By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Second Counselor in the First Presidency
- What are the basics, the fundamental principles of our membership in the kingdom of God on earth? After all is said and done, what will really carry us at times of greatest need to our desired eternal destination?
- Living according to the basic gospel principles will bring power, strength, and spiritual self-reliance into the lives of all Latter-day Saints.
- Faith is such a principle of power. We need this source of power in our lives. God works by power, but this power is usually exercised in response to our faith. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). God works according to the faith of His children.
- As we strive to understand, internalize, and live correct gospel principles, we will become more spiritually self-reliant. The principle of spiritual self-reliance grows out of a fundamental doctrine of the Church: God has granted us agency.
- We recognize that we are living in a time of turmoil, disaster, and war. We and many others feel strongly the great need for a “defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth” (D&C 115:6). How do we find such a place of safety? President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) taught: “Our safety lies in the virtue of our lives. Our strength lies in our righteousness.”
- Individually, we need to first “follow Him,” and as we do this, the Savior will bless us beyond our own capacity to become what He wants us to be.
To follow Christ is to become more like Him. It is to learn from His character. As spirit children of our Heavenly Father, we do have the potential to incorporate Christlike attributes into our life and character. The Savior invites us to learn His gospel by living His teachings. To follow Him is to apply correct principles and then witness for ourselves the blessings that follow. This process is very complex and very simple at the same time. Ancient and modern prophets described it with three words: “Keep the commandments”—nothing more, nothing less. - The scriptures describe a number of Christlike attributes we need to develop during the course of our lives. They include knowledge and humility, charity and love, obedience and diligence, faith and hope (see D&C 4:5–6). These personal character qualities stand independent of the organizational status of our Church unit, our economic circumstances, our family situation, culture, race, or language. Christlike attributes are gifts from God. They cannot be developed without His help.
- The one help we all need is given to us freely through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Having faith in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement means relying completely on Him—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. Christlike attributes come into our lives as we exercise our agency righteously. Faith in Jesus Christ leads to action. When we have faith in Christ, we trust the Lord enough to follow His commandments—even when we do not completely understand the reasons for them. In seeking to become more like the Savior, we need to reevaluate our lives regularly and rely, through the path of true repentance, upon the merits of Jesus Christ and the blessings of His Atonement.
- Developing Christlike attributes can be a painful process. We need to be ready to accept direction and correction from the Lord and His servants.
Why Did the Lord Call Me?
By Kimberlee B. Garrett
- “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32).
- I am strengthened when I remember that Christ’s commandment is not for me to become perfect and then come to Him. Instead, He invites me—and each one of us—to come unto Him and to be perfected in Him.
The Lord Can Ease Our Burdens
By Elder Maury W. Schooff Area Seventy North America Central Area
- The Lord tests the faith and patience of His people. Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said this about trials: “[The Lord] gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.”1
- We need to trust the Lord. The Lord’s view is much broader than ours, and He has promised that He will not try us beyond our ability to withstand (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). Elder Scott said, “To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it.”2
- We should not murmur. Alma’s people did not complain about their afflictions. How easy it is for us to murmur when things do not go our way! Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “Murmuring can … be noisy enough that it drowns out the various spiritual signals to us, signals which tell us in some cases to quit soaking ourselves indulgently in the hot tubs of self-pity! Murmuring over the weight of our crosses not only takes energy otherwise needed to carry them but might cause another to put down his cross altogether.” Elder Maxwell offered this alternative to murmuring: “Being of good cheer is what is needed, and being of good [cheer] is equally contagious. We have clear obligations to so strengthen each other by doing things ‘with cheerful hearts and countenances’ (D&C 59:15; see also 81:5).”3
- As you face challenges remember that the Lord will sustain you. Recognize that these experiences can polish you as you place your faith and trust in the Lord, actively practice patience, and listen to the counsel of Church leaders. The Lord has said, “Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God” (D&C 101:16).
Stand Ye in Holy Places
By President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) Eleventh President of the Church
- The heaviest burden that one has to bear in this life is the burden of sin.
