How to Increase Our Love and Obedience

 

Behold, Here I Am

By Elder Taylor G. Godoy

Of the Seventy

How can we cultivate that willingness to offer a “Behold, here I am” in response to every request that Heavenly Father makes of us as members of the Church, or sometimes on a personal level?...

What I would like to emphasize, though, is the love-obedience relationship, meaning that we obey the Father because we love Him. I believe that choosing to obey is one of the best ways to clearly declare our love for Him. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26), and personally I don’t think love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ without obedience is very alive either.

How to Increase Our Love and Obedience

How do we increase our love for Him and our obedience to Him? The Savior said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Knowing Jesus Christ—and, through Him, the Father—enables us to know of the love that They have for us and of the indescribable things that They have done and yet will do for us, including during the difficult moments that we experience in this mortal life. Knowing of Them changes our hearts, making us desire to follow Their examples in our actions and to be willing to say, in word and deed, “Behold, here I am.” This willingness is reflected in a desire to read the scriptures or in addressing Heavenly Father in prayer.

“Behold, here I am” can be a response to a call to serve a mission or to be more consecrated in obeying commandments such as keeping the Sabbath holy, honoring our parents, or seeking to live a morally clean life. “Behold, here I am” is the expression that constantly accompanies Christ’s disciples, even when the requested sacrifice affects that which we desire the most or for which we have paid a high price.

Fasting is Connected to Sacrifice

 

Relief Through Jesus Christ: The Power of the Fast

By Sister Kristin M. Yee

Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency

When we fast, we prayerfully humble ourselves before the Lord and choose to refrain from eating and drinking for two meals or a period of 24 hours. If one’s health does not permit customary fasting, President Russell M. Nelson (1924–2025) counseled us to “decide what would constitute a sacrifice for you, as you remember the supreme sacrifice the Savior made for you.”

Fasting is connected to sacrifice, and sacrifice is symbolic of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Atonement. We have the opportunity to reverently consider His sacrifice as we seek inspiration to know what to fast for and what to fast from. We can also think on the Savior throughout our fast. I’m learning that the Lord intends for us to learn of Him and to draw closer to Him through this prayerful experience...

Jesus Christ is “The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths.” He made a way to heal every sorrow and heartache and overcome every weakness and sin. He can restore, mend, and strengthen as we turn to Him in mighty prayer and fasting.

How Parents Use their Phones Affects Children

 In Gaskin’s iPads-as-marshmallows study, what predicted preschoolers’ ability to resist the blaring call of the screens boiled down to one factor: how their parents use their phones. The “parents who primarily use their own devices for work, socializing, and learning”—vs. escape and entertainment—“their kids were able to delay gratification,” Gaskin says. “The kid learns from their parents’ behavior.”

Parents’ device use impacts how teens use their own phones, according to research by family life professor Sarah M. Coyne and research assistant Hailey E. Holmgren (BS ’14, MS ’17). A 2024 study by Holmgren published in Computers in Human Behavior suggests that when mothers, who are most often the primary caregivers, use smaller amounts of all types of media, their kids use media less and have fewer problems with it. Mothers who use high levels of social media and video games per day see more problematic media use in their kids.

“Parents set the tone for the media culture in the home,” says Coyne. “There’s a very large correlation between the time a parent spends on media and the time their child does. Model what you want to see in your own kids.”

https://magazine.byu.edu/article/mind-the-app-parenting-kids-smartphones/

The Dignity Index when Disagreeing

 

Doing Disagreement Better

By Julia K. Nebeker (BA ’24) and Anna E. Sneddon (’27) in the Spring 2025 Issue, BYU Magazine

Disagree Better recommends four steps: being curious, listening to understand, respecting opinions, and finding common ground. “The intention of our disagreement should be to come to understand each other and ourselves better,” Viray says....

Listening to understand—not rebut—is the key to respect and understanding, she says. It’s how we improve relationships with friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers.

Perfectionism

 "The Perfect Problem"

By Brooklyn Hughes Roemer (BA ’22) in the Spring 2025 Issue, BYU Magazine

Jenet Jacob Erickson (BS ’97, MA ’00), a religion professor and family life researcher, says parents can watch how their children respond to failure. “Are they really dysregulated by what they perceive as failure?” Nobody likes failing, but especially strong reactions—be they tantrums, panic attacks, or depressive episodes—can signal that perfectionism is at play....

“Kids are really perceptive,” Erickson says, and they can inherit unhealthy perfectionistic mindsets from their parents: “When parents have high expectations for their children, frequently express criticism or disappointment, and then withdraw love by either not being as happy, not being as loving, not being as connected, then children are more likely to develop toxic perfectionism.”

The Answer is Always Jesus

" Jesus is the Answer"

By Kevin R. Duncan (BS ’91, MACC ’91, JD ’91) in the Spring 2025 issue, BYU Magazine

Have ye any that are sick among you . . . or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them. [3 Ne. 17:7; emphasis added]...

 The Church isn’t a showroom for the perfect. It’s a hospital for the spiritually weary, for the lonely, and for anyone who feels like they don’t belong—which I now realize is just about everyone at some point in their life....

My friends, your challenges might not look like mine did, but the answer is always the same: the answer is Jesus Christ. Every challenge you will face is an opportunity to draw closer to the Savior and see Him perform miracles in your life....

Brothers and sisters, the Savior’s tender invitation echoes through the ages: “Have ye any that are sick among you . . . or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them.”

His power to heal extends far beyond physical ailments; it reaches into the depths of our hearts, restoring hope, peace, and strength.

When we Struggle...

 

Where Sin Causes Chaos, Christ Brings Peace

By Chakell Wardleigh Herbert

Church Magazines

We all make mistakes. But when we struggle with sins or habits that we can’t seem to overcome, no matter how hard we try to change, it’s easy to feel a sense of disarray. With the spiritual side of us pulling toward heaven and the mortal side tugging us toward the world, it can feel like a constant internal tug-of-war.

Whether we struggle with things like gossip, anger, unrighteous judgment, engaging with too much media, pornography use, or anything else, the adversary is quick to fan flames of shame, hopelessness, and ultimately, spiritual chaos.

Fortunately for us, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know how to handle chaos...

If He could bring order to the universe, imagine what can happen when you turn to His Son for healing and redeeming power each day. When you feel like you’re burdened by your struggles and the darkness of the world, reaching for Christ’s light is the first step toward peace and divine organization...

Whatever you might struggle with, when you turn to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for help, They can always restore what is in shambles, free you from the chaos of sins and temptations, and beautify your life.

They’ve done it time and time again.