- Clearly, Lehi knew opposition, anxiety, heartache, pain, disappointment, and sorrow. Yet he declared boldly and without reservation a principle as revealed by the Lord: “Men are, that they might have joy.” Imagine! Of all the words he could have used to describe the nature and purpose of our lives here in mortality, he chose the word joy!
He speaks of joy in our lives and shares that joy is more about our focus in life rather than our environment we live in.
- My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
When speaking about our focus in life, he shares:
- When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!
He reminds us that the ultimate source of all the joy in our lives is Jesus Christ and He assures us that we can and will find joy by following Him.
- It doesn’t seem possible to feel joy when your child suffers with an incurable illness or when you lose your job or when your spouse betrays you. Yet that is precisely the joy the Savior offers. His joy is constant, assuring us that our “afflictions shall be but a small moment” and be consecrated to our gain.
President Nelson teaches a great principle of the gospel in this talk. He teaches us that joy is found in keeping the commandments of God. I have tried to share this with my kids for many years. You will never find true happiness, never be able to fill that void in your life, until you accept all that the Savior offers you and commit to following Him. He is the ultimate source for happiness in our lives. He will not leave us alone to wander through life without purpose. We are here to find joy and peace and that truly is only found in the Savior's love by following His commandments. The sooner we commit to following Him, He will be able to mold our lives into something far beyond what we see as possible.