Rejoice, The World's Greatest Need, Every 4 Years
The Disciple-Leader Newsletter #54
DISCIPLESHIP
"Let your hearts rejoice."
2 Nephi 9:52
Persuasive. Bold. Articulate. Great use of metaphor. Testimony of Jesus. 2nd Nephi 9 is a masterclass in the art of preaching.
Jacob does so many things well, but the most striking are his invitations. Look at all the things he invites readers to do:
Repent, be baptized, and have faith in Christ (v. 23)
Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel (v. 40)
Come unto the Lord, the Holy One (v. 41)
Turn away from your sins; shake off the chains of him that would bind you fast; come unto that God who is the rock of your salvation (v. 45)
Prepare your souls (v. 46)
Come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perished not, neither can be corrupted (v. 51)
Finally, he summarizes all of these into one comprehensive and culminating invitation: “Let your hearts rejoice” (v. 52).
Every invitation given leads to and is synonymous with, “Let your heart rejoice.”
To repent is to let your heart rejoice. To remember the greatness of Christ is to let your heart rejoice. To be baptized/covenant anew with Him is to let your heart rejoice.
To turn away from your sins is to let your heart rejoice.
Letting your heart rejoice is a very intentional act. The Book of Mormon's directive to let your heart rejoice doesn't wait for favorable circumstances to show up in your life. You could win the lottery tomorrow and your heart wouldn’t rejoice. You'd get a good shot of dopamine for a few days. But that has nothing to do with your heart.
Superficiality has a short shelf-life. The things of God—the things of the heart—endure.
Paul described it this way: “Ye are … declared to be the epistle of Christ … written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
(See above: The italicized words represent the superficial. The bold words represent the eternal).
The most important work that Jesus Christ will ever do will be the work He does with your heart. Consider these statements:
“Our hearts—the sum total of our desires, affections, intentions, motives, and attitudes—define who we are and determine what we will become. And the essence of the Lord’s work is changing, turning, and purifying hearts…” – David A. Bednar
“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.” – Ezra Taft Benson
“Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work: I want You. All of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man, but to kill it. No half-measures will do. I don’t want to only prune a branch here and another there; rather, I want the whole tree out. Hand it all over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them all over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange, I will give you Myself. My will shall become your will. My heart shall become your heart.” – C.S. Lewis (speaking from the perspective of Christ).
To give Jesus the reigns of your life is to let your heart rejoice. To give Him your heart is to let your heart rejoice.
Jesus is enthusiastic about you. He’s enthusiastic about your potential and who you can become. He is boundless in His mercies and perfect in His love.
He has the fervent desire and the infinite power to change your heart. Let Him and your heart will rejoice.
LEADERSHIP
“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything.”
Tim Keller
The world is a crazy place. Pandemics, wars, terrorism, increasing polarization, etc etc. Jeffrey R. Holland wrote 43 years ago: "There (are) plenty of things in the world to be troubled by. In our lives, individually and collectively, there surely are serious threats to our happiness. I watch an early morning news broadcast while I shave and then read a daily newspaper. That is enough to ruin anyone’s day and by then it’s only 6:30 in the morning. Iran, Afghanistan, inflation, energy, jogging, mass murders, kidnapping, unemployment, floods. With all of this waiting for us we are tempted, as W. C. Fields once said, to 'smile first thing in the morning and get it over with.”
That quote has aged well. It's much more relevant today than it was in 1980.
Here's a hypothetical: let's say an alien traveled here to Earth and the first person they talked to was you. They wanted to know more about this planet. They asked, "What's the biggest problem on Earth?"
You'd certainly have a lot to choose from. What would you say to the alien?
A few years ago, pastor Judah Smith said, “I think we are suffering from a lack of love on a grand scale. It might be the greatest epidemic in the world and I think it always has been. I think horrific things that happen (racism, cheating, lying, murder, etc) are symptomatic of the fact that we don’t feel loved. We don’t feel like we matter. We don’t feel like we are valued, so as a result, we devalue each other.“
Wow.
Every character deficiency, bad behavior, false mindset, fear, and even every negative thought you have about yourself and others is a symptom of a deeper issue. A deficiency of love.
And it came to pass that there was a 12-year-old girl whose deepest desire each day was to just be noticed and appreciated by her dad. Every night before bed she would get him a glass of water, a cookie, and his slippers. She would do everything she could just to get him to look at her when she would tell him “Goodnight daddy, I love you.” He would routinely respond in his function-without-feeling way “Goodnight, sweetheart.” Yet, no matter how hard she tried, nothing could diverge his eyes from his TV.
Love deficiency happens in cycles. Later in life, this little girl is likely to make mistakes she wouldn’t have made had she gotten her dad’s much-needed attention. As much as he is in the wrong, what she can’t understand is that her dad’s lack of awareness is a character deficiency stemming from his parents treating him the same. It’s cyclical. It takes intentionality to break cycles. It takes effort. There is nothing automatic about love.
So if a lack of love is the world's biggest problem, what is the world's greatest need?
