In his talk, “Lovest Thou Me More Than These“, President M. Russell Ballard relates how Christ’s question to Peter is relevant to us today. As I read and listened to the talk, the following questions came to mind:

1. How would I answer the question?
2. How confident would I be in the answer?
3. Would it be OK to respond with “I’m trying”?

How Would I Answer the Question?

In order to answer the question of loving God more than all other things, I had to identify what those other things are. I came up with the following list of things in my life that I love:

1. Books
   1. The Dresden Files
   2. The Stormlight Archive
   3. Dune
2. Sports
   1. Soccer
   2. Hockey
   3. Golf
   4. Baseball
   5. Football
3. Social Media
   1. Twitter
   2. FaceBook
   3. Instagram
   4. LinkedIn
   5. Tik Tok
4. Movies/TV
   1. Harry Potter
   2. Lord of the Rings
   3. Marvel Comic Universe
   4. Dr. Who
   5. Wheel of Time
5. Gospel
   1. Scriptures
   2. General Conference
   3. Books
      1. The Second Coming of the Lord
      2. The Infinite Atonement
      3. Jesus the Christ
6. Family
   1. Spouse
   2. Children
   3. Extended

As you can see that’s a long list of things that are competing for my time. Looking at my list, I then needed to determine the amount of time I spend on each. I also had to determine what I would choose if I had free time. For the most part, I am doing all right and could answer “yes I love Thee more than these”.

How Confident Would I Be In The Answer?

What’s my confidence level? Again this is a cause for internal reflection. Knowing myself and my pension for getting distracted, I could easily shift away from my current answer. That being the case, it becomes important to do the evaluation above on a regular basis. This will ensure that I can keep myself focused on the things that matter most.

Would It Be OK To Respond With “I’m trying”?

My answer is yes. President Nelson has stated that “The Lord loves effort.” Therefore, if I’m trying to love Him more than other things, He will recognize my effort and help me be successful.

Remembering Where True Happiness Comes From

In the end, we need to remember where true happiness comes from. Quoting President Ballard:

We must always remember that true happiness depends on our relationship with God, with Jesus Christ, and with each other.

President M. Russell Ballard, “Lovest Thou Me More Than These”, October 2021 General Conference

Building those relationships is a demonstration of the love we have for God and His plan of happiness.

Conclusion

I challenge you to take time to answer for yourself the questions:

• How would I answer the question “Lovest thou me more than these”?
• How confident am I in my answer?
• Can I really say I’m trying to love Him more than the other things?

Answering these questions will allow you to internally reflect on your life. You can then make any adjustments necessary in order to answer as Peter did “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee“.