This is a talk I gave in my parents ward in Utah on New-Years Day.
Today I will be talking on individual priorities. When my father told me what I was to speak on I was confident that I would be able to write a talk on the subject with relatively little trouble. This assumption was validated as I pondered what I could say. However, when I did finally sit down to prepare the talk I found that I was having a difficult time organizing my thoughts. As such, I consulted various General Conference talks that addressed the topic of priorities. As a single adult, I came to realize the genuine value of belonging to a young single adult ward. The day-to-day priorities of a parent or child living in a family unit are vastly different from those of a single adult. The general authorities spent time addressing family home evening, little-league practices and games, parent-teacher conferences, etc. While most young single adults will have to deal with these things in the future, here and now they generally deal with a whole other set of day-to-day priorities. The goal for my talk will be to address a more basic concept of priorities that will hopefully be beneficial irrespective of where one is in life.
The concept of priority I am referring to is quite simple; it is the ordering, by importance, of activities in one’s life. However simple this concept may seem, priority directly determines how one lives their life. An analogy would be a living cell and how it lives its life. The cell does a lot of simple things in just the correct proportion to grow, divide and thrive. Cells prioritize their activities in the most efficient way possible. If one were to disrupt one of the essential cellular pathways, via genetic mutation, thereby disrupting cellular priorities, one would generally observe a ‘sick’ cell, if the cell grows at all.
Lets take the analogy further. The cell needs energy to accomplish its task of living and dividing. The cell has many spectacular mechanisms to produce the energy it needs, but these mechanisms require input resources. In the simplest of cases these resources consists of sugars and oxygen. From these simple resources the cell can accomplish something very complex, survive and divide.
Taking the preceding analogy lets examine the topic at hand, individual priorities. When prioritizing one’s life it is helpful to ask several questions. What task am I trying to accomplish? The cell is simply trying to grow and divide. Is there a time frame in which I must complete the task? Time is important for the cell to efficiently run. How will the task be accomplished? The pathways that the cell employs are already genetically programmed. For us however, it is not quite as simple. Figuring out how to accomplish a task is what makes us intelligent beings and thus is fairly difficult. For simplicity’s sake I will assume that we have no problem prioritizing the most basic of needs: food, shelter, hygiene, etc.
Tackling the first question, what is it that one is trying to accomplish? The answer to this question varies depending on the scope of examination. For example, one may look at a single day. What do I want to accomplish today? (Are you imagining a checklist here like I am?) While this is certainly a very important question I would like to focus on a bigger question. Allow me to retract the previous question and rephrase it. Who am I trying to become? This perspective takes that preverbal checklist we often create and puts it in its place. Enter in the age-old dichotomy of being and doing, a whole separate topic. Suffice it to say that this is a false dichotomy as both being and doing are equally important. However, for the majority of us it will be well to remember that doing
is not more important than becoming, so put away the checklist. But I digress; back to whom ‘we’ are trying to become.
Who am I trying to become? This is not a simple question. Indeed finding the answer is a life-long endeavor. If you are looking to me for hints to this question you will be sorely disappointed. Talking to a diverse congregation I can’t even pretend to generalize on this question, unless, of coarse, we all share a common goal. The fact that we are here suggests that we all are believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ and His church. If we assume this we can say something about who we are trying to become. In 3 Nephi 27 the Lord asks ‘what manner of men ought ye to be?’ He the proceeds ‘even as I.’ We, as latter-day saints, are trying to become like Christ.
The next question posed was about time. Is there a time frame in which the task must completed? We all know that becoming like Christ will continue far past this life. The danger arises when we use this fact as a smart excuse to lazily float in the currents of life rather than actively rowing toward the distant goal. The reason we need to continue trying to emulate Christ is not simply because that is what we’ve been asked to do and we need to be obedient. The deeper reason truly benefits us individually. Just as rowing against the current strengthens us, trying our best to emulate Christ strengthens us also. This is where the rowing-against-the-current analogy breaks down. If we stop here we may falsely believe that emulating Christ will strengthen us in some preconceived time frame to overcome every personal obstacle (sin, relationships, ailments, etc.). A continual effort to emulate Christ does a lot more than strengthens us, it teaches, changes perspective and extricates false core beliefs, softens hard hearts, and allows us to grow. Again, we need to be careful not to give unwarranted weight to doing; we have every right to be confident when we have made progress, be it doing or becoming.
