President Spencer W. Kimball on Jesus' example of principled and loving leadership

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985) was ordained an apostle in 1943 and served as President of the Church from 1973 to 1985.

"Jesus operated from a base of fixed principles or truths rather than making up the rules as he went along. Thus, his leadership style was not only correct, but also constant. So many secular leaders today are like chameleons; they change their hues and views to fit the situation—which only tends to confuse associates and followers who cannot be certain what course is being pursued. Those who cling to power at the expense of principle often end up doing almost anything to perpetuate their power.

"Jesus said several times, 'Come, follow me.' His was a program of 'do what I do,' rather than 'do what I say.' His innate brilliance would have permitted him to put on a dazzling display, but that would have left his followers far behind. He walked and worked with those he was to serve. His was not a long-distance leadership. He was not afraid of close friendships; he was not afraid that proximity to him would disappoint his followers. The leaven of true leadership cannot lift others unless we are with and serve those to be led."

- Spencer W. Kimball, "Jesus: The Perfect Leader," address to the Young Presidents organization, Sun Valley, Idaho, 15 January 1977; see Ensign, August 1979, p. 6
Click here to read the full talk

It's important to be correct, but it's also important to be constant. In an interesting analysis, President Kimball explains how Jesus manifested both of those characteristics in His leadership. We have seen many recent examples of the statement, "Those who cling to power at the expense of principle often end up doing almost anything to perpetuate their power." It's very sad when the desire for fame or wealth eclipses moral foundations and even common decency.

How blessed we are to have the pure example of leaders like the Savior, who invited us to follow His example:

This is an important message for any of us, since we are periodically given opportunities or assignments to function in leadership roles. The best leaders are those who care the most about the people they lead and desire only to serve and bless. Another way to look at it is that the people who care the most about those around them often become the leaders!

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)

President Howard W. Hunter on the blessings of temple attendance

President Howard W. Hunter (1907-1995) was called to the Quorum of Twelve in 1959.  He served as Church President for only nine months, from June 5, 1994 to his death on March 3, 1995.

"Truly, the Lord desires that His people be a temple-motivated people. It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church be temple worthy. I would hope that every adult member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it.

"Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety which is provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty, it is a place of revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the house of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us."

- Howard W. Hunter, "The Great Symbol of our Membership," Ensign, October 1994, pp. 2-5
Click here to read the full article

President Hunter felt deeply the blessing and importance of temple worship, and taught about it frequently during his service as an apostle and particularly when he became president of the Church. This article was written as one of the monthly "First Presidency Messages" during his tenure as the President, and the excerpt gives a sense of the importance and urgency President Hunter felt.

It's insightful to ponder the description "a temple-motivated people." In what ways does the temple motivate us? When we understand its blessings and all it has to offer, it surely does influence our decisions and our actions.

Having a temple recommend, and being worthy of it, is a symbol, according to President Hunter, of our understanding and willingness to follow the Lord's plan for us.

I love his brief summary of temple blessings:

Truly, there are many blessings in the Lord's temples. As we learn about worship and service, we will confirm President Hunter's descriptions in our own lives: "a place of beauty, a place of revelation, a place of peace."

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)

President James E. Faust on the Savior's message of hope and deliverance

President James E. Faust (1920-2007) was called as a Seventy in 1976, then as a member of the Quorum of Twelve in 1978. He served as a counselor to President Hinckley from 1995 until his death in 2007 at age 87.

"The Divine Shepherd has a message of hope, strength, and deliverance for all. If there were no night, we would not appreciate the day, nor could we see the stars and the vastness of the heavens. We must partake of the bitter with the sweet. There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless.

"When we pluck the roses, we find we often cannot avoid the thorns which spring from the same stem.

"Out of the refiner’s fire can come a glorious deliverance. It can be a noble and lasting rebirth. The price to become acquainted with God will have been paid. There can come a sacred peace. There will be a reawakening of dormant, inner resources. A comfortable cloak of righteousness will be drawn around us to protect us and to keep us warm spiritually. Self-pity will vanish as our blessings are counted."

- James E. Faust, "The Refiner's Fire," General Conference, April 1979
Click here to read or listen to the full talk

The gospel of Jesus Christ truly does provide "a message of hope, strength, and deliverance for all." There is hope for the eventual resolution of all concerns and trials; strength to endure while we prepare, and deliverance from evil and from suffering.

