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Lead me, guide me,
walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I
must do
To live with him
someday.
And this is life eternal,
Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. -- John 17:3
The privilege of holding the
priesthood, which is the power and authority to act in God’s name, is a great
blessing and privilege and one that carries with it equally great obligations
and responsibilities. When I ponder what kind of men and boys we should be as
priesthood holders, I cannot help but think of the Savior’s questions to the
Nephite twelve when He asked, “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be?
Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Ne. 27:27).
To be like the Savior—what a challenge for any person! He is a
member of the Godhead. He is the Savior and Redeemer. He was perfect in every
aspect of His life. There was no flaw nor failing in Him. Is it possible for us
as priesthood holders to be even as He is? The answer is yes. Not onlycan we,
but that is our charge, our responsibility. He would not give us that
commandment if He did not mean for us to do it.
The Apostle Peter spoke of the process by which a person can be
made a partaker “of the divine nature” (2
Pet. 1:4). This is important, for if we truly become partakers of
the divine nature, we shall become like Him. Let us examine closely what Peter
teaches us about this process. Here is what he said:
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith
virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
“And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to
patience godliness;
“And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness
charity” (2 Pet. 1:5–7).
The virtues outlined by Peter are part of the divine nature, or
the Savior’s character. These are the virtues we are to emulate if we would be
more like Him. Let us discuss a few of these important traits.
The first characteristic, to which all the others are added, is faith. Faith is the foundation upon which a
godlike character is built. It is a prerequisite for all other virtues.
When I think of how we show faith, I cannot help but think of
the example of my own father. I recall vividly how the spirit of missionary work came into my life. I was about
thirteen years of age when my father received a call to go on a mission. It was
during an epidemic in our little community of Whitney, Idaho. Parents were
encouraged to go tosacrament meeting,
but the children were to remain home to avoid contracting the disease.
Father and Mother went to sacrament meeting in a one-horse
buggy. At the close of the meeting, the storekeeper opened the store just long
enough for the farmers to get their mail, since the post office was in the
store. There were no purchases, but in this way the farmers saved a trip to the
post office on Monday. There was no rural postal delivery in those days.
As Father drove the horse homeward, Mother opened the mail, and,
to their surprise, there was a letter from Box B in Salt Lake City—a call to go
on a mission. No one asked if one were ready, willing, or able. The bishop was
supposed to know, and the bishop was Grandfather George T. Benson, my father’s
father.
As Father and Mother drove into the yard, they were both
crying—something we had never seen in our family.
We gathered around the buggy—there were seven of us then—and asked them what
was the matter.
They said, “Everything’s fine.”
“Why are you crying then?” we asked.
“Come into the living room and we’ll explain.”
We gathered around the old sofa in the living room, and Father
told us about his mission call. Then Mother said, “We’re proud to know that
Father is considered worthy to go on a mission. We’re crying a bit because it
means two years of separation. You know, your father and I have never been
separated more than two nights at a time since our marriage—and that’s when
Father was gone into the canyon to get logs, posts, and firewood.”
And so Father went on his mission. Though at the time I did not
fully comprehend the depths of my father’s commitment, I understand better now
that his willing acceptance of this call was evidence of his great faith. Every
holder of the priesthood, whether young or old, should strive to develop that
kind of faith.
Peter goes on to say that we must add to our faith virtue. A priesthood holder is virtuous. Virtuous behavior implies that he has
pure thoughts and clean actions. He will not lust in his heart, for to do so is
to “deny the faith” and to lose the Spirit (D&C 42:23)—and there is nothing more important in
this work than the Spirit. You’ve heard me say that many times.
He will not commit adultery “nor do anything like unto it” (D&C 59:6). This means fornication, homosexual
behavior, self-abuse, child molestation, or any other sexual perversion. This
means that a young man will honor young women and treat them with respect. He
would never do anything that would deprive them of that which, in Mormon’s
words, is “most dear and precious above all things, which is chastity and
virtue” (Moro. 9:9).
Virtue is akin to holiness, an attribute of godliness. A
priesthood holder should actively seek for that which is virtuous and lovely
and not that which is debasing or sordid. Virtue will garnish his thoughts
unceasingly (see D&C 121:45). How can any man indulge himself in the
evils ofpornography, profanity, or vulgarity and
consider himself totally virtuous?
