“Power through Christlike Living,” Liahona, Oct. 2024, United States and Canada Section.
Power through Christlike Living
From a commencement address, “Launch with Power through Christlike Living,” given at Southern Virginia University on April 28, 2023.
These three principles will help us have heaven’s power in our lives.
Walk with Me, by Greg Olsen
To reach our highest potential, we need to unify our lives with Heavenly Father. As sons and daughters of heavenly parents, we should ask ourselves, “What would God have me do?”
Jesus Christ Himself answered that question for all of us by asking each of us to consider this question: “Therefore, what manner of men [or women] ought ye to be?” He then answered, “Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27). To do otherwise does not mean you aren’t a good person; it just means you will never reach who you can otherwise become or realize the impact you have the potential to achieve.
To become more like Jesus, I invite you to take upon yourselves three foundational principles of Christlike living.
First, live your life by covenant, not convenience.
C. S. Lewis once observed, “There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” Because of this battleground, you are likely to find that life will bring challenges that appear unusually difficult or even insurmountable. These can take many forms—from financial or workplace struggles to emotional or physical impairment to family division and collapse. To surmount these obstacles, you will need power from beyond yourself. The question you will need to answer is, Where do I find such power?
While speaking in a devotional to members in a country where its people were burdened with a struggle for jobs and food to eat, President Russell M. Nelson told them: “The Lord Himself has said, ‘My people must be tried in all things’ (Doctrine and Covenants 136:31). … Remain firm in your covenant path … and you will have the strength to face any challenges. … God will protect and care for you.” He later expounded, “The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power.”
There is no individual who does not need power from on high, and such power comes most abundantly from an inward commitment to a life girded to God’s covenant path. Begin with that end in mind, and you will find hidden reservoirs of miracles and power available to you in your most trying hours.
Years ago, I worked as a senior managing partner at one of the world’s leading private equity firms when my wife and I were interviewed by a senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He called us to serve as mission leaders for the Church in Africa. We had many things going on in our life at that time. We were involved in some very challenging family dynamics. We were heavily engaged in large humanitarian efforts across the world while also managing a large and rapidly growing global investment business. As we sat there that day with this beloved Apostle and reflected on our personal situation, we both politely said that this was probably not the best time for us to serve a mission.
Without hesitation, this member of the Twelve turned to my wife and said, “Lynette, you are going to make a great missionary and companion to your husband.” He then turned to me and said, “You really don’t get it. The Lord is calling you to save your life. You are either going to live your life by covenant or convenience. There is never a convenient time to serve. This is a matter of faith. You either believe that the Lord will bless your life with the blessings you need, as you do His priorities, or you don’t.”
Those words changed my life. I left my company, went to Africa, and later found all that we had worried about was answered and resolved.
One of the great attacks upon your soul will be the temptation to choose only those parts of covenant living that are within your comfort zone. Yet you cannot choose which commandments to keep and which to omit if you are to have heaven’s full power in your life.
President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, once impressed upon me this very reality. We were discussing a certain policy that the Church had undertaken. It had led to much public criticism of Church leaders. He said to me: “I want people to like me, but when I say my prayers at night, I hear His voice say to me: ‘Hal, I don’t need people to like you. I need you to do my will.’” That is the great charge of covenant living—no matter the situation we find ourselves in, no matter how unpopular, we are to do God’s will. Only as we live our lives by covenant, with full purpose of heart, and not by convenience will we receive His richest blessings, His most enabling power.
Second, rise above indifference, adversity, and contention.
Strive to make your life a beacon of light and truth that shines before others around you. Discipleship asks us to lay our gifts and talents upon the altar of humanity in a life work that blesses those around us.
After He had been rejected by some, Christ turned to His disciples and asked, “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67). He continues to ask that question today. More than ever, in a society that is ever pressing to have us think of others in terms of race, gender, or even vaccination status, ours is a spiritual challenge of not turning away but of building pathways of unity versus contention, of loving our neighbor, of building bridges of community service and in defense of the family.
However, we need to bear with and learn from adversity and even unwelcomed failure. To remind me of this reality, I keep framed in my office a plaque that has this sentence from a philosopher named Elbert Hubbard: “God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas, but for scars.”
It has been said, “The unwounded bears no resemblance to the Savior.” Life is about doing good through trials of adversity and scars. As part of a divine plan, each of us is part of a world where good and evil coexist and where we are to deal with and work though opposition in all things (see 2 Nephi 2:11).
