Strengthen Your Brethren

I love this counsel that the Savior gave to Lyman Sherman in 1835: “Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings.” Surely He would give us each the same instruction today; in all we do, we are to spiritually strengthen those around us, whether through prayer or conversation or in any way that we interact with others. This counsel reminds us of what the Savior said to Peter near the end of His mortal life: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:31-32). The Savior later emphasized to Peter that how he treated and blessed and served others were what mattered most to Him: “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs” (John 21:15). Three times on this occasion the Savior repeated to Peter that if he was to show love for the Savior, He needed to feed His sheep. And surely we feed His sheep by doing exactly what the Savior instructed Lyman Sherman to do: we strengthen them in all our doings. 

                I saw this counsel in action in an unusual place this weekend—as I watched the BYU football game. At one point there was a BYU player who got a penalty for something unnecessary that he did at the end of a play, and the cameras showed the coach Kilani Sitake getting after him as he came over to the sidelines. But then they briefly showed Sitake putting his arm around this player as he sent him off, a clear sign of love for this young man even though he had made an avoidable mistake. That surely is exactly what the Lord was looking for us to do when He gave this counsel to Lyman Sherman; even when others mess up, perhaps especially in those moments, we should seek to strengthen and lift them up so they desire to be better and do better. And if correction is needed as it was in this case, we must strive to follow this scriptural counsel: “Showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:43).

                I wrote recently about the search in our community for a man from my ward who went missing over a week ago now, likely due to a mental health crisis. Yesterday I learned that he really didn’t have many friends here in the neighborhood, and his family knew of only one brother (his ministering brother) he connected with who made sure to speak to him every week at church. I had talked to him at length only once, and I now wish I had found more opportunities to do what the Lord encouraged Lyman Sherman to do: strengthen in conversation. Thinking about this reminds me of President Eyring’s sobering words: “Many years ago, I was first counselor to a district president in the eastern United States. More than once, as we were driving to our little branches, he said to me, ‘Hal, when you meet someone, treat them as if they were in serious trouble, and you will be right more than half the time.’ Not only was he right, but I have learned over the years that he was too low in his estimate.” We usually will not know when someone is really struggling, but if we treat all according to this counsel to Lyman Sherman, we may be able to do as a beloved hymn encourages us:   

Let the lower lights be burning;

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

We likely will not physically save anyone at sea, but we may—with our conversations and prayers and exhortations and doings—spiritually rescue someone struggling in the sea of life.