"Taking Up the Cross"
Brent L. Top
December 9, 2003
My brothers and sisters I am honored to be here with you today. I have a great love for this place. I was a student here shortly after the Fall of Adam. Two of my children attended here and they are quick to remind me that there is no evidence of my ever being here—no professors that remembered me, no retired jersey, no pictures, no plagues, no buildings named after me. It’s hard to come back and see that I had such little impact when I was a student here. I hope today, however, that I can make up for that a little and say something that will, at least in some small way, allow me to claim some kinship to this great institution.
When I taught seminary many years ago in Arizona, I showed a Church film to the students entitled And Should We Die. The movie is based on a true story about Latter-day Saints in Mexico who were persecuted for their religious beliefs by Zapatista rebels during the Mexican civil war shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. The movie focuses primarily on two LDS fathers, the branch president and his first counselor, who were imprisoned and sentenced to death. They were told they would be spared the firing squad if they would denounce their Mormon beliefs. Because they refused to do so, the two men, President Rafael Monroy and Brother Vicente Morales, were executed in front of their families and branch members on 17 July 1915.
My students were deeply affected by the movie; many were even in tears. In this setting I asked my sobered high school students—whose minds only minutes before had been on such things as proms, football games, cool cars, hot guys, and what they were going to do for fun on the weekend—“Would you be willing to lay down your life rather than denounce your faith and testimony of the restored gospel?” The question was designed to get the students to appreciate the sacrifices others had made for the gospel’s sake. It was also meant to stimulate self-examination of their convictions and commitments to the Lord. I didn’t expect anyone to answer. And, at first, only an outspoken macho young man on the back row said anything. He boldly declared, “Yeah, I’d be willing to die for the Lord.” I wasn’t sure that he was serious, because he was rarely serious about anything. However, this time he seemed very sincere. After a moment or two of dead silence, others began earnestly and in hushed tones (rare in a high school seminary class) to declare their willingness to die for the cause of the Master. A young woman with tears streaming down her face sweetly stated that she, too, would be willing to die for her beliefs, “because Jesus suffered and died for me.” It was one of the most remarkable occasions in my teaching career.
The moment I shall never forget, however, came after the bell rang to end our class. As the students were filing out of the classroom, one young man turned back to me and quietly asked, “Brother Top, would you die for him?” I hadn’t been expecting that, so a moment or two of silence passed that seemed like an eternity. I was so flustered I didn’t really know quite how to answer. Before I could answer, he turned and left the building. I have thought of that moment many times since. I have replayed it over and over in my mind, each time giving a response that I thought would adequately and profoundly declare my devotion to the Lord and his kingdom. Yet the young man never got an answer from me. I know what I should have said and what I wanted to say. But what would I really say—and more important, what would I do—when my life and soul depended on the answer?
I like to believe that I could definitively and without hesitation declare that I would gladly lay down my life for my faith. Yet I am not sure giving that answer is as easy as it sounds. In fact, I am quite convinced that it isn’t that easy—nor was true discipleship ever intended to be easy, comfortable, convenient, painless, or free from sacrifice and sorrow. Nevertheless, I hope that I could and would be able to sacrifice my life for my testimony. In the meantime, however, I can say (as I should have said to my student who posed that penetrating question to me), “I have made a covenant to do so if necessary.” To follow Christ with “full purpose of heart” and to be a determined disciple in the truest sense of the word requires a faith and commitment that comes only from a willingness to lay one’s all on the altar of God. To those who desired to be disciples of Christ, Jesus repeatedly declared: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23; emphasis added. See also Matthew 10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; 10:21). What does it meant to “take up the cross”? The scriptures seem to indicate that the phrase has a double meaning, affecting both life and death.
All Christians recognize the cross as a graphic symbol of the Crucifixion—the horrible agony and suffering the Lord endured at the hands of his Roman executioners. Crucifixion may have been perfected by the Romans, but it certainly didn’t begin with them. For many centuries and by many different nations and cultures, crucifixion in various forms had been practiced as a means of torture and execution. The Greek word from which the word crucifixion is translated in our scriptures is stauros, which literally refers to a stake or pole upon which the victim was fastened in some cruel and torturous manner. Crucifixion was designed not only to bring about a slow and agonizing death but was also a form of extreme humiliation. Prior to the actual execution, the condemned man would be stripped naked, scourged, mocked, and forced to carry the cross beam to the place of execution through a midst of jeering spectators. Death by crucifixion was intended to send a signal to society that the “criminal” condemned for treason and sedition was beneath contempt—the lowest of the low.