I believe adversity will always lead us to a twofold temptation: one will be to cast blame on others—to become a victim—and a second will be to let failure paralyze us into inaction. The gospel has a lot to say about this. The plan of the adversary is to undermine our agency. We are instructed, however, to act and not be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:26).
The greatest gift you have from God besides life itself is the freedom to direct your life. Unfortunately, in the face of obstacles, the voice of the world is rapidly becoming one that echoes, “Don’t worry; we know best. We will make the big choices for you. You are not smart enough or talented enough. We will take care of you and direct your path forward.” Because we have our agency, we need never forfeit or compromise our right to choose. We need never be intimidated by standing alone in our convictions. To compromise will cripple and enslave us. We need to be courageous and resist the impulse to quiet the shouts of our souls.
In our age of information, the voice of integrity of the Spirit, not our workplaces or peer pressure, must emerge as the powerful, necessary force in determining our actions. We are of a time and place that needs a spiritual rebirth, a time that calls for men and women who will assert their birthright of choice to shape institutions that reflect the moral and spiritual values dictated by the voice of conscience. As we stand courageously for the voice of good within us, we will make a difference.
Third, bear the burdens of one another.
Nearly every week I receive an email from someone trapped without hope and living a life of despair. Everywhere around us, within family, as well as thousands of miles away, there are voices crying out. In this crucible, I keep asking myself, “How should I respond? What should I do?” This I believe is the ethical and moral question for us today. In our response, our morality and ethics are revealed.
“Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Throughout our lives, the great call upon our souls is to fully become our brother’s keeper. When Jesus was asked the question by His disciples as to who was greatest among them, He said it was those who “shall be your minister” (Mark 10:43). He then taught that He Himself came to minister and to give His life as a ransom, saying, “The Son of man is come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11).
You may never have heard the name Arthur Henry Rostron, but on a dark night in icy waters he looked beyond his comfort zone where others had already refused to go and saved hundreds of lives that were without hope. On the night the Titanic hit the iceberg, there were three ships in the area that learned about the disaster. The two closest ships did not respond, but Captain Rostron, whose ship was 58 nautical miles (107 km) away and traveling in the opposite direction, responded to the pleas for help over the radio.
He knew the danger of the icy waters and did not hesitate, but exercised faith and prayed to God for direction. He issued this order to the crew: “Turn the ship around.” It would take them about 3.5 hours to reach the Titanic. During that time, Captain Rostron commanded his ship to proceed at full speed while he posted extra lookouts to maneuver through the ice. En route he had the crew prepare the ship with food, blankets, and medical supplies that would be needed at arrival. Those on board his passenger liner observed the captain often raising his hand to his cap and closing his eyes in prayer. His risky decision to go to the rescue ultimately saved more than 700 lives. Of this experience, Captain Rostron said, “I can only conclude another hand than mine was on the helm.”
God will always be at the helm when we minister to His sons and daughters in need. I was in a meeting with the General Authorities of the Church when President Thomas S. Monson told the story of how he had failed to follow a prompting to leave a meeting early to minister to a friend who was in the hospital because he felt it would embarrass those conducting the meeting. Later when he went to the hospital, he was informed that his friend had passed away. He taught us that people are always more important than meetings. He then said, “Never ignore a prompting—go to the rescue.” Looking at each of us gathered there, with tears streaming from his eyes, he asked, “Have you rescued anyone lately?”
We are called to be engaged in the rescue of others—to hear the bell sounds from within and to minister to the least, the last, and the lost—at home, at church, at work, or in our communities. There is no one excused from that mission or who does not have the ability to honor it with God’s help.
May we work to honor, serve, and build life within family, the workplace, our communities, and in the Church. As one who has been ordained to bear an especial witness of the living reality of Christ, I offer you my testimony that He lives. He is all powerful. He desires to empower your life. As you strive to be Christlike, I testify that you will be blessed with every needed effectual door and miracles. As you strive to live by covenant, not convenience, you will be made to impact all you touch for good. You will receive the needed courage and voice to set aside adversity, to honor and save life, to guard family, and to frame a better and peaceful tomorrow.
God is able to make much more of your life than you can alone. My prayer is that your desire will be to meet the challenge of your day and emerge the child of God you are, being one with Him throughout your life and becoming who God would have you become.