Covenants: Living Our Best Life

God will help us live our best life when we make covenants with Him.

Last week I helped a member of our congregation move into a skilled nursing facility. When we showed up to his apartment, a neighbor of his was there and had already packed up all of his stuff. All that was left for us was to do the actual lifting and transporting to the new place. My original understanding was that we were going to have to pack up his apartment as well as move it and I pretty much blocked off my whole day accordingly. Learning that his neighbor (who I’m sure had plenty of her own things to do that day) already did all the packing was a really pleasant surprise. She understood that this man--her neighbor--didn’t really have family or anyone else close by and had been helping him out a lot in recent weeks while he was in the hospital.

Recently I wrote about being an instrument in the Lord’s hands and how He uses us to bless the lives of His children.

Being an instrument in the Lord’s hands is not exclusive to members of His church. The Lord uses anyone of any faith or of no faith at all to bless His children. On a large scale I think of all those who have served or continue to serve refugees fleeing their war-torn countries. On a small scale, I think of this neighbor: she saw a need and she stepped in to help in a small but significant way.

When we act on impulses or desires to love and serve others, we are instruments in the Lord’s hands--whether we acknowledge His influence or not or whether we believe in a Father in Heaven or other supreme being at all. The prophet Mormon taught:

“But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God. (Moroni 7:13)

The Light of Christ leads the honest soul

The power by which we are invited and enticed to do good is called the Light of Christ, which is given to everyone regardless of religion or upbringing (see Moroni 7:13-19). One manifestation of the Light of Christ is what we call a conscience. The Light of Christ is given to everyone because God loves all His children and desires good things for them.

In the Bible Dictionary we learn that “The light of Christ is just what the words imply: enlightenment, knowledge, and an uplifting, ennobling, persevering influence that comes upon mankind because of Jesus Christ.” (Bible Dictionary, “Light of Christ”)

However, as good as loving and serving our neighbor is, it is not good enough for us to just be “good” or do good in this life. The Light of Christ has another more important role than to persuade us to serve our neighbors: to bring us to Christ. Again from the Bible Dictionary:

“Its influence is preliminary to and preparatory to one’s receiving the Holy Ghost. The light of Christ will lead the honest soul who “hearkeneth to the voice” to find the true gospel and the true Church and thereby receive the Holy Ghost.” (Bible Dictionary, “Light of Christ”)

When we feel and act upon the Light of Christ that is given to us, we are motivated to help others. We are also drawn toward the Savior and His gospel. We desire to repent so that we can feel the influence of the Savior more in our lives. And we desire to return to live with our Father in Heaven and our families for eternity.

Indeed, we are like the people in the Book of Mormon who, upon hearing the prophet King Benjamin teach about Jesus Christ and serving others “all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.

“And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which [the prophet] had spoken unto them. . . . 

“And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which [the prophet] hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. . . .

“And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days.” (Mosiah 4:2-3; 5:2,5)

From these verses we learn that drawing nearer to Christ and learning of Him not only leads us to repentance, but it instills in us the desire to make covenants with God.

Willing to enter into a covenant with our God

What are covenants? A covenant is a two-way promise between us and God wherein we promise in various ways to keep the first and second great commandments to love and serve Him and others. In turn, we receive divine power to succeed in this life and the ability to return to live with Him in return.

When the people of King Benjamin repented and entered into a covenant with God, he taught them:

“And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.” (Mosiah 5:7)

How do we make covenants? God has chosen since the beginning to work with symbols and symbolism, and we make covenants through symbolic actions such as baptism. The reason we are baptized is to make a covenant with God; the actual act of going into the water and being baptized by immersion is the symbol God has chosen to represent the covenant. Additional covenants are made in His holy temples.

Recently I was catching up with a friend. He asked about our kids and I told him, among other things, that Oslo was going to be eight this summer and was going to get baptized. My friend was a bit surprised that Oslo was getting baptized so late, as opposed to being baptized as an infant as is common in some other religions. I explained that baptism is a covenant with God and not just a tradition to follow or a simple checklist item for us to complete to be saved. Making covenants with God is a conscious decision that we must make for ourselves once we’re old enough to understand the promise and commitment we are making and can decide for ourselves.

Of course one could argue that at eight years old you don’t fully understand what you’re committing to when you get baptized. And that’s fair: I’m an adult and I’m still learning how to honor my covenants with God.

Yet we do not have to wait--we should not wait--until we have a perfect understanding of the entire gospel and everything Jesus taught before we are baptized. We urgently need the help and power that we receive from God through our baptismal and temple covenants in order to navigate this life, better serve God and others, and return to live with Him. We need a foundational understanding, yes. But we can perfect our understanding along the way as our covenants help change us for the better.

