Approximate length: 15-20 minutes
Topics: goals, commitment, covenants, perserverance, challenges
Talk given: December 2004

ABE LINCOLN STORY
You may have heard what Abraham Lincoln he said of his mother: “All that I am, all that I hope to be, I owe to my Angel mother.” What a wonderful expression that was. But many of us don’t know what his mother’s last words to him were. They were “Be something, Abe.”
Aren’t those simple terms, but, oh, so powerful? “Be something.” I think it is interesting that she didn’t say, “Be someone.” She said, “Be something, Abe.” There is a significant difference. In the dictionary someone is defined as “an unspecified person,” while something is identified as “a person or thing of importance.”

I remember my mom was always very encouraging. She, like most parents probably do, would tell me that “I could be whatever I wanted to be. I could accomplish anything I set my mind to.”
So why do parents, such as my mother, Abraham Lincoln’s mother and maybe your mother say this? Why do I tell my children the same thing? It’s because parents know the potential that lies in each of us as children of our Heavenly Father. They also know of the rocky roads and challenges that are up ahead;

Abraham Lincoln’s mother said “Be something” as her last words. She wanted him to commit himself.

THE WORD IS COMMITMENT – COVENANT AND COMMITMENT
I have said many times, I would love to be able to play the piano like my sister. If I really wanted it bad enough, is there any doubt that I would be able to learn to play the piano? It takes that serious commitment.

This word ‘commitment’ is interesting. Commitment as a word can’t stand by itself. It just begs you to explain “committed to WHAT?”

I believe many people feel they are committed to something, but when it really comes down to it, they aren’t fully committed because they haven’t changed their lives to show full commitment.

Think about this for a moment, about what you already know about commitment. A commitment is binding. It is “sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose” as the dictionary says.
With a true commitment your life changes.

I have heard it said “You become what you think about”. The Lord wants us to set goals, wants us to make commitments. Do we not make a commitment whenever we make a covenant?

President Hinckley said this in April 2004 conference:

“I remind all of us that we are Latter-day Saints. We have made covenants with our Heavenly Father, sacred and binding. Those covenants, if we keep them, will make us better fathers and mothers, better sons and daughters.”

Without goals, without commitments, we simply don’t progress. Brothers and sisters, listen to this promise from the Lord carefully:

“Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

“For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.” (D&C 58:27-28.)

This is the time of year when people start making resolutions. Resolutions to lose weight, to read the scriptures, to be a better husband. Maybe you’re like me and you’re asking yourself what your New Year’s Resolutions will be. There are so many ways that each of us can improve our lives – spiritually, emotionally, physically, temporally – so many “good causes” to be “anxiously engaged in” that I won’t spend time on enumerating what those goals might be.
I just want to ask you and myself – “How committed will you be to those goals? Will you make a true commitment or will you make a good intention ?”

Many people know that President Spencer W. Kimball had a sign on his desk that was very simple. It said “Do it.” Just do it.

If you’ve ever completed a goal of any substance, you know as well as I do that accomplishing a goal is really just a matter of doing the right things, time after time until you achieve your objective. Getting into better physical shape to the tune of 5, 10, 25 pounds is a matter of exercising every day, eating better foods every day. Filling an honorable mission is a matter of getting up every day, praying, working hard, and sharing testimony. Missionaries who start on their mission often look at the 2-year commitment as enormously daunting…the end is almost impossible to fathom. But then one day, after regular completion of doing the right things I just mentioned, that same missionary is arriving back home after serving honorably.

THIS IS A GOSPEL OF ACTION
This is a gospel of action. I recently watched a PBS documentary that was originally aired several years ago about the Prophet Joseph Smith called The American Prophet. In that documentary, a history professor from Columbia University (and evidently not LDS) says this:

“That’s the part of Mormonism that I like. Event was required. You simply did not believe in your heart and wait for the Lord to save you. But you sold your goods, you got in a wagon with your family and you went to the place where the holy city was to be erected, and there made a life in a new society.”

Nothing was the same for these Saints. They physically moved to be near other people with the same faith. They gave up everything they had – their possessions, their occupations, their neighbors, families and friends, all under the daunting threat of persecution, poverty, even death. Now this, my friends is commitment.

Granted, our situations are not such that we are called upon to sacrifice in the same ways, but we are expected to make the same commitment.

President Hinckley also said this in our last conference, and I remember as I sat there listening to it when he said it, I was struck with how simple this statement is but also how profound:

“This Church, I submit, is far more than a social organization where we gather together to enjoy one another’s company. It is more than Sunday School and Relief Society and priesthood meeting. It is more than sacrament meeting, more even than temple service. It is the kingdom of God in the earth. It behooves us to act in a manner befitting membership in that kingdom.”

