In the Strength of the Lord

To my son,

               We have been reading this week about Korihor who opposed the doctrine of Christ. One of his teachings was this: “Every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime” (Alma 30:17). In other words, he suggested that what matters most in having a successful life is our own personal strength and talents and ability to succeed over others. While certainly developing our own strength and talents is important, this teaching opposes the Savior because it excludes Him and finding strength and help from Him. I love Paul’s famous teaching: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). For Paul, what matters most is what we can do through Christ’s help; for Korihor, only our own abilities matter. But the Nephites found that Korihor’s philosophy didn’t get them very far, for when they forgot God and relied only on their own strength they were overtaken by their enemies. At one point when they had become wicked and the Lord had stopped helping them, “They saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples—Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness” (Helaman 4:24-25). To rely only our own strength is to be weak; but to trust in the Lord first is to be strong. I love how King Lamoni put it to Ammon: “I know, in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things” (Alma 20:4). I hope that you will always remember to rely first on the strength of the Lord before counting on your own abilities.

               This discussion reminds me of one of my favorite quotes on striving for excellence in our lives. There is an expression for when we want to wholeheartedly support something: we give it “three cheers.” For example, there is a song that talks about giving “three cheers for the red, white, and blue,” meaning the United States of America and its flag. With that expression in mind, Elder Bruce C. Hafen said this: “I feel an ever-deepening uneasiness about our uncritical accepting the assumptions of the Yankee ethic of success which can be so competitive, self-centered, and superficial.  That is why I have only two cheers for excellence.  I have reservations not because I believe it justifiable for us to exert less than our finest efforts; rather, I fear that without a wise perspective, an unqualified commitment to ‘goals’ and ‘excellence’ can distort our understanding of certain long-term principles about life and its larger purposes-even if we do put forth great effort.” He gave “two cheers” for excellence because while it is good and worthwhile to pursue our goals and to strive to be the very best we can, ultimately we should not falsely believe that everything is in our power. Success before the world from our efforts is not what matters most. Rather, we should strive first and foremost to come unto God and to learn what He would have us do with our lives. To accomplish what He would have us do, through His help, is what matters most. You have many talents and I can tell that you will accomplish much in your life through hard work and your many abilities. But I hope that you will always remember that all your strength comes from God and without Him you are nothing. But with Him, you can work miracles in this life to do His work He has for you. That is where you will find the most joy. 

Love,

Dad