One of the greatest football coaches in history once said, "The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." Diligence is the principle that drives us to be better, and to work hard for the things that we want to accomplish. It is the steady, consistent, and energetic effort in doing the Lord's work. If we want reap success from the work each of us are involved in, we must be diligent.
Rick Hoyt was born in 1962 to Dick and Judy Hoyt. Rick was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy at birth as a result from oxygen deprivation . Dick and Judy were advised to institutionalize Rick because there was no hope of him recovering and living a normal life. The quest then began to help Rick become involved in the community, sports, and education.
In the spring of 1977, Rick told his father that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile benefit run for a Lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Far from being a long-distance runner, Dick agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair and they finished all 5 miles, coming in next to last. That night, Rick told his father, "Dad, when I'm running, it feels like I'm not handicapped."
This realization was just the beginning of what would become over 1,000 races completed, including marathons, duathlons and triathlons (6 of them being Ironman competitions). Also adding to their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days(Team Hoyt)
Just as Dick's diligence is an expression of love to his son. Our diligence is an expression of love to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Pushing forward when we are tired, and living the commandments of the Lord when don't think we can is a great sign of faith.
Through exercising diligence we become more like our savior who was the ultimate example of diligence. He completed his mission on this earth even though he knew that the path he would have to walk would be a long and painful one. When he was about to endure the greatest pain the world has ever known and he said to his father, "..take away this cup from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Mark 14:36) He knew of his divinity and knew the diligence it would take to accomplish the task that was at hand. Yet, he laid the example before us and fulfilled the will of the father by atoning for the sins of the world.
As we press forward with all energy of our hearts, striving to become more like our savior everyday, the love our our Father in Heaven will be manifest through us. We will find that the Lord will make more out of us that we can make out of ourselves. It's not easy, it takes work, but all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us.
I remember being amazed as I was watching a football game. One of the teams had an incredibly talented tail back. He was very quick and agile. He would be carrying the ball in the middle of the field, and just when you thought the defense had him wrapped up, he'd slip through their grasp and scamper for thirty more yards.
The elusiveness of the tailback closely relates to the Christlike attribute of humility. Humility displays the same type of traits that the tailback did in the fact of just when we think we are humble, we learn that we are not. This tricky trait allows us to rely on God without realizing that we are relying on him. Elder Marlin K Jensen of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints said, "Consciously trying to acquire humility is also problematic. I remember once hearing one of my colleagues... say about humility that 'if you think you have it, you don’t.' He suggested we should try to develop humility and be sure we didn’t know when we got it, and then we would have it. But if we ever thought we
had it, we wouldn't"
This is one of the lessons C. S. Lewis teaches in his well-known Screwtape Letters. In letter XIV, a good man who is being recruited by a devil and his apprentice to their side is growing humble, and the devil remarks that “this is very bad.” With great insight, Lewis has the devil say to his associate, “Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact?"
It seems as though humility is always just out of our grasp. So, how do we develop this evasive trait? Christ helps us to understand when his disciples ask him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He responded by placing a little child in their midst and stating, “Whosoever … shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”(Matt. 18:1, 4)
In this passage the Savior teaches that to be humble is to become like a little child. The Book of Mormon teaches us what it means to become as a little child when it says, "For the natural man is an enemy to God... and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."
Humility is willingness to submit to the will of the Lord and to give the Lord the honor for what is accomplished. It includes gratitude for His blessings and acknowledgment of your constant need for his divine help. Humility is the ability to become as a little child and submit to will of our Father in Heaven just as children submit to the will of their parents.
Contrary to the world's view on humility, it is not a sign of weakness. Humility is a sign of spiritual strength. When you humbly trust the Lord and acknowledge His power and mercy, you can have the assurance that His commandments are for your good. You are able to be confident that you can do whatever the Lord requires of you if your rely on Him.
The President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and prophet in these days, Thomas S. Monson said, "Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting hat frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required."
Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. It is the ability to do God's will ad accept His timing, When you are patient, you hold up under pressure and are able to face adversity calmly and hopefully. Patience is related to hope and faith- you must wait for the Lord's promised blessings to be fulfilled.
