One of my most memorable seminary lessons was in my junior year of high school while studying the New Testament. As we began studying the lives of Christ and his disciples it really stood out to me how very little we know about the early years of Jesus. We have the story of His birth and that in his toddler years He moved to Egypt and then to Nazareth. We have Him in the temple, teaching the people and answering (not asking) their questions. And that about sums it up. Next thing we know he’s getting baptized and tempted and turning water into wine.
The best scripture we have is this one from the Gospel of Luke (2:52): “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Boom. His entire childhood, teenage years, and twenties summed up in one sentence. Thirty years in one verse.
And yet my seminary teacher was able to spin an entire lesson out of it. He broke each of those statements down: “increased in wisdom” (He was learning his trade and about the world around Him.), “in stature” (He grew physically.), “and in favor with God” (He learned spiritual lessons and His role in Heavenly Father’s plan.), “and man” (He was social, becoming known by the people in His hometown.) Here is an excellent, well-rounded pattern for our lives.
Each year most of us make “New Year Resolutions.” Most years mine is to make no other resolutions. It’s really easy to keep. But why should I use the New Year to do it? Shouldn’t I be doing it all the time? Well, yeah. Do I? Nope. I do, however, try to pattern my goals in life after this scripture about Jesus’ formative years. I try to keep up on my studies, always learn new things, and develop my talents. I try to eat healthy and exercise or play sports from time to time. I try to keep up with prayers and scripture study and Church meetings and callings and developing spiritual talents and just life, the universe, and everything. And I try to be a little more social than I usually am, keeping my house, room and car clean for guests, attending FHE and other activities, and maybe going on some dates. I’m not perfect, so I’m often very short of my goals, but I’m working on them.
How are you, my dear brothers and sisters, doing on your New Year Resolutions? On January 17th was “National Ditch Your Resolution Day.” How many of you even lasted that long? Or did you wait to do it on the Lunar New Year (yesterday, the 28th)? How many are still going? Wherever you’re at, let me tell you, brothers and sisters, that you can still work on things that will make you a better person, that will bring you closer to Christ and following His example. You can do it.
As I thought about what to talk, this was my driving impression: not getting discouraged and finding the strength and faith to do the things we want to improve. As we think about all of the things we want to accomplish in life or as we look at others in their seemingly perfect lives, it can get a little depressing. May I offer my thoughts on this and implement the doctrine of the Church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I will take much of my inspiration from this last General Conference and even the General Women’s Session. Yes, some real men do actually read and listen to it just like the sisters can read and listen to the Priesthood Session. Sometimes the Women’s Session sounds nicer and is very uplifting.
First, remember that you are a beloved son or daughter of our Heavenly Father. The Family: A Proclamation to the World states, “Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.” Many of the sisters will remember reading/reciting the Young Women’s theme that begins, “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.” Never forget that. It has been said by President John Taylor, and many others of our prophets and apostles have been fond of saying, “We are gods in embryo.” We have so much potential. If we follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can live with God again and become like Him. Think spiritual DNA: Divine Nature and Attributes. We all have them, everyone on this Earth. All have that potential.
One way to find some of the potential that our Heavenly Father sees in us is to receive and study our patriarchal blessings. There are many promises given through such a blessing that are specifically given only to you. Sure, everyone’s blessing probably talks about doing some very general things in life (missions, careers, families, callings), but there are some very specific phrases and blessings that will have special meaning to you.
Second, I would admonish you never to compare yourself with others. Sister Jean B. Bingham said in her talk in the Women’s Conference, “Sometimes, we look at what others might have or be and feel we are less in comparison. We become focused on the Pinterest or Instagram versions of life or caught up in our school’s or workplace’s preoccupation with competition. However, when we take a moment to “count [our] many blessings,” we see with a truer perspective and recognize the goodness of God to all of His children.”
The only person with whom you should ever compare yourself is yourself. Are you better today than you were yesterday? Than last week, last month, last year? Are you becoming the better person you want to be? I essentially want to copy and paste all of Elder J. Devn Cornish’s talk “Am I Good Enough?” right now, but a small part will have to suffice.