But yet, the challenges are part of the plan, as President Faust points out. They enable us to appreciate the blessings of God more fully. Our adversities are often part of His hand in our lives as well, as "They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless." It takes faith to comprehend that great truth.

And this is the great promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ: there is "a glorious deliverance" that will surely come. What a sacred blessing to have this hope within!

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)

President Gordon B. Hinckley on service as an antidote for worry and despair

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) was called to the Quorum of Twelve in 1961. He served as a counselor in the First Presidency from 1981-1995, then as Church President until his death in 2008.

"Said the Lord, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' (Matt. 25:40.)

"I am not suggesting that you become a Florence Nightingale or a Clara Barton. But you can help. There are so many out there whose burdens you can lift. There are the homeless, there are the hungry, there are the destitute all around us. There are the aged who are alone in rest homes. There are handicapped children, and youth on drugs, and the sick and the homebound who cry out for a kind word. If you do not do it, who will?

"The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired."

- Gordon B. Hinckley, "To Single Adults," talk given 26 February 1989 at a Single Adults fireside satellite broadcast; see Ensign June 1989, p. 72
Click here to read the full article

So often, our leaders remind us of the blessing of "getting outside ourselves"—being aware of the needs around us and doing something to help with the many opportunities that exist. President Hinckley even provides a list of the kinds of needs that we often overlook. This is truly the essence of the Christian life: doing good to others, as a symbol of our love for God.

President Hinckley helps us see the blessings that come to us as we love and serve. It can help us overcome worry, despair, and weariness. When we learn to care about others, we worry less about ourselves.

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)

Elder Neal A. Maxwell on trials, challenges, and growth

Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926-2004) served as a Seventy from 1976-1981, then as a member of the Quorum of Twelve until his death from cancer in 2004.

"Trying to comprehend the trials and meaning of this life without understanding Heavenly Father’s marvelously encompassing plan of salvation is like trying to understand a three-act play while seeing only the second act. Fortunately, our knowledge of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Atonement helps us to endure our trials and to see purpose in suffering and to trust God for what we cannot comprehend....

"So often in life a deserved blessing is quickly followed by a needed stretching. Spiritual exhilaration may be quickly followed by a vexation or temptation. Were it otherwise, extended spiritual reveries or immunities from adversity might induce in us a regrettable forgetfulness of others in deep need. The sharp, side-by-side contrast of the sweet and the bitter is essential until the very end of this brief, mortal experience. Meanwhile, even routine, daily life provides sufficient sandpaper to smooth our crustiness and polish our rough edges, if we are meek....

"Part of enduring well consists of being meek enough, amid our suffering, to learn from our relevant experiences. Rather than simply passing through these things, they must pass through us and do so in ways which sanctify these experiences for our good (see D&C 122:7). 

"Life is carefully designed to produce for us, if we are willing, a harvest of relevant and portable experience. But there is such a short growing season! The fields must be worked intensively amid droughts, late springs, and early frosts. For the disobedient and despairing who refuse to plant, plow, or harvest, theirs is not simply a 'winter of discontent' but a despair for all seasons. The indifferent and lackluster who work only on the surface of life will harvest little. Only for the perspiring and 'anxiously engaged' faithful will the harvest be manyfold (see Matt. 19:29)."

- Neal A. Maxwell, "Enduring Well," Ensign, April 1997, p. 7
Click here to read the full article

It's always thrilling to me to read Elder Maxwell's beautiful and thought-provoking writing. These four related segments from one of his talks speak of trials and suffering, and of the ways we can respond so those things are a blessing to us.

First of all, it's critical to view our mortal challenges in the broad expanse of eternity. This is only the short middle segment of a much broader and grander eternal existence. We are here to learn to "trust God for what we cannot comprehend" in our restricted vision.

The relationships between times of blessing or comfort, and times of trial and struggle, is good to contemplate. It's important to recognize the interplay of those events in our lives and understand the purpose for each. That will allow us to not just pass through trials, but have the trials pass through us to cleanse and purify in the process.

What a beautiful and profound analogy. A harvest is only reaped when great effort is invested. We must do our part to earn the bountiful harvest or "relevant and portable experience." I'm especially impressed by the portability of experience and knowledge; the ability to apply lessons from one challenge or trial to other situations is a great blessing.