Patience is needed i everyday experiences and relationships. You must be patient with all people, yourself included, as you work to overcome faults and weaknesses. (Preach My Gospel p. 120)
Patience is essential in our lives. It is the foundation of charity. We learn in Moroni 10:20 that without charity there is no hope, and without hope there is no faith.
Elder Robert C. Oaks describes several aspects of patience in his article "The Power of Patience."
"First, 'charity suffereth long.' That is what patience is all about. Charity 'is not easily provoked” is another aspect of this quality, as is charity “beareth all things.' And finally, charity 'endureth all things' is certainly an expression of patience (Moroni 7:45). From these defining elements it is evident that without patience gracing our soul, we would be seriously lacking with respect to a Christlike character.
In the Bible Job offers the classic portrait of patience. In the face of losing his vast empire, including his children, Job was able, because of his unfailing faith, to proclaim, 'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' Through all of his tribulation and pain, “Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly” (Job 1:21–22).
How often do we hear oppressed souls ask foolishly, 'How could God do this to me?' when really they should be praying for strength to 'beareth' and 'endureth all things.'
The greatest scriptural examples of patience are found in the life of Jesus Christ. His long-suffering and endurance are best demonstrated on that excruciating night in Gethsemane as He uttered, in His atoning agony, 'O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt' (Matthew 26:39). He truly suffered and bore and endured all things.
While nailed to the cross on Calvary, Christ continued in His perfect example of patience as He uttered the singular words, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do' (Luke 23:34).
These examples of patience have greater meaning for us when we consider the admonition [Christ gives] found in 3 Nephi: 'Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am' (3 Nephi 27:27).
In Mosiah, King Benjamin instructs us that we will be a natural-man enemy of God until we yield to the enticings of the Holy Ghost through our patience, plus other virtues (see Mosiah 3:19).
Joseph Smith stated, 'Patience is heavenly' (History of the Church, 6:427).
Is patience important and worthy of our pondering and pursuit? It certainly is if we would avoid the demeaning classification of 'nothing' used to label those without charity. It is if we desire to be less a natural-man enemy of God. It is if we would be heavenly. It is if we would seek to become after the manner of Christ.
The impatient, natural man is all about us. We see it manifest in news reports of parents, in a fit of rage, abusing a child, even unto death. On our highways, incidents of mobile impatience, or road rage, result in violent accidents and sometimes fatalities.
On a less dramatic but much more common level are flared tempers and harsh words uttered in response to slow-moving customer lines, never-ending telephone solicitation calls, or children reluctant to respond to our instructions. Do any of these sound familiar?
Fortunately, there are seldom-reported but marvelous-to-consider stories of great patience. Recently I attended the funeral of a lifelong friend. His son told a beautiful story of parental patience. When the son was in his youth, his dad owned a motorcycle dealership. One day they received a shipment of shiny new motorcycles, and they lined them all up in the store. The boy did what every boy would like to do, and he climbed up on the closest one. He even started it up. Then, when he figured he had pushed his luck far enough, he jumped off. To his dismay, his dismount knocked the first bike down. Then, like a string of dominoes, they all went down, one after another. His dad heard the commotion and looked out from behind the partition where he was working. Slowly, smiling, he said, 'Well, son, we had better fix one up and sell it, so we can pay for the rest of them.'
I think my friend’s response personifies parental patience.
Patience may well be thought of as a gateway virtue, contributing to the growth and strength of its fellow virtues of forgiveness, tolerance, and faith. When Peter asked Christ how many times he should forgive his brother, Christ replied, 'Seventy times seven,' rather than the mere seven times that Peter had offered (see Matthew 18:21–22). To forgive seventy times seven certainly takes a large measure of patience.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell linked patience and faith together when he taught: 'Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His' (“Patience,” Ensign, Oct. 1980, 28).
We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God’s purposes and patterns to unfold in our lives, on His timetable.
Since impatience is so natural, how do we develop the divine virtue of patience? How do we move our behavior from that of the natural man to that of our patient, perfect example, Jesus Christ?