The phrase “to take up one’s cross” was a popular saying in Jesus’ day that may have originated with the zealots and other nationalists who worked to overturn Roman occupation of their land.[1] Those who took up the cross were willing to give their lives for their convictions and the cause of freedom. The Savior taught his listeners that his cause—the liberation promised through his atonement and gospel teachings—was an even greater cause than this and was one that believers should be willing to die for to defend and uphold. Taking up the cross came to mean the sacrifice of everything, including one’s life if necessary, as well as being willing to endure persecution, humiliation, and the mockery of the world for one’s convictions.
Taking up the cross means the same thing for us today as it did for the ancient disciples. Discipleship requires a devotion and allegiance to the Lord that allows nothing—not property or prestige, family or friends—to be more important to us than the Savior and his cause. Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 10 verses 37 and 38: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38). In my generation President Harold B. Lee testified:
I bear witness that until a person has been willing to sacrifice all he possesses in the world, not even withholding his own life if it were necessary for the upbuilding of the kingdom, then only can he claim kinship to Him who gave His life that men might be.[2]
As I have pondered President Lee’s statement and the deep significance of the need to take up one’s cross, I have wondered if I am truly willing to lay down my life and my all for the Lord. As I struggle with this issue, one thought seems to settle upon my mind and in my heart. It is as if I can hear the voice of the Savior saying, “I don’t need you to die for me. I need you to live for me.” It seems simple; but it is deeply profound. Living for the Lord is in many ways far more demanding and a greater test of faith than dying for the Lord. It is this sentiment that is reflected in the Apostle Paul’s admonition to the Roman Saints found in chapter 12 verse 1: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1; emphasis added).
Clearly, the cross is a symbol of death, but so is it the ultimate symbol of life. Taking up the cross requires not only a willingness to sacrifice and even die for the Lord, but also to live and love as the Lord did. Taking up the cross is also a symbol of sacrifice. Rather than a sacrifice of life and limb, however, it is often symbolic of self-sacrifice—a sacrifice of sinfulness and selfishness—a sacrifice of the natural man and all ways and things of the world that prevent consecrated discipleship.
Various accounts of Jesus’ teachings to take up the cross denote a double meaning of death and life. Luke, for example, adds an important word in his account that clearly bespeaks living for the Lord. In Luke chapter 9 verse 23 we read: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23; emphasis added). The word daily makes all the difference. Laying down your life—dying for the Lord—can be done only once. Taking up the cross, however, is to be done daily. Living for the Lord is an act of daily discipleship and devotion. How do we take up the cross every day? The answer is found in the same scriptural accounts. In addition to the word daily, Luke (and the other Gospel writers) highlights the Savior’s use of the phrases “deny himself” and “follow me.” What do we deny ourselves and how do we follow the Lord? The Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew 16 verse 26 provides the answer, “And now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments” (JST Matthew 16:26; emphasis added).
What we sacrifice, or deny ourselves, in taking up the cross is the ungodliness of the world. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell insightfully observed, “So it is that real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!”[3] It is this kind of sacrifice, this kind of self-denial, that constitutes living for the Lord. This kind of “taking up the cross” must be continual, not episodic. It means, as Jesus declared, that we must “forsake the world, and save your souls” (JST Matthew 16:29).
The phrase “taking up the cross,” as it describes the need for continual faith and devotion, may be linked to something else Jesus taught. In Matthew 11 verse 29, he declared: “Take my yoke upon you.” It is interesting to note that the Greek word for yoke is zugos, which implies a beam or pole that attaches or connects two things together. A crossbeam, to which a condemned man was attached and required to carry to his crucifixion, could also be referred to as a yoke. Some Bible scholars have suggested that the phrases “take up the cross” and “take my yoke” are conceptually related to each other.[4] Did Jesus use the phrases interchangeably? We do not know, but it is interesting to ponder the wordplay and the images created by the metaphors.