Whenever a priesthood holder departs from the path of virtue in
any form or expression, he loses the Spirit and comes under Satan’s power. He
then receives the wages of him whom he has chosen to serve. As a result,
sometimes the Church must take disciplinary action, for we cannot condone or
pardon unvirtuous and unrepentant actions. All priesthood holders must be
morally clean to be worthy to bear the authority of Jesus Christ.
The next step Peter describes in the growth process is to add knowledgeto our
faith and virtue. The Lord has told us that “it is impossible for a man to be
saved in ignorance” (D&C 131:6). In another place God commanded, “Seek
ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also
by faith” (D&C 88:118). Every priesthood holder should make
learning a lifetime pursuit. While any study of truth is of value, the truths
of salvation are the most important truths any person can learn. The Lord’s
question “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and
lose his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26) can be applied to educational pursuits as
well as the pursuit of worldly goods. The Lord might also have asked, “For what
is a man profited, if he shall learn everything in the world and not learn how
to be saved?”
We must balance our secular learning with spiritual learning.
You young men should be as earnest in enrolling in seminary and learning the
scriptures as you are in working toward high school graduation. Young adults
enrolled in universities and colleges or other postsecondary training should
avail themselves of the opportunity to take institute of religion courses or,
if attending a Church school, should take at least one religion course every
term. Joining our spiritual education to our secular learning will help us keep
focused on the things that matter most in this life. Though I am speaking to
you priesthood holders, the same admonition applies to the women of the Church
as well as to the men.
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., spoke of the desired balance in
these words: “There is spiritual learning just as there is material learning,
and the one without the other is not complete; yet, speaking for myself, if I
could have only one sort of learning, that which I would take would be the
learning of the spirit, because in the hereafter I shall have opportunity in
the eternities which are to come to get the other, and without spiritual
learning here my handicaps in the hereafter would be all but overwhelming” (in
Conference Report, Apr. 1934, p. 94).
President Spencer W. Kimball said it this way: “Youth, beloved
youth, can you see why we must let spiritual training take first place?—Why we
must pray with faith, and perfect our own lives like the Savior’s? Can you see
that the spiritual knowledge may be complemented with the secular in this life
and on for eternities but that the secular without the foundation of the
spiritual is but like the foam upon the milk, the fleeting shadow?
“Do not be deceived! One need not choose between the two but
only as to the sequence, for there is opportunity for one to get both
simultaneously; but can you see that the seminary courses should be given even
preferential attention over the high school subjects; the institute over the
college course; the study of the scriptures ahead of the study of man-written texts;
the association with the Church more important than clubs, fraternities, and
sororities; the payment of tithingmore
important than paying tuitions and fees?
“Can you see that the ordinances of the temple are more
important than the PhD or any and all other academic degrees?” (“Beloved Youth,
Study and Learn,” in Life’s Directions: A Series of Fireside Addresses, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1962, p. 190).
When our formal education has been completed, we should make
daily study of the scriptures a lifetime pursuit. What I said last April to
priesthood leaders applies to every priesthood holder as well:
“I add my voice to these wise and inspired brethren and say to
you that one of the most important things you can do as priesthood leaders is
to immerse yourselves in the scriptures. Search them diligently. Feast upon the
words of Christ. Learn the doctrine. Master the principles that are found
therein. … Few other efforts … will bring greater dividends to your calling. …
Few other ways [will result in] greater inspiration. …
“You must … see that studying and searching the scriptures is
not a burden laid upon [us] by the Lord, but a marvelous blessing and opportunity”
(Ensign, May
1986, p. 81).
Another attribute described by Peter as being part of the divine
nature istemperance. A
priesthood holder is temperate. This
means he is restrained in his emotions and verbal expressions. He does things
in moderation and is not given to overindulgence. In a word, he has
self-control. He is the master of his emotions, not the other way around.
A priesthood holder who would curse his wife, abuse her with
words or actions, or do the same to one of his own children is guilty of
grievous sin. “Can ye be angry, and not sin?” asked the Apostle Paul (JST, Eph.
4:26).
If a man does not control his temper, it is a sad admission that
he is not in control of his thoughts. He then becomes a victim of his own
passions and emotions, which lead him to actions that are totally unfit for
civilized behavior, let alone behavior for a priesthood holder.
President David O. McKay once said, “A man who cannot control
his temper is not very likely to control his passion, and no matter what his
pretensions in religion, he moves in daily life very close to the animal plane”
(Improvement Era, June
1958, p. 407).