Earlier this month, Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, taught:

“Covenants create the kind of relationship that allows God to mold and change us over time and lift us to become more like the Savior, drawing us closer and closer to Him and our Father and eventually preparing us to enter Their presence.” (Put Ye On the Lord Jesus Christ, General Conference, April 2024)

Covenants are not something that perfect people make with God. They are something that imperfect people with righteous desires make with God in order to become perfect eventually.

Living Our Best Life

Of course once we make covenants with God we, as imperfect people, will break our side of the promise. God knows this. And since God so loved the world, he sent His Only Begotten Son to atone for our mistakes and enable us to continuously repent and try again. Each Sunday when we take the sacrament, if we have repented properly, we renew our baptismal covenant with God. We are, in effect, baptized again.

Covenants are a wonderful upward spiral: when we make a covenant with God, He changes us to become more like the Savior and we draw closer to Him. As we draw closer to Him, we make better choices: we love and serve others more, we seek opportunities to feel His Spirit, we are more patient and understanding, etc., which helps us become more like the Savior and draw closer to Him. Which helps us make better choices . . . and so on ever upwards until we become perfect in Christ.

Therefore, our covenants are not the final step in our journey to become like Christ and qualify for eternal life, but an integral necessary step along the way and a step that helps us qualify for the saving grace of Jesus Christ’s atonement.

The prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, taught: 

“Once you and I have made a covenant with God, our relationship with Him becomes much closer than before our covenant. Now we are bound together. Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in God’s heart. He has high hopes for us.” (The Everlasting Covenant, Liahona, April 2022)

Our best life is the one that will lead us back to our Father in Heaven and help others along the way.

To live our best life, we must be more than just “good”--we must seek to become like Christ.

God will help us live our best life when we make covenants with Him.

Jeremy

An Instrument in the Lord's Hands: A Story of Canceled Flights and Tender Mercies

Earlier this month I was on my way back to Germany from the US. The morning of my return flight, the airline canceled my flight. A subsequent rebooking saw delays and, throughout the course of the day I was on hold with United Airlines for multiple hours, rebooked three times, and had an exciting airport transfer across Washington DC before I finally made it to an international flight with just minutes to spare. It wasn’t one of my favorite travel experiences.

While in line at security, a Lufthaunsa employee and a passenger she was escorting got in line behind me. I could quickly tell that the older passenger did not speak English and she looked very uncomfortable. Since we were headed to Germany I turned around and asked the older passenger if she spoke German. She did not.

On the other side of security as I watched the lady continue to not understand the TSA agents, I asked the Lufthansa employee what language the lady spoke. As luck would have it (i.e. divine providence), she said she thought the lady might be from Ukraine.

The older passenger and I ended up talking the whole way to the gate. It turns out she has been staying with her daughter in DC and now has to return to Ukraine. At the gate she borrowed my phone to let her daughter know she was about to board. Her daughter asked to speak with me and expressed her gratitude to me that her mom met someone who could talk to her and help her. Her mom was understandably nervous to fly alone surrounded by people she couldn’t communicate with--not to mention the fact that she was returning to Ukraine--and her daughter was likewise worried about her mom. Being able to talk to me was a tender mercy for both of them.

In Frankfurt the airport set this lady up with someone who would take her to her next gate. I talked with her a bit, connected her phone to WiFi so she could call her daughter, and, once she was on the phone with her daughter, went on my way.

 A few days later I read with my kids in the Book of Mormon about Joseph Smith being an instrument in the Lord’s hands (2 Nephi 3:24). The phrase “an instrument in the Lord’s hands” is repeated a few times in the Book of Mormon describing people through whom the Lord blessed His children.

As disciples of Christ, we desire and seek to be instruments in the Lord’s hands as He does His work to bless His children. Looking back, this was one such experience.

I do not think that God orchestrated the entire series of flight cancellations and delays just to put me in that specific security line to meet that Ukrainian woman. I do not believe having a translator available in a non-urgent, non-vital situation would merit inconveniencing hundreds of other people. However, I do believe that in His omniscience the Lord made the most of an already-unfortunate situation and guided the subsequent events that brought me and the Ukrainian lady together. If either of us showed up to the Washington Dulles airport a few minutes earlier or later, we would have never crossed paths. I am grateful for His tender mercies that He trusted me to help her and brightened my travel experience.

Obviously I did nothing to create this situation, nor am I the focal point of this story. Yes, I enjoy telling a good “travel woes” story (I had to cut the word count for this story in half) and yes I have more than a few to share. However, in telling this story, I add the same caveat that the book of Mormon prophet Ammon gave when he rejoiced in being an instrument in the Lord’s hands:

“Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things” (Alma 26:12).

I share this experience simply to illustrate two eternal principles. One, our Heavenly Father looks out for us, even in little ways as He did with His daughter, this Ukrainian lady who was traveling alone in foreign lands. And two, we can be blessed by being instruments in the Lord’s hands when we look for opportunities to serve wherever we are.