More Than These

In his most recent conference address, President M. Russell Ballard invited us to consider the Savior’s question that he posed to Peter on the shores of the Sea of Galilee: “Lovest thou me more than these?” As he stood there with fish and ships and the other disciples around, I think we can see multiple interpretations of what the Savior meant by the word these. For example, Thomas Wayment in his New Testament translation suggested that “These probably refers to the implements of the fishing industry.” So the Savior was asking Peter if he loved Him more than what he had spent much of his life doing to earn a living. For us then He might similarly ask, “Do you love me more than your career?” Perhaps the Savior was also asking about the fish Peter had just caught in abundance, representing the wealth of the world. To us He might similarly ask, “Do you love me more than your money and possessions?” The Savior might also have been pointing to his friends around him, asking Peter if he loved the Savior more than all others. He might also question us, “Do you love me more than you love your friends and family and co-workers?” President Ballard also helped us relate this question to ourselves, “The Lord may be asking us about how busy we are and about the many positive and negative influences competing for our attention and our time. He may be asking each of us if we love Him more than the things of this world. This may be a question about what we really value in life, who we follow, and how we view our relationships with family members and neighbors. Or maybe He is asking what really brings us joy and happiness.” Ultimately we must learn to love Him above all else and to be able to say as Paul when it comes to the things and opinions of the world: “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

            President Ballard also quoted President Nelson who asked us similar questions which help us see if we really love the Savior more than all else. He said, “Are you willing to let God prevail in your life? Are you willing to let God be the most important influence in your life? Will you allow His words, His commandments, and His covenants to influence what you do each day? Will you allow His voice to take priority over any other? Are you willing to let whatever He needs you to do take precedence over every other ambition? Are you willing to have your will swallowed up in His?” We must be willing to let God’s will be the most important thing for us—always. Keeping our covenants and following His commandments should be the overriding priority for our lives. Author Greg McKeown made an interesting observation about the word priority: “In my research, I found that when ‘priority’ came into the English language in the 1400s, it was singular. What did it mean? The very first thing — before all other things. By definition, you cannot have more than one priority. And for 500 years, the word meant a singular idea, and then it evolved and now we talk about ‘priorities’ all the time. Of course, you can have more than one important thing in your life — we all do. But we have to ask ourselves, every day, ‘What is the most important thing I need to do today?’ We ought to keep coming back to the question.” For us the most important question each day should be something like this: “What does God want me to do today?” That is the priority and there are none other. The answer to that question will change day to day and perhaps differ for each of us, but what is most important for all of us is that we seek to learn and do what He would have us do. And for that to happen we must love Him more than the world. Our motto each day should be as Nephi’s final words in the Book of Mormon: “I must obey” (2 Nephi 33:15). Or we should say as the Savior prayed to His Father, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). As we learn to live according to those words each day then we can truly say with Peter, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee” (John 21:15).