In his address “Our Heartfelt All“, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf discusses our commitment to Christ and His gospel. He states “If we want the Savior to lift us heavenward, then our commitment to Him and His gospel can’t be casual or occasional.” There is a struggle in life where we have obligations and yet need to be disciples of Jesus “at all times and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9). This can be done if we are determined to have our heart in it.

Heartfelt All

The story of the Widow’s Mite in Mark 12:41-44 describes the offerings made by various people into the temple’s treasury. The rich donated a lot of money and made a big show. However, in this instance, there was a widow who quietly put in two mites. Two mites is not a lot of money. It definitely didn’t compare to the sums donated by the rich. Christ, however, knew the woman’s heart and situation and stated that she had contributed more “than all they which have cast into the treasury.” She had donated more than just money, she had donated her heart with faith that God would provide. Jesus called it “all that she had, even all her living.”

In my first area in Chile, we shared the gospel with a family I grew to love. I was to be transferred out and had one last opportunity to share the gospel. I poured out my heart to them pleading that they would understand what I was sharing. I shared with them the words of Nephi in chapter 33, verses 10 through 15.

10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also ^aJew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and ^bbelieve in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall ^cbelieve in Christ ye will believe in these ^dwords, for they are the ^ewords of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they ^fteach all men that they should do good.

11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with ^apower and great ^bglory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

12 And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his ^akingdom at that great and last day.

13 And now, my beloved brethren, all those who are of the house of Israel, and all ye ends of the earth, I speak unto you as the voice of one ^acrying from the dust: Farewell until that great day shall come.

14 And you that will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect the words of the ^aJews, and also my ^bwords, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these words shall ^ccondemn you at the last day.

15 For what I seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the ^ajudgment bar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must ^bobey. Amen.

I don’t know if they ever received a testimony of the Book of Mormon or if they were ever baptized. I do know that I gave it my heartfelt all to share with them something that is of great importance to me.

How can we be like the widow? How can we give our hearts to the Savior as we keep our worldly obligations? Elder Uchtdorf gives us three ways to do so: “balance”, “lift”, and “sacrifice and consecration”.

Balance

I grew up in the sticks. There really is no other way to describe it. My dad purchased eight and one-half acres built a house and raised his family. I loved where I grew up. I also grew up before the internet, smartphones, and cable TV. This meant that we spent a lot of time outside. Riding bicycles was a favorite thing to do. We learned a lot on our bikes, including riding one-handed, no-handed, and popping wheelies that would last hundreds of feet. Our skills riding a bicycle wouldn’t have been impossible had we not learned balance. When doing tricks, balance is not even thought about, it’s just done.

There is one aspect to balance on a bicycle that we always did even if we didn’t think about it. That aspect is moving forward. Every trick we did had the bike in motion. The motion of the bike allowed us to balance and then perform.

“Staying balanced is all about moving forward,” states Elder Uchtdorf. In our lives, we need to hone our balance so that it is automatic. We can do this through regular routines. I have talked about routines before. Prayer, reading/studying our scriptures, and temple worship all help us to have the underlying balance in our lives. These habits allow us to look forward to our ultimate goal of living with Heavenly Father. “This objective must remain constant and consistent, whoever we are and whatever else is happening in our lives.” Elder Uctdorf notes that it was the same with the Savior who “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

Lift

My brother-in-law is a pilot. He flies machines that seem to defy gravity and just common sense. As with balance, the plane must be moving forward in order to fly. There is one other key to flying an airplane and that is the lift. Lift occurs when there is a pressure differential between the air under the wings and the air over the wings. Gaining speed by moving forward and creating this lift allows the plane to soar into the skies instead of crashing at the end of the runway.

We often see our goal of eternal life as being lifted up. This is one of the tasks our Savior performs. He lifts us up by providing us the opportunity to repent of our sins. By taking advantage of His atonement He creates a pressure differential in our wings that raises us closer to being like Him. Elder Uchtdorf states that this “means that if we want to find balance in life, and if we want the Savior to lift us heavenward, then our commitment to Him and His gospel can’t be casual or occasional… we must offer Him our whole souls… but it must come from our heart and soul.”

For me, this commitment means that no matter what I’m doing, I’m cognizant of the effects it has, not only on my personal journey but on the personal journey of others. Recently I have been refereeing a seven-on-seven adult soccer league. I make mistakes as a referee and the players will let me know it. There are times when I get frustrated and argue with the players. It doesn’t happen often but when it does I review later the incident and how I could have been better. This usually leads me to go back and review my training to see where I can improve as a referee. I try to be in a better position so that the correct call is made. This then will reduce the frustration the players feel towards me and we all can have a better experience.

Sacrifice and Consecration

Balance and lift can at times be daunting to obtain. We have so many things that vie for our time. We have to learn to choose how to “[let] somethings go and [let] other things grow.” The things we let go of are seen as a sacrifice, the things we let grow are an example of our consecration to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When I was younger I was a huge sports fan. I loved all sports, baseball, football, hockey, basketball, and soccer. You name it and I watched it. I craved sports and would even watch ones that I had no idea what the rules were (Australian rules football for instance). After I was married for a couple of months Cheryl came to me one day and brought up sports. She asked me what my obsession was all about. She also showed me how much time it took away from everything else. She was also very wise. She didn’t ask me to give up my love of sports. She did ask if I could reduce my obsession to just a couple. At first, this seemed like a huge sacrifice. I was smart enough to see her point and how my obsession could negatively affect our marriage and my life. So I agreed with her. Today, I have a couple of sports that I follow, but it’s nowhere near the obsession I had before. Sacrificing my sports obsession has helped to bring balance to my life as well as provided me opportunities to be lifted up.

“Consecration is different from sacrifice in at least one important way. When we consecrate something, we don’t leave it to be consumed upon the altar. Rather, we put it to use in the Lord’s service.” Heavenly Father has asked us to consecrate ourselves to Him. To me this means living the commandments, honoring my covenants with Him, and living my life in accordance with the two great commandments. By loving God and my neighbor every day I am consecrating my life. I strive to do the things the Lord has asked of me.

Conclusion

Giving our heartfelt all require us to find balance and lift in this life. Through sacrifice and consecration, we can demonstrate our devotion to God and love our neighbors. It isn’t easy, but by doing so our lives begin to align with God’s will, and “life no longer feels like a long list of separate efforts held in tenuous balance.”