Always Remember Him
First Counselor in the First
Presidency
Can you picture with me the prophet Moroni inscribing the final
words of the Book of Mormon on the golden plates? He
was alone. He had seen his nation, his people, and his family fall.
The land was “one continual round” of war (Mormon 8:8). Yet he had hope, for he had seen our day!
And of all the things he could have written, he invited us to remember (see Moroni 10:3).
President Spencer W.
Kimball (1895–1985) was fond of teaching that the most important word in the
dictionary could be remember. Because
we have made covenants with God, he said, “our greatest need is to remember”
them.1
You can find the word remember throughout
the scriptures. When Nephi admonished his brothers, often he invited them to
remember the Lord’s words and to remember how God had saved their forefathers
(see 1 Nephi 15:11, 25; 17:40).
In his great farewell
address, King Benjamin used the word remember seven
times. He hoped that his people would remember “the greatness of God … and his
goodness and long-suffering” toward them (Mosiah 4:11; see
also 2:41; 4:28, 30; 5:11–12).
When the Savior instituted
the sacrament, He invited His disciples to partake
of the emblems “in remembrance” of His sacrifice (Luke 22:19). In every sacrament prayer you and I hear,
the word always precedes
the word remember(see D&C 20:77, 79).
My message is an invitation, even a plea, to remember. Here are
three suggestions about what you could remember each week when you partake of
the sacred emblems of the sacrament. I hope they are helpful to you, as they
have been to me.
First, remember the Savior. Remember who He was while on earth, how
He spoke to others, and how He showed kindness in His acts. Remember whom He
spent time with and what He taught. The Savior “went about doing good” (
Acts 10:38). He visited the sick.
He was committed to doing His Father’s will.
Most
of all, we can remember the great price He paid, out of His love for us, to
remove the stain of our sins. As we remember Him, our desire to follow Him will
grow. We will want to be a little kinder, more forgiving, and more willing to
seek the will of God and do it.
Remember What You Need to Do Better
It’s hard to think of the
Savior—His purity and perfection—without also thinking of how flawed and
imperfect we are in comparison. We have made covenants to obey His
commandments, yet we frequently fall short of this high standard. But the
Savior knew this would happen, which is why He gave us the ordinance of the
sacrament.
The sacrament has its roots in
the Old Testament practice of offering sacrifices, which included a confession
of sin (see
Leviticus 5:5). We
don’t sacrifice animals anymore, but we can still give up our sins. The
scriptures call this a sacrifice of “a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (
3 Nephi 9:20). Come to the
sacrament with a repentant heart (see
D&C 59:12;
Moroni 6:2). As you do so, you will
obtain
forgiveness of sins and
you will not stray from the path leading back to God.
Remember
the Progress You Are Making
As you examine your life
during the ordinance of the sacrament, I hope your thoughts center not only on
things you have done wrong but also on things you have done right—moments when
you have felt that Heavenly Father and the Savior were pleased with you. You
may even take a moment during the sacrament to ask God to help you see these
things. If you do, I promise you will feel something. You will feel hope.
When I have done this, the Spirit has reassured me that while
I’m still far from perfect, I’m better today than I was yesterday. And this
gives me confidence that, because of the Savior, I can be even better tomorrow.
Always is
a long time, and it implies a lot of focused effort. You know from experience
how hard it is to think consciously of one thing all the time. But no matter
how well you keep your promise to always remember Him, He always remembers you.
The Savior knows your
challenges. He knows what it is like to have the cares of life press upon you.
He knows how urgently you need the blessing that comes from always remembering
Him and obeying Him—“that [you] may always have
his Spirit to be with [you]” (D&C 20:77;
emphasis added).
So, He welcomes you back to the sacrament table each week, once
again offering you the chance to witness before Him that you will always
remember Him.
Teaching from This Message
Life can get hectic and
make it difficult for us to always remember our Savior Jesus Christ. The
sacrament, however, provides a special time each week when we can reflect on
His life and teachings. With those you home teach, consider how you use those
quiet moments now, and discuss how you can increase your focus on the Savior.
How can you use those moments to reflect on the things you can personally
improve? What is the value of remembering the progress you make each week?
“Always”
cji
2/1/18
Eternal is the word
‘always’
bringing into
perspective life
here a blinking of
the eye
pre-existence –
mortality
then comes eternal
life
after tribulations
and strife
having passed reality
enduring to the end
to try
understanding all
strife
eternal is the word
‘always’!
Copyright
© 2018 – cji