The Jews of Jesus’ day often used the term yoke to refer to the “burden of the law”—their connection to and responsibility to live the Law of Moses. They were under “the yoke of the law.” It was, as it were, the cross they had to bear. Many viewed that yoke as harsh or burdensome. Those who felt that way did not realize that it was the yoke that connected or attached them to their God. Jesus was offering to exchange yokes with them—inviting them to give up the old yoke of the Mosaic Law and take up the new yoke—his way or “burden.”[5] The law of Christ—the higher law, the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ—fulfilled and superseded the Law of Moses. It is this yoke that Jesus described as easy.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
The word yoke, or the “burden of the law,” reminded the ancient Jews of their covenantal obligations. In this sense, taking up the cross or taking Christ’s yoke upon us is the same—a reminder that discipleship requires responsibilities as well as sacrifices—living as well as dying for the faith. Taking the Savior’s yoke upon us causes us to become connected, fastened, or attached to him. This is no passive endeavor. It requires all of our being—heart, might, mind, and soul. Certainly that is what Jesus meant when he taught us that taking up the cross requires following him—not just following him in death, but following his example, becoming connected to his gospel and securely fastened to his atoning sacrifice. Taking up the cross in that sense requires continual effort and obedience, daily devotion and diligence, and recurring repentance and recommitment when we fall short. Dying as a martyr for our faith in Christ may be an event, but taking up the cross of Christ as a true disciple is a process. The process of discipleship begins with our choosing to follow the Master and taking his yoke or cross upon us. It ends (in reality it never ends, but you know what I mean) with total consecration of ourselves to him and his kingdom.
These two words—choice and consecration—are like bookends in the process of discipleship with two more words describing discipleship located between them—conviction and conversion. Taking the cross of Christ upon us and remaining yoked with him provides passage through each phase. Only at the end of the process, however, does the yoke become truly easy and the burden really light. At the end of the “discipleship tunnel” is found genuine light and life, peace and joy inexpressible. To attain those we must take up the cross, not lay it down or abandon it—remaining in the yoke, fastened securely to the Savior. True discipleship requires nothing less.
Many people chose to listen to Jesus—some out of sincere faith, others out of sheer curiosity. Many followed the Master from place to place. Yet that didn’t make them followers of the Lord, in the truest sense of the word. Many witnessed his miracles and were amazed. Yet that didn’t make them disciples. Perhaps many even felt spiritual awakening within their souls when they heard Jesus speak “as one having authority from God” (JST Matthew 7:37). Nonetheless, more was required of those who became devoted disciples and true believers. It is the same for us today. After choosing to listen, observe, and feel what Jesus has to offer, true disciples must become convinced of his divinity as the literal Son of God and the Savior and Redeemer of the world, as well as the truthfulness of his gospel.
“Whom say ye that I am?” Jesus asked the Twelve (Matthew 16:15). His question remains relevant to any and all who desire to become a disciple. Answers such as the following, though each is true, are inadequate and miss the essence of what it means to be his disciple.
“You are a great teacher! Your teachings make a lot of sense. I especially like your parables.”
“You are a miracle worker! I am impressed with how you can make the blind see.”
“You are a good person! You are so kind and loving to others.”
In response to the Master’s probing question, Peter declared: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Peter had chosen to leave his fishing boat when Jesus said, “Come, follow me.” No doubt he had been impressed with the Savior’s miracles and had been inspired and instructed by his teaching. However, the real staying power of Peter’s discipleship did not begin with those moments, but rather when he became convinced, when he had a testimony that burned within his soul. As Jesus declared: “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). This conviction—this witness that comes by the power of the Holy Ghost—is available to all. It is a requisite first step in taking up the cross of Christ.
It requires considerable diligence, intellectually and spiritually, to obtain a personal conviction of the truth. That is one reason why there were many, many more people who “followed” Jesus, listened to his sermons, witnessed his miracles, and felt of his love, than those who truly followed him, valiantly remaining with him until the end—and beyond. Disciples that have come to know with certainty who he really is are those who have continuously and seriously studied his words (and those of his servants), have pondered them, and have prayed for a witness of the truth through the power of the Holy Ghost.
It is interesting to me to note that the pattern of discipleship—of taking up the cross—is evidenced by the progression of questions in the temple recommend interview. The first few all deal with this step in the process we call conviction—what we know. “Do you have a testimony of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?” “Do you have a testimony of the Atonement and of Jesus’ role as Savior and Redeemer of the world?” Before any question is asked about behavior and worthiness, we report on our level of conviction—our personal testimony and spiritual knowledge of truth. Before we are asked concerning what we are doing (or not doing) in our lives, we are asked about what we know. Yet, knowing and doing are interrelated. They are not, nor can they be, independent and separable in the lives of true disciples. Jesus taught in John chapter 7 verses 16 and 17, “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:16-17; emphasis added).
Keeping the commandments and doing one’s duty in the Church are essential elements for gaining a personal testimony. President David O. McKay taught
I know, too, that a knowledge of the truth of the gospel may be obtained only through obedience to the principles thereof. In other words, the best way to know the truth of any principle is to live it.[6]
President McKay often recounted that his own personal testimony came, not in some dramatic or mystical manner, but “as a natural sequence to the performance of duty.”[7] In this manner, doing can lead to knowing. In turn, conviction can lead to conversion.
