I Will That Ye Should Overcome the World

President Nelson taught in his recent message in general conference, “Dear brothers and sisters, my message to you today is that because Jesus Christ overcame this fallen world, and because He atoned for each of us, you too can overcome this sin-saturated, self-centered, and often exhausting world.” He quoted these words from the Savior: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Other passages in the Doctrine and Covenants also speak of this theme. The Savior affirmed, “Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me” (50:41). He also spoke about how we too can overcome the world like He did: “He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world” (63:47). He expressed His desire for us to do this in the next section: “Thus saith the Lord your God unto you, O ye elders of my church, hearken ye and hear, and receive my will concerning you. For verily I say unto you, I will that ye should overcome the world; wherefore I will have compassion upon you” (64:1-2). His desire is for us to overcome the world, to come to love Him and the things of God more than we care for the fleeting things of the world.

President Nelson explained that to overcome the world is indeed “overcoming the temptation to care more about the things of this world than the things of God.” The Savior taught on the Sermon on the Mount: “Wherefore, seek not the things of this world but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you” (JST 6:38). He gave a similar invitation to Emma Smith and all of us: “And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:10). This means that we should care more about studying His word in the scriptures than we do about seeing the latest trends in the stock market. We should have a greater desire to hearken to His prophet than we do to hear from our favorite pundit. We should be more focused on worshipping in His holy house than we are on watching the latest shows on Netflix. We should be more committed to communing with Him in prayer than we are to catching the latest sports updates. We should find more fulfillment in ministering to those in need than we do in spending our money on the latest car or phone or shiny gadget. And what we have built up in our bank account should be less important to us than how well we have built up our spiritual foundation upon Jesus Christ.      

               The prophet gave us this parting blessing as he finished this address: “I bless you to care more about the things of God than the things of this world.” As the world entices us day after today to care about the “power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world,” how we indeed need the realization of that blessing to strengthen our resolve to put the Lord first in all things (3 Nephi 6:15). Ultimately that can come only as we fix our focus on the Savior, striving each day to live by the covenant we have made to “always remember Him.” The Nephites that Samuel the Lamanite preached to were doing the opposite: “Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember your riches” (Helaman 13:22). But we can choose each day again to accept His invitation and receive His great promise: “And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you” (3 Nephi 18:7). And with His Spirit constantly with us, we will indeed overcome the world.