Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke in October 2019 general conference and said:
. . . . “In this conference three years ago, President Russell M. Nelson spoke of joy.2 Among other things, he said: “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 the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation … 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. … For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!”3
Saints are those who have entered into the gospel covenant through baptism and are striving to follow Christ as His disciples.4 Thus, “the joy of the saints” denotes the joy of becoming Christlike. I would like to speak of the joy that comes from keeping His commandments, the joy that arises from overcoming sorrow and weakness through Him, and the joy inherent in serving as He served.
The Joy of Keeping Christ’s Commandments
We live in a hedonistic age when many question the importance of the Lord’s commandments or simply ignore them. Not infrequently, people who flout divine directives such as the law of chastity, the standard of honesty, and the holiness of the Sabbath seem to prosper and enjoy the good things of life, at times even more so than those who are striving to be obedient. Some begin to wonder if the effort and sacrifices are worth it. The ancient people of Israel once complained:
“It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? “And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.”5
Just wait, said the Lord, until “that day when I make up my jewels. … Then shall ye … discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.”6 The wicked may “have joy in their works for a season,” but it is always temporary.7 The joy of the Saints is enduring.
God sees things in their true perspective, and He shares that perspective with us through His commandments, effectively guiding us around the pitfalls and potholes of mortality toward eternal joy. The Prophet Joseph Smith explained: “When His commandments teach us, it is in view of eternity; for we are looked upon by God as though we were in eternity; God dwells in eternity, and does not view things as we do.”8
I haven’t met anyone who found the gospel later in life who didn’t wish it could have been earlier. “Oh, the poor choices and mistakes I could have avoided,” they will say. The Lord’s commandments are our guide to better choices and happier outcomes. How we ought to rejoice and thank Him for showing us this more excellent way.
Keeping the Lord’s commandments enables us more fully and more easily to feel His love. The strait and narrow path of the commandments leads directly to the tree of life, and the tree and its fruit, the sweetest and “most desirable above all things,”10 are a representation of the love of God and fill the soul “with exceedingly great joy.”11
I haven’t met anyone who found the gospel later in life who didn’t wish it could have been earlier. “Oh, the poor choices and mistakes I could have avoided,” they will say. The Lord’s commandments are our guide to better choices and happier outcomes. How we ought to rejoice and thank Him for showing us this more excellent way. . .
“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”12
The Joy of Overcoming through Christ
Even when we are found faithfully keeping the commandments, there are trials and tragedies that could interrupt our joy. But as we strive to overcome these challenges with the Savior’s help, it preserves both the joy we feel now and the joy we anticipate. Christ reassured His disciples, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”13 It is in turning to Him, obeying Him, binding ourselves to Him that trial and sorrow are turned to joy. I mention one example.
In 1989, Jack Rushton was serving as president of the Irvine California Stake in the United States. During a family vacation on the California coast, Jack was bodysurfing when a wave swept him into a submerged rock, breaking his neck and severely injuring his spinal cord. Jack said later, “The instant I hit, I knew that I was paralyzed.”14 below He could no longer talk or even breathe on his own.15
Family, friends, and stake members rallied around Brother Rushton and his wife, Jo Anne, and, among other things, remodeled a section of their home to accommodate Jack’s wheelchair. Jo Anne became Jack’s principal caregiver for the next 23 years. Referring to Book of Mormon accounts of how the Lord visited His people in their afflictions and made their burdens light,16 Jo Anne said, “I am often amazed at the lightness of heart I feel in caring for my husband.”17
14. Jack Rushton, in “Faith in Adversity: Jack Rushton and the Power of Faith,”Small and Simple TV, Sept. 2, 2009, YouTube.com.
To be Continued. . .
For Elder Christofferson’s complete talk now, click. . .‘The Joy of the Saints’.