“If ye know these things,” Jesus declared, “happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:17; emphasis added). Taking up the cross of Christ—becoming and remaining a true disciple of the Master—requires both spiritual knowledge of his divinity and obedience to his gospel. Testimony has no saving power if it doesn’t lead to greater righteousness, deeper devotion to God, and increased service to our fellowmen. The spiritual witness of truth is important, but it is only a beginning point. Conviction must lead to conversion—the willing submission to the principles and ordinances of the gospel and faithful, not blind, obedience to the teachings of the Lord and his servants.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father” (Matthew 7:21; emphasis added). Perhaps we can paraphrase this verse to illustrate the progression from knowledge to action—conviction to conversion—that is required of true disciples. Not everyone that has a testimony and says, “I know that Jesus is the Christ” or “I know that the gospel is true” will inherit the celestial kingdom. Those who gain a spiritual witness of truth and then faithfully seek to live in accordance with that spiritual knowledge—those who know and do what the Lord says—will be exalted. A convert is not just a person who gains a knowledge of truth, but one who then fully embraces that truth and seeks to live it. One cannot really take up the cross with intellectual effort alone, no matter how strong the conviction. Conversion must follow, or the disciple will eventually stumble under the weight of the cross and detach himself from the yoke of the gospel.
Many years ago, Sister Naomi Randall wrote the familiar Primary song, “I am a Child of God.” In her original version (which I remember from my own days of attending Primary in Idaho Falls), the words of the chorus were:
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must know
To live with Him someday.[8]
President Spencer W. Kimball suggested that the word know should be changed to do—and that is how we sing the song today. He wanted children of God of all ages to understand that knowing is important, but only as it leads us to doing what we must do to someday dwell with our Father in Heaven. Each time I sing this familiar hymn I am reminded of the dual demands of discipleship—knowing and doing, conviction and conversion.
This connection between knowing and doing is clearly illustrated in the temple recommend interview. After the first questions regarding testimony and conviction are addressed, then we are evaluated in our manner of behavior and obedience. What we do speaks somewhat of the degree of our discipleship and our conversion. “Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?” “Do you live the law of chastity?” “Do you pay a full tithing?” and so on. These actions are important indicators of our commitment and conversion. They are like mile markers along the pathway of discipleship, but they do not, nor can they by themselves, tell the whole story. Outward actions—what we do—may tell much about the direction we are heading. In reality, however, it is our heart and inner spirituality and commitment—what we are—that ultimately guides us to the desired destination. Taking up the cross requires knowing and doing, but most of all, it requires being. In fact, we are not completely converted until our whole being is positively changed and we become, as Paul taught, “new creatures in Christ.”
The capstone characteristic of taking his yoke upon us is becoming consecrated—giving ourselves and our heart (not just our minds and our actions) wholly to his cause—striving to become more like the Savior in all aspects of our lives, both inwardly and outwardly. In this manner, taking up the cross is not just what we know and how we behave, but what we have become—what we really are through and through. Elder Neal A. Maxwell eloquently stated,
Some give of their time yet withhold themselves, being present without giving of their presence, going through the superficial motions of membership instead of the deep emotions of consecrated discipleship. . . . Real disciples are . . . precept by precept and experience by experience, becoming ever more like the Master they serve.[9]
Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained the process in this manner. He stated:
The Apostle Paul taught that the Lord’s teachings and teachers were given that we may all attain ‘the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:13). This process requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.
. . . The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.”[10]
Building upon the analogy I’ve used before, we see the culmination of this process in the final question of the temple interview. “Are you worthy to enter the temple and participate in temple ordinances?” I find a striking parallel between these questions and the process by which we take up the cross. What do we know? What do we do (or how do we behave)? What are we? Each phase—knowing, doing, and becoming—shapes the man and woman of Christ. Being, however, is the ultimate indicator of our devotion as disciples.
The Lord doesn’t just want us to know where the meetinghouse is; he wants us to attend services there. Attending, however, must be more than just staying awake or even answering a few questions in quorums or classes. It is not enough to just go through the Church, we must have the Church—its ordinances, practices, teachings—go through us and become a very real part of us. We must live the gospel, but also make it our life. Being a consecrated disciple—taking up his cross—will cause me to not only avoid evil influences and immoral thoughts and behaviors, but to become a man of virtue. Virtue is not just a matter of what we do or don’t do; what we look at or don’t look at; it’s a matter of what we are. The Lord doesn’t want us simply to be quiet in church and act in a reverent manner; he wants us to be reverent. Reverence is not only what we do or how we act, but it is also what we are—people whose hearts are filled with love, adoration, and awe for the things of God. The Lord doesn’t want me to merely go to the temple; he wants me to be a temple—to become the kind of person where the Spirit of the Lord can dwell in abundance. Conviction requires my mind and spirit. Conversion requires my best behavior, strict obedience, and devotion to duty. Consecration, however, requires all of this and so much more. It requires all of me—my whole soul.