- If the time comes when you have done all that you can to repent of your sins, whoever you are, wherever you are, and have made amends and restitution to the best of your ability; if it be something that will affect your standing in the Church and you have gone to the proper authorities, then you will want that confirming answer as to whether or not the Lord has accepted of you. In your soul-searching, if you seek for and you find that peace of conscience, by that token you may know that the Lord has accepted of your repentance. Satan would have you think otherwise and sometimes persuade you that now having made one mistake, you might go on and on with no turning back. That is one of the great falsehoods. The miracle of forgiveness is available to all of those who turn from their evil doings and return no more, because the Lord has said in a revelation to us in our day: “Go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth [meaning again] shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God” (D&C 82:7). Have that in mind, all of you who may be troubled with a burden of sin.
- And to you who are teachers, may you help to lift that great burden from those who are carrying it and who have their conscience so seared that they are kept from activity, and they don’t know where to go to find the answers. You help them to that day of repentance and restitution in order that they too may have that peace of conscience, the confirming of the Spirit of the Lord that He has accepted of their repentance.
- You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You must be sure, if you would rescue the man, that you yourself are setting the example of what you would have him be. You cannot light a fire in another soul unless it is burning in your own soul. You teachers, the testimony that you bear, the spirit with which you teach and with which you lead, is one of the most important assets that you can have as you help to strengthen those who need so much, wherein you have so much to give. Who of us, in whatever station we may have been in, have not needed strengthening?
Protecting Our Families in the Last Days
By Elder Richard J. Maynes Of the Seventy
- In light of modern-day wickedness and social conditions so accurately predicted by Moroni, how can we rear faithful children and establish Zion in our homes? We start by realizing that it will require great effort and diligence to follow the admonition of the Lord and His prophets.
- We have been taught the importance of daily personal and family prayer.
- We have been taught the importance of daily personal and family scripture study.
- We have been taught the importance of weekly family home evening.
- Church leaders continually bring these basic gospel principles to our attention. Why? Because the Lord understands that the basic gospel principles that we strive to live each day will ultimately save our children and help establish Zion in our homes.
Gospel Doctrines: Anchors to Our Souls
By Elder Marlin K. Jensen Of the Seventy
- President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has stated the principle beautifully: “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.”
- The influence of doctrine on our behavior can be great and eternally beneficial.
- Perhaps that is why early in this dispensation the Lord said to the Saints, “And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom” (D&C 88:77). Because we can’t teach what we haven’t learned, an important implication of this commandment is that we must acquire a basic knowledge of gospel doctrine in our heads and hearts.
- We can draw on this knowledge in moments of personal need and when we want to teach the doctrines of the kingdom to others. Our knowledge will help save us, but each of us must pay the price to obtain it. To do so we may need to get up a little earlier, stay up a little later, or consistently sneak a few precious moments for study during the day. Whatever price we have to pay, it will be worth it. A determined effort to study gospel doctrine will also have the benefit of immersing us in a prime source of that doctrine—the scriptures.
- Learning and teaching doctrine to our families is the greatest service we could ever render to them or anyone else because thereby faith in Christ increases and this is the surest anchor to our souls.When we begin to internalize the doctrines of the gospel—in Jeremiah’s words, to put them in our “inward parts, and write [them] in [our] hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33)—it will not be long before we and those around us begin to notice changes in our behavior.
- Perhaps the best measurement of how well we understand the doctrines of the gospel is how clearly and simply we teach them and live them. And live and teach them we must! (see Matthew 5:19; D&C 68:25). Is there a better way to tangibly express love to our families than to teach them the saving doctrines of the gospel?
- When we teach doctrine, an accompanying power and spirit will carry our teachings deep into the hearts of those we teach and will bring those teachings to their remembrance at appropriate and critical times (see Alma 31:5).
- we must learn doctrine and teach it. If we do so we will increasingly be found in our homes and elsewhere, as Nephi observed, “talk[ing] of Christ, … preach[ing] of Christ, prophesy[ing] of Christ, and … writ[ing] according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:26).
- Learning and teaching doctrine to our families is the greatest service we could ever render to them or anyone else because thereby faith in Christ increases and this is the surest anchor to our souls.
