The Greatest Possession

I mentioned before that I felt like DISCIPLESHIP was a major theme of conference and this talk fits into that perfectly along with Elder Soares’ talk. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk is about love and repentance and moving towards our Savior and transforming ourselves into the people that we can become.

This was one of those talks that instantly touched my spirit when I heard it and continues to do so every time I read and listen to it. Elder Holland has such a beautiful way with words and I am grateful for what he shared.

To sum it up – he spoke about being ALL IN. About wholeheartedly, without reservation, being devoted to the gospel and our Savior. We need to come unto Christ with an uncompromised commitment to His gospel. When I think of uncompromised commitment my mind turned to my marriage. I remember talking with Mark, and thinking even more so about it personally, that when we got married there would be no looking back. I was going to be ALL IN. I wasn’t going to question things when times got rough – we chose one another and we were (and are) committed!

The Lord asks the same of us. Difficulties will come. They make look different for each of us, but they are there nonetheless. It may be difficulty with doctrine, or people that fall short in our eyes, or personal trials that feel unaided. But our loyalty to the Savior has to be our number one priority.

Elder Holland reminds us of the first great commandment, which is to love God wholeheartedly. But he added that the first great TRUTH is that God loves us wholeheartedly. Isn’t that humbling?

And at the end of the day, the KEY to “contented, happy living” is to love God. The more we look to our Father in Heaven and our Savior, the more we make them our number one priority, the more genuine joy we feel in our lives. And isn’t that what we all want? More contentment and happiness. I know I do.

I feel like this is such a great talk to revisit this time of year when we are making goals and trying to stretch ourselves more. It has led me to ask myself, “in what ways might I be holding back from the Lord?”. And I want to recommit more and more every day to be ALL IN with the Lord. To make my life “higher and holier”. And I hope to be able to do as Elder Holland has said and “take up the cross of Christ, however demanding it may be, regardless of the issue and regardless of the cost.”

Here are my highlights from Elder Holland’s talk:

“Each of us is to come to Christ with the same uncompromised commitment to His gospel. We are to declare ourselves “all in.“

All who speak in this general conference will all be saying, one way or another, what Christ said to this rich young man: “Come unto your Savior. Come completely and wholeheartedly. Take up your cross, however heavy it may be, and follow Him.” They will say this knowing that in the kingdom of God, there can be no halfway measures, no starting and stopping, no turning back. When difficult things are asked of us, even things contrary to the longings of our heart, remember that the loyalty we pledge to the cause of Christ is to be the supreme devotion of our lives.

Of course, we all have some habits or flaws or personal history that could keep us from complete spiritual immersion in this work. But God is our Father and is exceptionally good at forgiving and forgetting sins we have forsaken, perhaps because we give Him so much practice in doing so. In any case, there is divine help for every one of us at any hour we feel to make a change in our behavior. The possibility of change and living at a more elevated level has always been one of the gifts of God to those who seek it.

When the love of God sets the tone for our own lives, for our relationships to each other and ultimately our feeling for all humankind, then old distinctions, limiting labels, and artificial divisions begin to pass away, and peace increases.

Of course, we are speaking here of the first great commandment given to the human family – to love God wholeheartedly, without reservation or compromise, that is, with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. This love of God is the first great commandment in the universe. But the first great truth in the universe is that God loves us exactly that way – wholeheartedly, without reservation or compromise, with all of His heart, might mind, and strength. And when those majestic forces from His heart and ours meet without restraint, there is a veritable explosion of spiritual, moral power.

It is then, and really only then, that we can effectively keep the second great commandment in ways that are not superficial or trivial. If we love God enough to try to be fully faithful to Him, He will give us the ability, the capacity, the will, and the way to love our neighbor and ourselves.

I pray we will succeed where that rich young man failed, that we will take up the cross of Christ, however demanding it may be, regardless of the issue and regardless of the cost. I bear witness that when we pledge to follow Him, the path will, one way or another, pass by way of a crown of thorns and a stark Roman cross. No matter how wealthy our young ruler was, he wasn’t wealthy enough to buy his way out of a rendezvous with those symbols, and neither can we. For the blessing of receiving the greatest of all possessions – the gift of eternal life – it is little enough that we are asked to stay the course in following the High Priest of our Profession, our Day Star, Advocate, and King. I testify with obscure Amaleki of old that each of us is to “offer [our] whole souls as an offering unto him.”

FULL text and video of Elder Holland’s talk can be found HERE.

Other messages from the October 2021 General Conference that I have found particularly impactful:

• The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation by President Russell M. Nelson
• The Need for a Church by President Dallin H. Oaks
• The Savior’s Abiding Compassion by Elder Ulisses Soares
• Invite Christ to Author Your Story by Sister Camille N. Johnson
• Daily Restoration by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf