It Really Matters

In the most recent general conference, President Nelson highlighted the fact that “what we do in this life really matters.” He further explained, “The baseless notion that we should ‘eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us’ is one of the most absurd lies in the universe…. Your choices today will determine three things: where you will live throughout all eternity, the kind of body with which you will be resurrected, and those with whom you will live forever. So, think celestial.” That baseless notion is described in the meaning of the well-known acronym YOLO, “You only live once.” That phrase is used to justify impulsive and risky behavior, and suggests that we should live it up while we can because once we die that is the end. But instead President Nelson’s message is to choose wisely for we live forever, and what we choose here will indeed determine how we live in the eternities. President Oaks quoted this statement from President Nelson when he explained further: “Mortal lifetime is barely a nanosecond compared with eternity. But what a crucial nanosecond it is! Consider carefully how it works: During this mortal life you get to choose which laws you are willing to obey—those of the celestial kingdom, or the terrestrial, or the telestial—and, therefore, in which kingdom of glory you will live forever. What a plan! It is a plan that completely honors your agency.” So we say, yes, you only live once on this earth—so choose wisely, for how you live here will determine how you will live forever. As Amulek put it, “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors” (Alma 32:34).         

            In general conference in April, President Nelson also spoke about what “really matters” when he encouraged us to be peacemakers. He said, “My dear brothers and sisters, how we treat each other really matters! How we speak to and about others at home, at church, at work, and online really matters. Today, I am asking us to interact with others in a higher, holier way.” Again, his message was that our choices each day really matter and we should not be deceived into thinking that we can treat others poorly with impunity or that what we do or say doesn’t really matter. As he put it many years ago, “It really matters what you listen to, what you look at, what you think, say, and do.” This reminds me of the simple principle of the stick that my mission president taught us: You can’t pick up one end of a stick without also picking up the other. In other words, we cannot separate our choices from their natural consequences. We are free to make choices, but we are not free from the consequences of those choices. The prophet Samuel the Lamanite warned the Nephites that they too could not avoid the consequences of their choices, for if they “procrastinated the day of [their] salvation until it is everlastingly too late” and seek “for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head,” then they would one day have great cause to mourn in that they could not be freed from the consequences of their choices. And so we must live each day knowing that what we choose and do and say really matters. Because we only live once in mortality and we don’t know when that time here will end, we must make the best use we can of ever moment. As we put our faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement to help us improve and repent each days, we will be prepared to one day stand to be judged for all we have done and become in this life.