What Matters Most Is What Lasts Longest[1]

We live in a busy world and we just can’t do all things at once. That’s why we need to set priorities. The setting of priorities is the key to a successful pursuit of excellence. When we set priorities, we can manage our problems. Seeking balance—giving adequate time and effort to each of those things that really matter—is vital to success in our mortal probation. There are certain fundamental responsibilities we cannot neglect without serious consequence. President Brigham Young—devised this rallying cry: “The Kingdom of God or nothing.” A wise cleric of a former day leaves us this counsel: “If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.” When we put first in our lives the things of God’s kingdom, we are speaking of the earthly kingdom which prepares us for the heavenly kingdom. Answers to our most challenging problems are found only when we love and have faith in Them. President Ezra Taft Benson said: “When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love for the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities”. (share experience of Anthony’s courtship; career; temple; office) What are the essential poles of our lives? I wish to suggest four: our love for Heavenly Father and His Son, our care of our families, our service to the Lord, and our life’s temporal work. –Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Seventy The Lord said, “If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me” (D&C 42:29). Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “Service is an imperative for true followers of Jesus Christ.” Church leaders have strongly encouraged individuals to obtain a quality education that will allow choices in our life’s work, and they have encouraged dedication to an honorable trade or profession that will serve our spiritual life. (share experience in the office about goals and being a triple crowner) President Gordon B. Hinckley has taught: “I think … all of us in this Church … have a fourfold responsibility. One, [members and leaders] have a responsibility to their families, to see that

their families have a measure of their time. … None of us can evade that. … That is basic and fundamental. “If we are employed, we have a responsibility to our employer. We are not at liberty to short-change him. … “We have a responsibility to the Lord, of course, to do that which is expected of us as a servant in His house. “And … we have a responsibility to ourselves to take some time to do a little meditating, to do a little exercise. … “… How do you balance them? I don’t think that is difficult. I served in many capacities in this Church. I am the father of five children, who were young and growing up when I was serving in those various capacities. … We enjoyed life. … We just did what the Church expected us to do.” Only the valiant are saved. Members of the Church who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus, not valiant in the cause of Christ, not valiant in defense of his prophets and in preaching his word are not heirs of the celestial kingdom. Am I so living that I will be saved in the kingdom of God? This is our goal and aim and purpose in life. Everything we do should please the Lord and further our strivings for salvation. – Elder Bruce R. McConkie I believe the mission statement for mortality might be “to build an eternal family.” The world needs to know what the proclamation teaches, because the family is the basic unit of society, of the economy, of our culture, and of our government. And as Latter-day Saints know, the family will also be the basic unit in the celestial kingdom. “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” states: “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. … Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, … to observe the commandments of God.” President David O. McKay said: “no other success can compensate for failure in the home.” “The most important of the Lord’s work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes.” Our desires and actions toward our families should be as Lehi exemplified when he partook of the sweet fruit of the tree

of life and immediately was “desirous that [his] family should partake of it also” (1 Ne. 8:12). Indeed, nothing is more critically connected to happiness—both our own and that of our children—than how well we love and support one another within the family. Being worthy to be received by the Savior could well be the first priority of every Latter-day Saint woman and man. Akin to that, of course, would be the goal of temple marriage and becoming a righteous parent in Zion. The establishment of a righteous, eternal family is our most important responsibility. Certainly obedience is a worthy goal and should be a high priority in life. (relate to your son – James – and strengthening your marriage) Since we each have periodic challenges of obedience, we can take heart in President Hinckley’s encouragement “that the Lord will not give us commandments beyond our power to observe. He will not ask us to do things for which we lack … capacity.” President Harold B. Lee spoke of the Church as a crucial “scaffolding” that helps build the individual and the family. As we are often reminded, we will be released one day from our Church callings; but if we are worthy, we will never be released from our family relationships. Joseph F. Smith said: “There can be no genuine happiness separate and apart from the home, and every effort made to sanctify and preserve its influence is uplifting to those who toil and sacrifice for its establishment. Men and women often seek to substitute some other life for that of the home; they would make themselves believe that the home means restraint; that the highest liberty is the fullest opportunity to move about at will. There is no happiness without service, and there is no service greater than that which converts the home into a divine institution, and which promotes and preserves family life”. How do we protect and preserve and strengthen our homes and families in a world pulling so hard in opposite directions? Let me make three simple suggestions: 1. Be consistent in holding daily family prayer and weekly family home evenings. 2. Teach the gospel and basic values in your home. Establish a love for reading the scriptures together.

3. Create meaningful family bonds that give your children an identity stronger than what they can find with their peer group or at school or anyplace else. Teach them the importance of avoiding debt and of earning, saving, and wisely spending money. No matter who or what we are, we help ourselves when we help families. Crisis or transition of any kind reminds us of what matters most. What matters most is what lasts longest, and our families are for eternity. – Elder M. Russell Ballard What is the role of Relief Society in furthering the work of the Savior? When the Prophet Joseph Smith organized the Relief Society, he said that the women were not only to look after the poor but also to save souls. (share experience with Shane – attempted suicide) We can start by strengthening ourselves spiritually through prayer and becoming self-reliant in scripture knowledge. We cannot delegate our responsibility for building the kingdom to anyone else. It is our work. There is no greater privilege than to watch over and strengthen another person—it is truly the business of salvation. – Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said: “If someone were to ask you who we are as a people, what would you say? Who are we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? The answer, I believe, is a simple one given to us by the Savior Himself. We are a people who love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds. And we are a people who love our neighbor as ourselves. This answer satisfies many of the questions asked about why we do what we do. Why does the Church ask so much of its members? Because we love the Lord, and we love our neighbor. Why do we do temple work? Missionary work? Welfare work? Because we love the Lord, and we love our neighbor. These are the roots of all that we do. We do not send our missionaries out into the world to collect statistics. We send them into the world because we love our Heavenly Father, and we love our fellowmen. That is who we are as a people. That is why we do what we do.” When we are out of balance, we have a choice. How can each of us know if our life is out of balance? Exercise the discipline to change, substituting

higher values and better habits for those we have been living. We need to follow the counsel of our prophets to do it now before any further damage is caused by our lack of attention to other indispensable parts of life. Regular self-evaluation is critical to seeking a balanced life. Three Guides 1. Promptings of the Spirit. 2. Scriptures and the words of living prophets. 3. Regular communication with a trusted friend. Our spouse or, if not

married, a trusted friend with shared values, can be a vital channel for honest reflection. Not long ago, one of my children said, ‘Dad, sometimes I wonder if I will ever make it.’ The answer I gave to her is the same as I would give to you if you have had similar feelings. Just do the very best you can each day. Do the basic things and, before you realize it, your life will be full of spiritual understanding that will confirm to you that your Heavenly Father loves you. When a person knows this, then life will be full of purpose and meaning, making balance easier to maintain.” – Elder M. Russell Ballard Priorities are the key. And the greatest priority is, above all else, to seek first the kingdom of God. “Am I doing and living and acting each day as a candidate for the highest degree of glory in the celestial kingdom? It is worth it; I am not going to weaken; I am going to go forward; I am going to make it because that’s the promise of the Father to me, his child.” – Elder M.Russell Ballard We must “see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.” However, to encourage our constant effort, we are counseled, “It is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize” (Mosiah 4:27). It is my witness that it can be done and the prize is “eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7). It was comforting to know that if I would do all I could, the Savior would do the rest. If we are helping the Lord with His work, we are entitled to His help. And, the Lord be praised, there comes a time in the lives of faithful Saints when, having kept the faith and been true and faithful at all hazards, the Lord says to them: Thou shalt be exalted.