Scriptures used:
Matthew 25: 18-20
18 And aJesus came and spake unto them, saying, All bpoweris given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 ¶ Go ye therefore, and ateach all bnations, cbaptizing them in the name of the dFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 aTeaching them to bobserve all things whatsoever I have ccommanded you: and, lo, dI am with you alway, even unto the eend of the world. Amen.
4 Nephi 12
12 And they did not walk any more after the aperformancesand bordinances of the claw of Moses; but they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing in dfasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord.
Doctrine and Covenants 121: 41
41 No apower or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the bpriesthood, only by cpersuasion, by dlong-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
So the idea is this. Jesus has power given to Him. He doesn't take it.
In the same way that you or I might censure our speech or actions if our mother (or whichever significant person you'd like to insert here) were in the room with us, because of our love for Jesus, we act differently. We spend time, money, energy and emotion on things that we might not otherwise do. We forgive, we help, we pray, read, and exert ourselves.
He has power over us because we give it to him. In fact, everybody that has power over us does so because we give it to them, hence the caution in 121:41
Aside from this power, Jesus also has power to cleanse, to forgive, to change, and to advocate to the Father on our behalf.
When we give Jesus power over our lives in this way, we make Him the center of our life.
What about times when you aren't focused on Him, or it seems like something else is at the forefront?
What if you're in the middle of a kitchen remodel, or you move, or lose your job, or try to finish 700 hours of implant CE? These things that take center stage for a relative short-term don't last. The small things we do to center our lives around Christ add up over time to have a greater long-term impact. Small things over a long time are greater than big things for a short time.
We learn some wisdom in 4 Nephi about how the people 'continued'. whatever it is that we do to center our lives around Him, we just need to keep going at it. We need to continue.