“Within your sphere of responsibility you have as serious an obligation as do I within my sphere of responsibility. Each of us should be determined to build the kingdom of God on the earth and to further the work of righteousness.”

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee” (Josh. 1:9).”

WE WILL FACE TOUGH CHALLENGES TO OUR RESOLVE, TO OUR COMMITMENT
We inevitably will face challenges in completing our goal. Anyone who has started a diet or started an exercise regiment can attest to the commitment level we have when we start. We start out full of energy, bound and determined to lose weight, get buffed, whatever. But then one day, we’re tired or a good show is on TV or we just don’t feel like it. Or maybe there’s an open bag of Doritos sitting in front of us calling my name. Whatever the goal, every worthy goal will have its accompanying challenges – it’s then when we find out how truly committed we are.

As I mentioned before, many people know about Pres. Kimball’s “DO IT” sign. He also had a sign that said “Don’t Quit”.

Joseph Smith placed commitment ahead of life itself. From the time of his first vision until his martyrdom, he was a victim of bitter persecution, reviling, and ridicule, but never did he falter in spite of extreme adversity. As he recorded his story, he wrote:

“However, it was nevertheless a fact that I had beheld a vision. I have thought since, that I felt much like Paul, when he made his defense before King Agrippa, and related … when he saw a light, and heard a voice; but still there were but few who believed him; some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad; … But all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had…

“So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; … For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation.” (JS—H 1:24-25.)
While I have the tendency to hold Joseph Smith’s challenges in a different light, in a way that would never impact me. “Hey, I live today where I can be a Latter-day Saint without challenge to my beliefs.”

But this simply isn’t true. Satan is just as active as he was in the time of Joseph Smith. This year alone there have been many direct attacks on our beliefs: Novels have been released that paint our beliefs in a questionable light, conference goers are facing direct persecution as they try to enter General Conference. Laws are being passed in certain states that fly in the face of what we know to be right.

In fact, just this week, our practice of baptism for the dead has been publicly ridiculed, mocked and denounced in media outlets across the country.

He is also indirect, more subtle in his attacks. Popular TV shows portray sex as glamorous and acceptable and our sensitivities to right and wrong become dulled. He tries to get us to see things as more gray than black and white, right or wrong.

President Hinckley said:

“There are forces all around us that would deter us from that effort. The world is constantly crowding in on us. From all sides we feel the pressure to soften our stance, to give in here a little and there a little.

We must never lose sight of our objective. We must ever keep before us the goal which the Lord has set for us.

We must stand firm. We must hold back the world. If we do so, the Almighty will be our strength and our protector, our guide and our revelator. We shall have the comfort of knowing that we are doing what He would have us do. Others may not agree with us, but I am confident that they will respect us. We will not be left alone. There are many not of our faith but who feel as we do. They will support us. They will sustain us in our efforts.
I believe that others will rally around us if we will do so. We can stand for truth and goodness, and we will not stand alone. Moreover, we shall have the unseen forces of heaven to assist us”

Marvin Ashton said: “A truly committed person does not falter in the face of adversity. Until one is committed, there is a chance to hesitate, to go off in another direction, or to be ineffective. Members within our ranks who are committed to living the gospel of Jesus Christ will not be affected by the rationale of hecklers.

Our enemies are becoming more hostile with each passing week. They seem intent on not only deceiving the uncommitted among us but on leading astray even the elect. They criticize our leaders. They scoff at what we consider to be sacred. They mock ordinances and covenants we know to be true and holy. “

HAPPINESS IS IN THE JOURNEY
The great news is that the process of achieving our goals, the process of being “committed” makes us happy. We are happier on our way to our destination than we are coming home. We are happier on Christmas Eve than Christmas night. We are happier when we have a goal.

President Kimball: “Goals should always be made to a point that will make us reach and strain. Success should not necessarily be gauged by always reaching the goal set, but by progress and attainment.”

Listen to what Elder Ashton says about how commitment is needed to help us reap the full benefits of life:

“To reap the full benefits of life, we must fill our days with commitment to worthy goals and principles. There is no other way. As these commitments lead us to action, we will find added growth and dimension which will guide us toward a productive life here on earth and open the door for eternal life with our Father in Heaven.”

CONCLUSION
Our goals, if they are worthy goals, are worth fighting for. They are worth committing ourselves completely.

My family spent Thanksgiving in Utah. While we were there we went to temple square to see the grounds lit up with Christmas lights. As I held my son and together we watched the short program on the temple grounds that outlines the birth of Jesus, a light snow was falling. As we walked through Temple Square, my son kissed my on my cheek and whispered “I love you dad”. This was a short glimpse of what it must feel like to achieve my ultimate goal of eternal life.

I bear you my testimony that this is definitely a goal worthy of being truly committed.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.