Perhaps you are asking, as I have asked myself many times throughout the years, “How do I become that kind of consecrated disciple? How can I get from knowing and doing to being?” Unfortunately (or fortunately, for our sakes), there is no checklist of things to be done and crossed off, no detailed, sequential flowchart to guide us, no recipe card of ingredients and directions to be meticulously followed. There are some things, however, that I do know we need to do. Yet, there are some steps, if you will, that can be followed. I know what needs to be done to obtain and retain a testimony—becoming convinced. I know what I must do to keep the commandments and fulfill my covenantal responsibilities—becoming converted. This much of taking up the cross I can do by myself. The becoming totally consecrated—becoming like the Savior—requires something and someone else.
In John chapter 13 verses 34 and 35 we read what Jesus taught the Twelve at the Last Supper: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” Then comes this familiar, yet profound declaration: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35). I think the answer to our question, “How do we become consecrated disciples of Christ?” is found in that statement. The something that allows us to become his disciples is love. The someone who enables us to carry the cross with complete consecration is Christ himself.
I don’t think Jesus was saying that the hallmark of true discipleship is based only on how we treat each other or serve our fellowmen. The key phrase seems to be “as I have loved you.” His love—charity, or the pure love of Christ—is that which makes all the difference. His atoning sacrifice—the ultimate act of charity—is that which transforms us. We choose him, but he changes us. Partaking of his atonement is like yeast in the bread-making process. We can provide the ingredients—the efforts and diligence to come to know, the obedience and keeping the commandments that helps us become converted—but he, like the yeast, raises us into consecrated disciples. In this manner, the hallmark of discipleship is love—his love. When we have come to taste of that love through faith, repentance, and obedient endurance, which is, as Lehi and Nephi taught, “most desirable above all things” (see 1 Nephi 8:10-12; 11:16-22), bearing the yoke of Christ truly becomes easy and burdens become light. The Savior’s perfect love for us affects everything we think, everything we know, everything we do.
When we are transformed by his love, it becomes easy to live his commandments. It becomes easy to love and serve one another—not because of what we do, but because of what he has made of us. The phrase “as I have loved you” has come to mean to me “because I have loved you.” Because he has loved me, I am filled with his love. Because of this pure love, taking up his cross daily is not a chore, it is a privilege. His yoke is not a burden, it is a blessing. Daily partaking of his love through faith, repentance, and obedience to the principles and ordinances of his gospel will inevitably transform us from merely knowing and doing to being consecrated disciples. In this manner, carrying the cross of Christ will not weigh us down but lift us up.
Now, more than two decades since my seminary teaching days in Arizona, I still think of that lone student asking me as he was exiting my seminary class, “Brother Top, would you die for Christ?” I believe I now know the answer: “Only if I am daily living for him.” It is those daily acts of conviction, conversion, and consecration—the degree to which I am living for him—that will determine whether or not I could really die for him. There is one thing I know for sure: The more I come to know, feel, and experience the transforming power of the Atonement, the more I desire to love him, the more I desire to serve him, and the more I feel to give to him. Even dying for him seems too small a sacrifice. As the noted hymn writer, Isaac Watts, penned:
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.
See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.12
Of His matchless love and cleansing and transforming power I bear my solemn witness. I know the reality of his His love—His love for you as well as me. I know He lives. May we seek to “take up the cross” by daily denying ourselves of all ungodliness and offering to him each day of our lives our love, our faith, our devotion, and our obedience, I pray in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1] See Gehrard Friedrich, ed., Theological Dictionary of a New Testament, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Publishing, 1971), 7:572-84.
[2] Harold B. Lee, in Conference Report, October 1965, 131.
[3] Neal A. Maxwell, in Conference Report, April 1995, 91.
[4] See Friedrich, Theological Dictionary, 7:578.
[5] See The Interpreter’s Bible, ed. George Arthur Buttrick, 12 vols. (New York: Abingdon Press, 1952), 7:390-91.
[6] David O. McKay, Cherished Experiences from the Writings of David O. McKay, comp. Clare Middlemiss (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976), 16.
[7] Ibid., 7.
[8] See Naomi W. Randall, “I Am a Child of God,” Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985), no. 301
[9] Neal A. Maxwell, in Conference Report, April 1987, 87.
[10] Dallin H. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, November 2000, 32.
12 Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (n.p., 1707).