We live in a busy world and we just can’t do all things at once.

That’s why
we need to set priorities. The setting of priorities is the key to a successful
pursuit of excellence. When we set priorities, we can manage our problems.
Seeking balance—giving adequate time and effort to each of those things
that really matter—is vital to success in our mortal probation. There are
certain fundamental responsibilities we cannot neglect without serious
consequence.

President Brigham Young—devised this rallying cry: “The Kingdom of God or

nothing.”

A wise cleric of a former day leaves us this counsel: “If you have not chosen
the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you
have chosen instead.”

When we put first in our lives the things of God’s kingdom, we are speaking
of the earthly kingdom which prepares us for the heavenly kingdom.
Answers to our most challenging problems are found only when we love and
have faith in Them.

President Ezra Taft Benson said: “When we put God first, all other things fall
into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love for the Lord will
govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests
we pursue, and the order of our priorities”. (share experience of Anthony’s
courtship; career; temple; office)

What are the essential poles of our lives? I wish to suggest four: our love for
Heavenly Father and His Son, our care of our families, our service to the
Lord, and our life’s temporal work. –Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Seventy

The Lord said, “If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me” (D&C 42:29). Elder
Dallin H. Oaks said, “Service is an imperative for true followers of Jesus
Christ.”

Church leaders have strongly encouraged individuals to obtain a quality

education that will allow choices in our life’s work, and they have
encouraged dedication to an honorable trade or profession that will serve
our spiritual life. (share experience in the office about goals and being a
triple crowner)

President Gordon B. Hinckley has taught:

“I think … all of us in this Church … have a fourfold responsibility. One,

[members and leaders] have a responsibility to their families, to see that
their families have a measure of their time. … None of us can evade that. …
That is basic and fundamental.

“If we are employed, we have a responsibility to our employer. We are not

at liberty to short-change him. …

“We have a responsibility to the Lord, of course, to do that which is

expected of us as a servant in His house.

“And … we have a responsibility to ourselves to take some time to do a little

meditating, to do a little exercise. …

“… How do you balance them? I don’t think that is difficult. I served in many
capacities in this Church. I am the father of five children, who were young
and growing up when I was serving in those various capacities. … We
enjoyed life. … We just did what the Church expected us to do.”

Only the valiant are saved. Members of the Church who are not valiant in
the testimony of Jesus, not valiant in the cause of Christ, not valiant in
defense of his prophets and in preaching his word are not heirs of the
celestial kingdom.

Am I so living that I will be saved in the kingdom of God? This is our goal
and aim and purpose in life. Everything we do should please the Lord and
further our strivings for salvation. – Elder Bruce R. McConkie

I believe the mission statement for mortality might be “to build an eternal
family.”

The world needs to know what the proclamation teaches, because the
family is the basic unit of society, of the economy, of our culture, and of our
government. And as Latter-day Saints know, the family will also be the basic
unit in the celestial kingdom. “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”
states: “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for
each other and for their children. … Parents have a sacred duty to rear their
children in love and righteousness, … to observe the commandments of
God.”

President David O. McKay said: “no other success can compensate for
failure in the home.”

“The most important of the Lord’s work you will ever do will be within the
walls of your own homes.” Our desires and actions toward our families
should be as Lehi exemplified when he partook of the sweet fruit of the tree
of life and immediately was “desirous that [his] family should partake of it
also” (1 Ne. 8:12).

Indeed, nothing is more critically connected to happiness—both our own

and that of our children—than how well we love and support one another
within the family.

Being worthy to be received by the Savior could well be the first priority of
every Latter-day Saint woman and man.

Akin to that, of course, would be the goal of temple marriage and becoming
a righteous parent in Zion. The establishment of a righteous, eternal family
is our most important responsibility. Certainly obedience is a worthy goal
and should be a high priority in life. (relate to your son – James – and
strengthening your marriage)

Since we each have periodic challenges of obedience, we can take heart in

President Hinckley’s encouragement “that the Lord will not give us
commandments beyond our power to observe. He will not ask us to do
things for which we lack … capacity.”

President Harold B. Lee spoke of the Church as a crucial “scaffolding” that

helps build the individual and the family. As we are often reminded, we will
be released one day from our Church callings; but if we are worthy, we will
never be released from our family relationships.

