Fear God more than man

One reason people withhold from correcting others is that they fear what those people will do in response. We live in a society of lies. In ancient times, prophets drew great persecution by correctly pronouncing undesirable predictions upon people.¹ In our day, such predictions are met with at least as much resistance, unbelief, and violence.² In our day, it’s not just that prophets are told not to prophesy;³ normal people are commanded to ignore the obvious and well-known consequences of cause and effect and told not to speak what were considered indisputable statements of the obvious truth just a few years prior.

If you dare challenge what the mob has decreed, you will be treated to ridicule, false accusations, and violence.⁴ You could lose your job, your friends, and your family. The incidence and intensity of recent response has markedly increased, and it will continue to get worse. Society is marching headlong into times long foretold when people will be killed just for speaking the truth.⁵ Rather than challenge the status quo, more and more people simply submit to the threats of the mob, not realizing they are bringing upon them far worse consequences than the ire of the mob.

Correcting others is a non-negotiable requirement for retaining and growing in the breadth, depth, and accuracy of the truth that you perceive. Your ability to view potential is the same, whether you apply it to yourself or others. When you willingly ignore or otherwise fail to act on the potential you could see in others, you absolutely reduce your ability to see or act on your own.

2 ...with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them.
3 And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have. (D&C 60)

To the extent that you do all you can to help all people and things incline towards their potential, your ability to see reality will expand in breadth, depth, and accuracy. To the extent that you withhold from doing all you can to help all people and things incline towards their potential, your ability to see reality will diminish.

To fear another’s reaction to correction is to fear man more than God,⁶ as God expects you to do all you can to help others see and fulfill their potential.⁷ Those who care more about what others think than they do what God thinks value the opinion of others more than the sanctity of their own conscience. They turn further and further away from the truth, and have stronger aspersion to truth and those who espouse it.