When taking the perspective of natural beings, where the time we have is limited to this mortal existence, it is dangerous to think about our task, emulating Christ. It is important to remember the principles of the Gospel that teach eternal progress. However, time, as we mortals think about it, can become important as we take baby steps toward our goal. It is sometimes helpful to set small goals within a specified timeframe. I’ll refrain from relating a comprehensive sermon on goals; rather I’ll rehearse the sections headings. Set doable goals, set a reasonable timeframe, and write them down. Most importantly, don’t be disappointed if you fail at the specified goal. Disappointment points to an amount of fear of failure, which fear will inhibit personal progress.
I’ve been addressing goals, which fits in the topic of the last question initially posed. How will the task be accomplished? When we talk about how to accomplish a specified task we generally layout steps that will get the job done. When putting together furniture from Ikea following the instructions (step one then step two and finally step three) makes complete sense; the job is simple and everyone is given the same material, or resources, to construct the piece of furniture. The nature of emulating Christ however is not even close to being as simple. One would argue that as Latter-day Saints we each are given the same resources to accomplish the task at hand. These resources include prayer, scripture, modern-day revelation and personal revelation. While these are certainly resources available to all, it can be dangerous to prescribe step-by-step instructions on exactly how one should employ these and other resources.
We are all individuals and should embrace our individualism. I would argue then that following the road to our goal requires that we take the time to learn the lessons that will teach us about ourselves. While this message is especially important for youth, it is also for those who lack the crucial differentiation from ineffective behaviors and beliefs. Having said that, the message of individually discovering how to learn and grow is ‘especially’ for everyone. With this in mind lets revisit the resources that I referred to earlier.
Prayer
Prayer is the channel through which we can communicate with God. For me prayer has evolved throughout life as I learn more about myself, Heavenly Father, and my relationship to Him. I have heard many sincere testimonies given on prayer; I can even bare solemn testimony on sacred experiences I have hade while on my knees. However, most of the time prayer is not that special. I know that the Spirit is not going to magically visit me because I get down on my knees and pray. The Spirit does visit me though, more on this later. The question you must answer is how you best communicate with God
individually.
Scripture and Modern-day revelation
Scripture and modern-day revelation allows us to calibrate our beliefs. I have heard many accounts on how one approaches the study of the Word. Some wake up early and study their scriptures and conference talks before they begin their day. For others, like myself, bedtime is better. For some marking their scriptures in different colors is key for them to learn. That, however, is not the way I learn (mainly due to a lifetime of not writing). The number of ways in which one can study the Word rivals the number of lines that intersect a circle. The question you must answer here is how you best learn the word of God
individually.
Personal revelation
Because we are individuals, personal revelation is requisite for us to learn and grow. While we need to listen to the words of the prophets, past and present, we need ask Heavenly Father what He would have us learn from a given message. If we only learn from prophets without inquiring God about the messages we frustrate the plan He has for us. We are here to learn for ourselves. Brigham Young conveyed this idea best when he said:
I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not.
— Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 9:150
This quote iterates the principle of personal revelation that we all have the right and duty to pursue.
The question you must answer here is how to receive personal revelation. I would recommend studying the word and asking others about their thoughts on how they receive personal revelation. Use what you learn as a guide that will lead you to learn how
you best receive revelation.
This talk started out on the subject of priorities; I’ve done a pretty bad job of keeping on subject. So how did I get here? Priorities directly influences how one lives their life. In order to address such a subject one must ask what one is trying to accomplish. I then assumed we were all trying to become like Christ and carefully addressed how one would tackle such a task emphasizing self-learning using prophets’ words as a calibrator. If you were looking for specific instructions for how to prioritize your life I am sorry to disappoint. This problem has no one solution; generalizing would mock our God-given individuality. The fact of the matter is that we must continue to learn in order to emulate Christ. An essential part of learning and growing is to go through the process of discovering
how to learn and grow
individually.
Earlier I said that I believed that praying alone didn’t bring the Spirit into my life. Indeed, using any one of the resources I’ve addressed alone doesn’t bring the Spirit nor does it teach anything. Rather it is the use of all resources available to emulate Christ that invites the Spirit. When the Spirit is with us we can learn and grow, which is the reason why we are all here on this Earth.
Testimony.