Jeffrey R. Holland: “Christlike love is the greatest need we have on this planet … Pure Christlike love flowing from true righteousness can change the world.”
We can become extensions of His love. When we feel valued, loved, appreciated, cherished, and believed in, our lives change. We grow where we are loved.
Christ drew others to Him through love. He would love them completely, and as a result, they would love and follow Him, and by loving and following Him, they were healed. They were redeemed. They grew to love themselves and others.
This was His pattern. If you want a great example of this, read 3rd Nephi 17.
This is who He wants you to be. What He wants you to do. To be like Him. To love as He loved. Love is the most inspiring thing in the world.
If I know anything about you, I know that you have never been inspired by anyone who didn’t have at least 1 of these 2 attributes:
They love what they do.
They love you.
It is human nature to follow and seek after love. Christlike love never fails.
Where love is absent, fear, discouragement, confusion, despair, jealousy, hopelessness, and darkness are present. Where love is present, joy, peace, clarity, confidence, light, fulfillment, and meaning are found. Perfect love casts out all fear.
MENTAL PERFORMANCE
"It's not every four years. It's every day.”
US Olympic Training Facility
Abhinav Bindra is a former Olympic gold medalist. As only one of two Indian athletes to ever win a gold medal, he is in rarified air. What was his secret? How did he overcome the odds?
His mantra reveals the secret. In fact, this very mantra is on the wall of the US Olympic Training Facility. He said, “It’s not every four years. It’s every day.”
So simple, yet so profound. The idea of working towards your goals and chasing your dream every day is sexy. But the actual pursuit of greatness every day? It’s a grind. It can be monotonous, hard, and definitely not sexy.
C.S. Lewis wrote about this. He wrote, “(God) allows (a) disappointment (or anticlimax) to occur on the threshold of any human endeavor. It occurs when the boy who has been enchanted in (school) by … the Odyssey buckles down to really learning Greek. It occurs when lovers have got married and begin the real task of learning to live together. In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing.”
Anything truly meaningful is earned through hard work. If you haven’t earned it, if you haven’t worked hard for it, it won’t mean that much to you. Before embarking on anything truly meaningful, it’s important to understand HOW you’ll feel during the journey. Having a correct expectation of how you’ll feel and what you’ll experience beforehand is critical.
The Law of Thirds (What Growth Feels Like)
“My Olympic coach told me after a particularly challenging workout where I could not hit my split’s before going to the Rio Olympics, that that was OK. It was the rule of thirds. And he was an Olympian, so, you know, I always soaked in everything he said.
And I was like, what’s the rule of thirds? And he said, when you’re chasing a dream or doing anything hard, you’re meant to feel good 1/3 of the time, okay 1/3 of the time and crappy 1/3 of the time. And if the ratio is roughly in that range, then you’re doing fine. So today was the crappy day along your dream chasing. And if the ratio is off … like you feel too good all the time or too bad, then you’ve got to look at if you’re fatiguing or are not trying hard enough or pushing yourself.”
Alexi Pappas
The Law of Thirds is the perfect measuring stick for growth.
Great: 1/3 of the time. If you’re feeling great more than 1/3 of the time, you’re simply not working hard enough. You’re not pushing yourself.
Okay: 1/3 of the time. If you feel okay more than 1/3 of the time, you’re working hard but not working smart.
Crappy: 1/3 of the time. If you feel crappy more than 1/3 of the time, you’re doing way too much and burnout is the certain outcome.
What This Looks Like
If you’re an athlete:
1/3 … you’re motivated, body is feeling it, and dominate the workout.
1/3 … just okay.
1/3 … unmotivated, body is tight/sore, and workout feels sluggish.
If you’re a creative:
1/3 … you’re inspired, flowing, and on fire.
1/3 … just okay.
1/3 … unmotivated, writer’s/creator’s block, and might not get anything accomplished.
You can apply this to ANYTHING.
The Law of Thirds only applies to the consistent. If you’re not consistent, you won’t even have enough days stacked to divide it into thirds. It’s not every four years. It’s every day.
Growth For The Disciple-Leader
(Jesus) is inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit—even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our wives, teach our children, and even care for our bodies.
Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance (change). Repentance (change) is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
… I plead with you to repent (grow). Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance (growth)—of doing and being a little better each day.
When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves … When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ!
Russell M. Nelson
Through His mouthpiece here on Earth, Russell M. Nelson, Jesus Christ pleads with you to be intentional about your growth every single day. Be purposeful. Work hard. Chase your dreams. Lead yourself.
The disciple-leader involves the Savior in his daily pursuit of growth, change, and development. By doing so, the disciple-leader isn’t left to his own power. He accesses Christ's infinite, matchless power.
Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.
Ezra Taft Benson
Center your development in Jesus Christ. Involve Him and seek His help in working towards all of your dreams and goals. Witness Him perform miracles within you and through you. And remember:
It’s not every four years. It’s every day.
Disciple-Leadership: Jesus-led. Lead like Jesus.