The Matchless Power of Christ, Courage, Choosing Your Consequences
The Disciple-Leader Newsletter #32 // September 2, 2023.
Discipleship. Leadership. Mental Performance.
DISCIPLESHIP
"I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men..."
Mosiah 4:6
The Book of Mormon describes Jesus Christ’s power and love as “matchless”. In fact, that word is used over and over in the Book of Mormon (8 times in total).
This is a powerful truth.
Any other positive emotion, sense of meaning, relationship, achievement, or any other source of love or power is no match to what is found in Jesus Christ.
His love is matchless.
His power is matchless.
His leadership is matchless.
His mercy is matchless.
His freedom is matchless.
“There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh” (Mosiah 5:8).
Let there also be no other name whereby your power cometh.
There is no other Being whose power, love, and light are matchless. Only Jesus Christ.
Understanding this, you are prepared to answer some questions posed by President Russell M. Nelson:
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?
Choose Christ’s way and experience His matchless power.
LEADERSHIP
“Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”
Maya Angelou
To be consistently kind, true, merciful, generous, honest (or insert any other virtue), is to go against the grain. It's to swim upstream.
The natural man consumes those who go with the flow in life. The natural man is our default state. It's easy to be dismissive of someone who annoys you, gossip about someone behind their back, bend the truth to make you look better, or stop extending love to those who are hard to love.
Courage is the catalyst for the consistent practice of all these virtues. Courage stifles the natural man.
Without courage, you're not going to stick up for someone being gossiped about.
Without courage, you're not going to love your enemy.
Without courage, you're not going to tell the truth when the truth makes you look bad.
Without courage, you can't be kind.
C.S. Lewis spoke about the supreme importance of courage: “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.”
Courage provides a litmus test for the virtues. Are you actually kind or just sort of kind? Are you actually honest or just selectively honest?
Those answers have nothing to do with your kindness or honesty. They have everything to do with your courage.
MENTAL PERFORMANCE
“Your future self will either bear the burden of your inconsistency today or reap the rewards of your commitment today. You get to choose.”
Kevin DeShazo
Two other thoughts that speak to this idea:
"Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat." - James Clear
“All returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.” - Naval Ravikant
Every decision has a consequence. It's wise to ask yourself before you make a decision, "Do I want the consequences of what I want?"
Disciple-Leadership: Jesus-led. Lead like Jesus.