“Please, my beloved brothers and sisters, we must stop comparing ourselves to others. We torture ourselves needlessly by competing and comparing. We falsely judge our self-worth by the things we do or don’t have and by the opinions of others. If we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today—and even to how we want to be in the future. The only opinion of us that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks of us. Please sincerely ask Him what He thinks of you. He will love and correct but never discourage us.”
It is discouraging to compare ourselves with others. To quote President Uchtdorf’s two-word counsel, “Stop it!” Each of us has talents given to us by our Heavenly Father through His Spirit. You don’t have to be the best at anything to be good at something.
Finally, I would talk about how we can accomplish our goals. None of this happens overnight. It takes our whole life of continually following Jesus Christ. We won’t be perfect in this life, but it is something to strive toward even as we continually fall short. The commandment still stands, “Ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven, is perfect.”
I feel that we too often try to do too much as millennials. We think we have to be perfect, that we have to fit the mold, and get it all right now. It gets discouraging when we fail or are told by others that we are failures for not being as far as they think we should be. We need to focus on what makes us true millennials just like President Nelson taught last year. Like he taught us just this month, we have many wonderful examples to follow including our Latter-day Prophets, and especially that of Jesus Christ as we learn of Him, to help us to become our great potential.
The Apostle Paul told the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (4:13) We really can. As we learn of Christ like we have been assigned, we will grow closer to Him and we will gain spiritual strength to do many things. That doesn’t mean that we get some faith and suddenly do all things, though. King Benjamin told us that we should not run faster than we have strength. Paul had to start the Corinthians with milk and not meat. Joseph Smith learned line upon line, and precept upon precept.
When talking to patients about making lifestyle changes to improve their medical conditions, there are often many different options. Bacterial infection, sure: just put this antibiotic cream on it or take this twice a day until it’s gone and hope it starts getting better in a couple days. But with complex, chronic conditions, like high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, and insomnia, there are lists of things that can be told to the patient (diet, exercise, medications, counseling, sleep hygiene and so on) that it gets overwhelming. In a class we were told to plan no more than three to five changes for a patient. Yes, you want to recommend everything and make them better instantly, but these things take time.
It’s the same with making changes in our lives to achieve our goals. We would like to do everything all at once, but it will be overwhelming and daunting. Try to make small changes over time and you’ll see the results. A phrase that I like from my patriarchal blessing is “in due time.” I don’t need to rush anything and everything. If I’m working towards my goals and Heavenly Father’s plan for me, I will achieve them in His time.
Going back to President Uchtdorf, in the Women’s Conference in his talk “Fourth Floor, Last Door”, the title story at the end of his talk illustrates that it is by constant persistence and endurance to the end that we achieve what we are meant to do. Two missionaries had a rough day knocking doors in Germany. They started at the bottom of a four-story building, knocking on doors and getting rejected all the way up. It wasn’t until they knocked on the very last door of the fourth floor that they found an apartment with a little girl and her widow mother. After reading the Book of Mormon the next few days, they were baptized shortly after. A certain deacon caught the eye of that little girl in sacrament meeting. That deacon was Dieter Uchtdorf, and it was his wife Harriet that had opened that last door. See how persistence pays off?
I have always liked the analogy about the smelting of silver. It is after a good deal of time and much heat that the impurities are taken out to get pure silver. At the end of it all, you can see your reflection in pure silver and it’s often used as the backing for mirrors. After a life of living through trials and striving to achieve our goals, it is our hope that Christ can see His countenance in us. Another analogy would involve diamonds. It takes a lot of heat and pressure over time to create diamonds from pure carbon. Even after that they aren’t the best that they can be until they have been cut to show their clarity and brilliance. After we have been through this process, we can have Christ’s light shine through us and we will become perfect.
Moroni concludes the Book of Mormon by saying, “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.”
Our Heavenly Father truly loves us and wants the best for us. If we will follow our Savior’s example, live the Gospel, and strive to achieve our goals, we will be able to live with God again as perfect, eternal people. Until that time, let us work towards it.
