In 1973, the great latter-day prophet, Harold B. Lee taught us a very important truth as it relates to our spiritual development as disciples of Jesus Christ. He said:
“The most important commandment is the one you’re having the most difficulty keeping today.”
Think about the truthfulness of that statement. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have taken upon ourselves sacred covenants and promises, one of which is that we will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places and that we will serve Him and keep His commandments that He has given us. All means all. So we strive to keep all of God’s commandments and we exercise faith in our Savior Jesus Christ when we come up short, and we all come up short.
Our President and prophet today, Russell M. Nelson taught us recently about obedience. He counseled parents to teach obedience to our children:
“Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. Warn your children that they will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. It takes faith to obey them, and keeping His commandments will strengthen that faith.”
That is a true statement and it may be a hard statement for us to hear sometimes. We all have aspects of the gospel that come easy to us. Then there are those things that, for whatever reason, do not come easy and require work. With these commandments, we may be tempted to “pick and choose” as President Nelson warned. We may develop the habit of justifying our behavior by saying all kinds of soothing things to ourselves.
I refer back to Harold B. Lee’s teaching. He went on to extend this invitation:
“If it’s one of dishonesty, if it’s one of unchastity, if it’s one of falsifying, not telling the truth, today is the day for you to work on that until you’ve been able to conquer that weakness. Then you start on the next one that’s most difficult for you to keep.”
I love that teaching. In a matter of fact way, let’s follow his counsel and take inventory on our own obedience and discipleship. Are there specific commandments that we struggle with? May we realize that our disobedience will hinder God’s blessings in our lives and may lead to misery if unchecked. Let’s be faithful and repent. Thus we can tackle our areas of weakness and fortify ourselves so that we might increase our faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ. We know that the grace made available to us through the Atonement of Christ is sufficient to convert our weaknesses into strengths and we need to be strong in order to endure. As we take these steps, we will become better and we will be more capable to be instruments in His hands to bless the lives of those around us. I know this to be true and I share these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
-President Mike Freeman
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