dissonance to consonance
e: the separating of a chemical compound or mixture into its constituents
f (1): the division of a prosodic element into its component parts (2): the substitution in Greek or Latin prosody of two short syllables for a long syllable
g: the analysis of a vector into two or more vectors of which it is the sum
2: the subsidence of a pathological state (as inflammation)
3 a: something that is resolved
b: firmness of resolve
4: a formal expression of opinion, will, or intent voted by an official body or assembled group
5: the point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out
6 a: the process or capability of making distinguishable the individual parts of an object, closely adjacent optical images, or sources of light
b: a measure of the sharpness of an image or of the fineness with which a device (as a video display, printer, or scanner) can produce or record such an image usually expressed as the total number or density of pixels in the image

Definition of CREED

1: a brief authoritative formula of religious belief
2: a set of fundamental beliefs; also : a guiding principle

(Merriiam-Webster Dictionary)

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Guiding principle: an idea which influences you very much when making a decision or considering a matter.

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The last definition is the one that finally made some sense to me. I would make my creed something that would last a lifetime and it would be something that I could live daily; that would guide my decisions; that would determine what positions I took. Am I finally on to something, or not?