First, we must understand that to do so is necessary, if we desire to fully enjoy the blessings of the restored gospel. Such an understanding might motivate us to:
1. Read each of the scriptures in the Topical Guide listed under the topic “patience” and then ponder Christ’s patient examples.
2. Evaluate ourselves to determine where we stand on the patience continuum. How much more patience do we need to become more Christlike? This self-assessment is difficult. We might ask our spouse or another family member to help us.
3.Become sensitive to the examples of patience and of impatience that occur around us every day. We should strive to emulate those individuals we consider to be patient.
4.Recommit each day to become more patient, and be certain to keep our selected family member involved in our patience project.
This sounds like a great deal of work, but to achieve any worthwhile goal requires hard work. And overcoming the natural man and working to become more Christlike in our patience is a most appropriate objective. I pray that we will pursue this path with diligence and dedication."
As we grow and learn to become more patient, a greater level of love will come into our hearts. A great amount of charity, hope, and faith will light our souls and help us to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Who am I, and what type of person should I become? This question is one that has risen to the surface many times throughout my life. Who should we be?
Christ answered this question during His ministry among the people of ancient America, as found in the Book of Mormon. He said, "...What manner of men ought you to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Nephi 27:27)
How do you we become like Christ? By developing his attributes. The next nine blog posts will include seven different Christlike attribute and how we can develop them in our own lives. As we strive to develop these attributes, a greater love will come into our lives for Jesus Christ and His atonement, for others, and for ourselves. Obviously, we can never in any way, shape, or form compare to the majesty of the master, but we can strive to be like him.
Faith in Jesus Christ
In order to become like Christ we first need to develop our faith in Christ. When we have faith in Christ, we believe in Him as the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. We accept him as our Savior and Redeemer and follow his teachings. We believe that our sins can be forgiven through Christ's Atonement. Faith in Him means that you trust Him and are confident that He loves you.
Faith consists of not only of BELIEVING IN CHRIST, but it also means that we BELIEVE CHRIST. What is the difference between believing in Him and believing Him? Believing in Christ consists of believing that He lived and is the savior and redeemer of the world. Believing Christ means that we accept his teachings, trust in him, and have confidence that he did in fact pay the price for each of us. Through Him we can be forgiven of our sins and return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. There is more to believing Christ than there is to believing in Christ. Faith includes both believing in Christ, and believing Christ.
"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." (James 2:17)
Faith in Christ leads to action. These actions include repentance, obedience, and service. When we have faith in Christ we trust the Lord enough to follow His commandments-- even when we do not completely understand the reasons for them. We do the things that the Lord asks us to do. We bring about good in our own lives and the lives of others. Our faith is made known by our diligence in these things. "Believe in God.... believe that man doth not comprehend all this which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9) We may not know the specific reason that the Lord asks certain things of us, but faith is believing that the Lord knows what is best for us and remembering He can comprehend all things.
"And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever." (Moroni 10:7)
Faith is a principle of power. God works by power, but His power is usually exercised in a response to faith. He works in accordance with our faith. Doubt and fear are opposed to faith.
Our faith increases as we search and ponder the scriptures, offer sincere prayer, give dedicated service, and walk in obedience to the commandments.
As our faith increases increases we become better acquainted with Christ and His teachings. As we pray and diligently study the scriptures we learn of His ways, His love for all people, and His commandments. Therefore, we learn how we can become more like him.
Faith also includes confidence in the mission and power of the Holy Ghost. Through faith we receive answers to our prayers and personal inspiration to guide us in our lives.
Faith in Jesus Christ is the first step to becoming more like Him. Other Chrislike attributes follow as a direct result from our faith in Him.
This realization was just the beginning of what would become over 1,000 races completed, including marathons, duathlons and triathlons (6 of them being Ironman competitions). Also adding to their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days(Team Hoyt)
Through exercising diligence we become more like our savior who was the ultimate example of diligence. He completed his mission on this earth even though he knew that the path he would have to walk would be a long and painful one. When he was about to endure the greatest pain the world has ever known and he said to his father, "..take away this cup from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Mark 14:36) He knew of his divinity and knew the diligence it would take to accomplish the task that was at hand. Yet, he laid the example before us and fulfilled the will of the father by atoning for the sins of the world. 
