ONE

If anyone knows me, they know I love the game of Rugby! I love to tackle people and I love the competition, but the main thing about it is I love how unified of a game it is. In order to compete at any level, you team needs to work together in harmony to accomplish the common goal, to win the match! When all the players are on the same page and work together, it is much more effective and can compete against teams that may have more skill or talent. As a team, you strive to be ONE, each player has his own purpose that he needs to fulfil. No single person can cover all positions, each person is left to rely fully on each other player to do what they are supposed to do. When people are careless, they can be penalized putting the team in a worse position to win. But when everyone does their job they really become ONE as a team.

The parrallels between this and Heavenly Fathers plan is striking! He has asked us to be ONE. John 17:21-22 states

"That they all may be ONE; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be ONE in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be ONE, even as we are ONE" (emphasis added)



Here, Christ is addressing His Father in Heaven concerning the apostles to become ONE even as He and the Father are ONE. We know that He is one with the Father in purpose, mindset, Spirit, Priesthood, the list goes on and on. He wished for His disciples to be that way and wishes for each of us today to be that way as well.

So how exactly are we to become ONE? We must remember our goal, Life Eternal. With that goal in mind, figure out where your role is in Heavenly Fathers plan. When we recieve callings, magnify them. When someone is in need, help them. Uplift, inspire and remove any hate or malice from your heart. Hate and contention will drive the Spirit away and in sports, when there is contention in the team, you don't trust eachother and don't play effectively. Everyone on the earth is on the SAME TEAM! President Uchtdorf said in a General Conference address "When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges or wanting to cause harm — please apply the following: Stop it!" When we can move past all of those negative feelings and work together against the REAL adversary, the world will be a better place and it will make it easier for all of us to reach our eternal goal! So let's win the game, work together, love one another, and become ONE.

What message are you getting?

Many of you who are reading this probably just checked your cell phone within the past few minutes or so. And if you didn't you probably just did because I made you think about it. There are many messages that come to us every day that try and catch our attention, things that try and persuade us one way or another. Commercials, text messages, billboards, facebook, salesmen, email, friends, politicians.... The list goes ON and ON!

Which message is most important to you? Well, many of these messages are here to distract us from the message our Heavenly Father wants us to pay more attention to. That is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! His message is UNIVERSAL and for everyone on this earth to enjoy. The message is study the scriptures, pray, learn more of the truth, and build your own relationship with your Savior. Live the Gospel and focus on the message that matters. Share the message too and help others realize what they might be missing out on!