To our temperance we are to add patience. A priesthood holder is to bepatient. Patience
is another form of self-control. It is the ability to postpone gratification
and to bridle one’s passions. In his relationships with loved ones, a patient
man does not engage in impetuous behavior that he will later regret. Patience
is composure under stress. A patient man is understanding of others’ faults.
A patient man also waits on the Lord. We sometimes read or hear
of people who seek a blessing from the Lord, then grow impatient when it does
not come swiftly. Part of the divine nature is to trust in the Lord enough to
“be still and know that [he is] God” (D&C 101:16).
A priesthood holder who is patient will be tolerant of the
mistakes and failings of his loved ones. Because he loves them, he will not
find fault nor criticize nor blame.
Another attribute mentioned by Peter is kindness. A priesthood holder iskind. One
who is kind is sympathetic and gentle with others. He is considerate of others’
feelings and courteous in his behavior. He has a helpful nature. Kindness
pardons others’ weaknesses and faults. Kindness is extended to all—to the aged
and the young, to animals, to those low of station as well as the high.
These are the true attributes of the divine nature. Can you see
how we become more Christlike as we are more virtuous, more kind, more patient,
and more in control of our emotional feelings?
The Apostle Paul used some vivid expressions to illustrate that
a member of the Church must be different from the world. He commended us to
“put on Christ” (Gal.
3:27), “put off … the old man,” and “put on the new man” (Eph. 4:22, 24).
The final and crowning virtue of the divine character is charity, or the pure love of Christ (see Moro. 7:47). If we would truly seek to be more like our
Savior and Master, then learning to love as He loves should be our highest
goal. Mormon called charity “the greatest of all” (Moro. 7:46).
The world today speaks a great deal about love, and it is sought
for by many. But the pure love of Christ differs greatly from what the world
thinks of love. Charity never seeks selfish gratification. The pure love of
Christ seeks only the eternal growth and joy of others.
When I think of charity, I again think of my father and that day
he was called on his mission. I suppose some in the world might say that his
acceptance of that call was proof he did not really love his family. To leave
seven children and an expectant wife at home alone for two years, how could
that be true love?
But my father knew a greater vision of love. He knew that “all
things shall work together for good to them that love God” (Rom.
8:28). He knew that the best thing he could do for his family was to
obey God.
While we missed him greatly during those years, and while his
absence brought many challenges to our family, his acceptance proved to be a
gift of charity. Father went on his mission, leaving Mother at home with seven
children. (The eighth was born four months after he arrived in the field.) But
there came into that home a spirit of missionary work that never left it. It
was not without some sacrifice. Father had to sell our old dry farm in order to
finance his mission. He had to move a married couple into part of our home to
take care of the row crops, and he left his sons and wife the responsibility
for the hay land, the pasture land, and a small herd of dairy cows.
Father’s letters were indeed a blessing to our family. To us
children, they seemed to come from halfway around the world, but they were only
from Springfield, Massachusetts; and Chicago, Illinois; and Cedar Rapids and
Marshalltown, Iowa. Yes, there came into our home, as a result of Father’s
mission, a spirit of missionary work that never left it.
Later the family grew to eleven children—seven sons and four
daughters. All seven sons filled missions, some of them two or three missions.
Later, two daughters and their husbands filled full-time missions. The two
other sisters, both widows—one the mother of eight and the other the mother of
ten—served as missionary companions in Birmingham, England.
It is a legacy that still continues to bless the Benson family
even into the third and fourth generations. Was not this truly a gift of love?
This is what the Savior means when He speaks of the kind of men
we should be. Does not His own life reflect perfect diligence, perfect faith,
perfect virtue? If we are to be like Him, we too must become partakers of the
divine nature.
The Savior declared that life eternal is to know the only true
God and His Son Jesus Christ (see John
17:3). If this is true, and I bear you my solemn witness that it is true, then we must ask how we come to
know God. The process of adding one godly attribute to another, as described by
Peter, becomes the key to gaining this knowledge that leads to eternal life.
Note Peter’s promise, which immediately follows the process described:
“For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2
Pet. 1:8; italics added).
Oh, my beloved brethren, I pray that these qualities and
attributes of the Savior may abound in us so that when we stand at the Judgment
and He asks each one of us, “What manner of man are ye?” we can raise our heads
in gratitude and joy and answer, “Even as thou art.” This is my humble prayer
for each and every priesthood holder in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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