Joseph F. Smith said: “There can be no genuine happiness separate and

apart from the home, and every effort made to sanctify and preserve its
influence is uplifting to those who toil and sacrifice for its establishment.
Men and women often seek to substitute some other life for that of the
home; they would make themselves believe that the home means restraint;
that the highest liberty is the fullest opportunity to move about at will.
There is no happiness without service, and there is no service greater than
that which converts the home into a divine institution, and which promotes
and preserves family life”.

How do we protect and preserve and strengthen our homes and families in
a world pulling so hard in opposite directions? Let me make three simple
suggestions:

1. Be consistent in holding daily family prayer and weekly family home

evenings.
2. Teach the gospel and basic values in your home. Establish a love for
reading the scriptures together.
3. Create meaningful family bonds that give your children an identity
stronger than what they can find with their peer group or at school or
anyplace else. Teach them the importance of avoiding debt and of earning,
saving, and wisely spending money.

No matter who or what we are, we help ourselves when we help families.

Crisis or transition of any kind reminds us of what matters most. What

matters most is what lasts longest, and our families are for eternity. – Elder
M. Russell Ballard

What is the role of Relief Society in furthering the work of the Savior? When
the Prophet Joseph Smith organized the Relief Society, he said that the
women were not only to look after the poor but also to save souls. (share
experience with Shane – attempted suicide)

We can start by strengthening ourselves spiritually through prayer and

becoming self-reliant in scripture knowledge.

We cannot delegate our responsibility for building the kingdom to anyone

else. It is our work. There is no greater privilege than to watch over and
strengthen another person—it is truly the business of salvation. – Julie B.
Beck, Relief Society general president

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said: “If someone were to ask you who we are as a
people, what would you say? Who are we as members of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

The answer, I believe, is a simple one given to us by the Savior Himself. We

are a people who love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds. And we
are a people who love our neighbor as ourselves.

This answer satisfies many of the questions asked about why we do what
we do. Why does the Church ask so much of its members? Because we love
the Lord, and we love our neighbor. Why do we do temple work? Missionary
work? Welfare work? Because we love the Lord, and we love our neighbor.

These are the roots of all that we do. We do not send our missionaries out
into the world to collect statistics. We send them into the world because we
love our Heavenly Father, and we love our fellowmen.

That is who we are as a people. That is why we do what we do.”

When we are out of balance, we have a choice. How can each of us know if
our life is out of balance? Exercise the discipline to change, substituting
higher values and better habits for those we have been living. We need to
follow the counsel of our prophets to do it now before any further damage is
caused by our lack of attention to other indispensable parts of life.

Regular self-evaluation is critical to seeking a balanced life.

Three Guides

1. Promptings of the Spirit.

2. Scriptures and the words of living prophets.
3. Regular communication with a trusted friend. Our spouse or, if not
married, a trusted friend with shared values, can be a vital channel for
honest reflection.

Not long ago, one of my children said, ‘Dad, sometimes I wonder if I will
ever make it.’ The answer I gave to her is the same as I would give to you if
you have had similar feelings. Just do the very best you can each day. Do
the basic things and, before you realize it, your life will be full of spiritual
understanding that will confirm to you that your Heavenly Father loves you.
When a person knows this, then life will be full of purpose and meaning,
making balance easier to maintain.” – Elder M. Russell Ballard

Priorities are the key. And the greatest priority is, above all else, to seek
first the kingdom of God.

“Am I doing and living and acting each day as a candidate for the highest
degree of glory in the celestial kingdom? It is worth it; I am not going to
weaken; I am going to go forward; I am going to make it because that’s the
promise of the Father to me, his child.” – Elder M.Russell Ballard

We must “see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is
not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.” However,
to encourage our constant effort, we are counseled, “It is expedient that he
should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize” (Mosiah 4:27). It is
my witness that it can be done and the prize is “eternal life, which gift is the
greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7).

It was comforting to know that if I would do all I could, the Savior would do
the rest. If we are helping the Lord with His work, we are entitled to His
help.

And, the Lord be praised, there comes a time in the lives of faithful Saints
when, having kept the faith and been true and faithful at all hazards, the
Lord says to them: Thou shalt be exalted.