I have been concerned that people are undoing everything he said and I want to clear a few things up on dress standards

First of all I feel like everyone is totally missing the point of Elder Uchtdorf's talk and have no idea what living a higher law or standard means:

The part that nobody quote is this: 

"I suppose the guide could give you long lists of clothes you shouldn’t wear, words you shouldn’t say, and movies you shouldn’t watch. But would that really be helpful in a global church? Would such an approach truly prepare you for a lifetime of Christlike living? 

Joseph Smith said, “I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.”"

And this: 

"President Russell M. Nelson taught: “When your greatest desire is to let God prevail [in your life], … many decisions become easier. … Many issues become nonissues! You know how best to groom yourself. You know what to watch and read, where to spend your time, and with whom to associate. You know what you want to accomplish. You know the kind of person you … want to become.”"

So let's get to the part that everyone keeps quoting: 

Jesus Christ has very high standards for His followers. And the invitation to earnestly seek His will and live by His truths is the highest standard possible!

Important temporal and spiritual choices should not only be based on personal preference or what is convenient or popular.

The Lord is not saying, “Do whatever you want.”

He is saying, “Let God prevail.”

He is saying, “Come, follow me.”

He is saying, “Live in a holier, higher, more mature way.”

He is saying, “Keep my commandments.”

Jesus Christ is our perfect example, and we strive with all the energy of our soul to follow Him.

Everybody keeps using the words higher law and higher standards. This doesn't mean that we keep the lower law and add extra stuff on top of that. That isn't at all what happened when we went from the Law of Moses to the Higher Law of the Gospel. Paul had to keep fighting against this. We didn't continue to keep the Law of Moses plus a bunch of extra rules on top of that to create the "higher law". We left the law of Moses behind. This also meant more freedom in some areas like sabbath worship and dietary restrictions. 

This allowed us to focus on things much more important as President Uchtdorf also says: 

"Is it wrong to have rules? Of course not. We all need them every day. But it is wrong to focus only on rules instead of focusing on the Savior. You need to know the whys and the hows and then consider the consequences of your choices. You need to put your trust in Jesus Christ. He will lead you the right way. He is your strength."

I feel like everyone, are still getting us to focus on rules of focusing on the savior which is exactly what President Uchtdorf is warning against. 

He specifically is saying that we are not to give lists of what to wear and what not to wear. Yet everyone is saying that a higher law means that we do this plus extra. 

Just to address one more concern that everyone keeps quoting is this

“The Lord is not saying, “Do whatever you want.”

While this is true that we need to teach good principles about this President Uchtdorf Is also extremely clear about who is to do the policing and judging. 

Elder Uchtdorf quotes King Benjamin here 

King Benjamin went on to say, “But this much I can tell you, … watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of … our Lord, even unto the end of your lives.”

As you can see in the printed version the word yourselves is put in italics to emphasize. We are to let the youth watch themselves in things that are no longer spelled out. 

Also:

Joseph Smith said, “I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.”"

Also this:

You know how best to groom yourself. You know what to watch and read, where to spend your time, and with whom to associate. You know what you want to accomplish. You know the kind of person you … want to become.”"

It’s pretty clear that while we teach principles we leave the policing and judging to themselves. They are to decide and judge themselves on what is good for them.

We are not to build a hedge around the higher law by requiring the lower law to be obeyed and have us watch them instead of themselves. That is destroying what the lord wants for his youth. 

Now a personal experience on how I've learned that what the Apostles are teaching is the correct way and not what I’ve heard from other people (including some other leaders). I post this with permission from my daughter: 

My daughter Emmeline has always been very strong spiritually. She has a strong testimony. A year ago we had several arguments about dress and wear. She couldn't understand why this was so important along with a few other things that I have since come to see as minor lower law things. I could discern that this was pushing her further away from the savior so her mother and I made the decision to completely let her govern herself in this way. The result was she became even stronger. She focused on the savior and increased her testimony of him. She is more equipped to get revelation now then ever (another thing Elder Uchtdorf mentions).

She still dresses in a way that many judge her for and have judged her for at church (which still has a negative effect on her). She still plans to go to the temple and realizes that this will require a change of dress which she is totally okay with. 

I used to think it was more important but now I realize that as Elder Uchtdorf says there are more important things. 

Also the scriptures say nothing about this type of dress only to avoid expensive clothing. It also says to pluck out your own eyes if you are looking lustfully, not to cover up other people. 

I know many are afraid to give up the control but it is the best way to help them find their way to the savior.  

One other important thing after 23 years of being a high school teacher and being able to see into their hearts (a gift I’ve had). I have seen that the correlation between this aspect of what they wear and their hearts is weak to non-existent. 

Our judging of kids (particularly girls) is doing more damage to their hearts and we need to stop. I have seen far more correlation between the condition of their hearts and how expensive their clothes are which is something that the Book of Mormon warns us on.

The fact is our focus on lower things detract from the spirit and the savior himself as Elder Uchtdorf says.

Original Facebook Post here September 25, 2023
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