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)

Elder Dale G. Renlund on the Priesthood and the Atonement of Jesus Christ

Elder Dale G. Renlund (born November 13, 1952) served in the First Quorum of Seventy starting in 2009, until his call to the Quorum of Twelve in October 2015.

"Because of His atoning sacrifice, Jesus Christ has the power and authority to redeem all mankind. To make His atoning power accessible, He has delegated a portion of His power and authority to men on earth. This delegated power and authority is called priesthood. It permits priesthood holders to help Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in Their work—to bring about the salvation and exaltation of God’s children. It does so because it provides His children the opportunity to receive the blessings of the Savior’s atoning power.

"The atoning power of Jesus Christ is essential because none of us can return to our heavenly home without help. In mortality, we invariably make mistakes and violate God’s laws. We become stained by sin and cannot be allowed back to live in God’s presence. We need the Savior’s atoning power so that we can be reconciled to Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ broke the bands of physical death, allowing resurrection for all. He offers forgiveness of sins, conditioned on obedience to the laws and ordinances of His gospel. Through Him, exaltation is offered. The opportunity to benefit from the Savior’s atoning power is creation’s most important payload.

"For Heavenly Father’s purposes to be accomplished, Christ’s atoning power needs to be made available to God’s children. The priesthood delivers these opportunities. It is the rocket. Priesthood is essential because necessary ordinances and covenants on earth are administered only by its authority. If the priesthood fails to deliver the opportunity to benefit from the Savior’s atoning power, what would be its purpose? Would it just be a complex, attention-grabbing firecracker? God intends priesthood to be used for more than just a class on Sunday or as a service opportunity. He intends for it to deliver the payload."

- Dale G. Renlund, "The Priesthood and the Savior’s Atoning Power," General Conference October 2017
Click here to read or listen to the full talk

Elder Renlund used the analogy of a rocket delivering a satellite payload into space; the satellite is completely useless on earth, and only becomes a powerful influence when it has been delivered to its appropriate destination. In his analogy, the atonement of Jesus Christ becomes useful and powerful in our lives only when "delivered" by priesthood actions including ordinances and sacred covenants.

We should all be grateful for this divine blessing and seek continually to receive blessings and power from God through the priesthood on earth. Those who are called and ordained to administer those blessings, to "deliver the payload," must never forget what a sacred trust they have that must be exercised in faithfulness.

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)

Elder Gary E. Stevenson on preventing spiritual eclipses in life

Elder Gary E. Stevenson (b. August 5, 1955) was called as a Seventy in 2008, then as Presiding Bishop in 2012. He was called as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in October 2015.

"In the same manner that the very small moon can block the magnificent sun, extinguishing its light and warmth, a spiritual eclipse can occur when we allow minor and troublesome obstructions—those we face in our daily lives—to get so close that they block out the magnitude, brightness, and warmth of the light of Jesus Christ and His gospel....

"Clearly, none of us wants to purposefully obscure our vision of heaven or allow a spiritual eclipse to occur in our lives....

"Looking at a spiritual eclipse through the protecting and softening lens of the Spirit provides a gospel perspective, thus protecting us from spiritual blindness....

"When you put on gospel glasses, you find enhanced perspective, focus, and vision in the way you think about your priorities, your problems, your temptations, and even your mistakes. You will see brighter light that you could not see without them."

- Gary E. Stevenson, "Spiritual Eclipse," General Conference October 2017
Click here to read or listen to the full talk

I had the privilege of being in the area of totality for the recent solar eclipse described by Elder Stevenson in his article. So I understand the "sense of awe, astonishment, and even anxiety" that such an occurrence creates. We pondered on the phenomenon of nature that makes this possible, and on the overwhelming power of the sun: if even a tiny portion of the sun is not eclipsed (just outside the area of totality), it's still not possible to look directly at it, and the related phenomena of temperature drop and darkness are not nearly as pronounced.

Elder Stevenson's analogy of things that might block the source of our spiritual light is a good one. We need to be very careful not to ever allow obstructions of any kind to come between us and God's light:

The use of "gospel glasses" that enable us to see more clearly as we strive to avoid obstructions becomes critical. We need the "enhanced perspective, focus, and vision" that gospel living provides in order to stay safe. Our acts of obedience and faithful discipleship will keep us safe and on the right path..

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)