Get in the Game

If I’m being completely honest, I know almost nothing about football, nor do I care to. I know that may be unimaginable. After all, I was raised in a home where football wins or losses determined the mood of the family for the next week. I’m an undergraduate at a university known for its die-hard student section of football fans. I’ve always been someone who picks up things quickly, but somehow, football rules and plays simply do not stick in my head. I just don’t understand the fanatical mania surrounding this sport.

And don’t even get me started on the Super Bowl when it rolls around. Aside from the US presidential election, this just might be the nation’s most polarizing event of the year. But honestly, I never know who’s playing; I’m just there for the snacks and the commercials. I’m not strongly swayed to either side, merely a disinterested bystander. I’m just plain neutral.

This impartial attitude has served me well enough over the years. However, when it comes to Jesus Christ, we cannot afford to waste any time in neutrality. Our Savior proclaimed, “He that is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). He further taught, “No man can serve two masters…Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). This question begs consideration from us all: are we for Christ—or against Him? Whose side are we on?

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that most people are doing their best to make moral choices. However, as we all know, this is easier said than done. Most of us will never murder; Christ tells us not to even have hatred in our hearts. Most of us will never commit adultery; Christ tells us not to even look at someone with lust. Most of us will never make oaths by taking the Lord’s name in vain, Christ tells us not to swear at all (Matthew 5: 21-37).

As Sister Sheri L. Dew, a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taught, “If [Satan] can’t get us to succumb to blatant evil, the adversary tries to coax us onto his side of the line by resorting to strategies that slowly wear us down, weaken our resolve, and dim our memory of who we are…He feeds our vanity with promises of popularity, power, and prosperity…He wants us to compare ourselves to others and then to criticize and judge one another. He wants us so absorbed with school, dating, and careers that we don’t have time to really live the gospel—to learn how to receive answers to prayer, to immerse ourselves in the scriptures…He rejoices in even small breaches in our integrity because he knows that unless checked they will ultimately lead us ‘away carefully down to hell.’”

Have you ever found yourself falling into any of these cleverly laid traps? I know I have. In fact, I would say that I battle most of these minuscule temptations on the daily. It seems natural to compare, judge, and feel bitter. It’s effortless to make life so busy I forget to make time for the simple acts of stillness that anchor me to Christ. It’s easy to feel confused, disoriented, and uncertain in this turbulent world. If we’re not actively striving to play on the Lord’s team, then we find ourselves on Satan’s side; and that’s exactly what the Devil wants.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said, “The future of this world has long been declared; the final outcome between good and evil is already known. There is absolutely no question as to who wins because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard. The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down here on the field trying to decide which team’s jersey we want to wear!”

We all make mistakes, and all too often, we find ourselves unintentionally playing for the Adversary’s team. The good news is that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we have access to His redemptive power. It will be difficult work to take a full inventory of ourselves and throw out all thoughts, behaviors, and habits that pull us toward the enemy’s team. However, Jesus Christ will help us. If we humble ourselves before Him and believe in His grace, He will “make [our] weak things become strong” (Ether 12:27).

Sister Sheri L. Dew promised, “The Lord will be on your side if you will stay on His, for He has promised: “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88).

Unlike my unbiased opinion regarding NFL football, we must––every one of us––choose a side; we must pick a team. The grand finale showdown between the forces of good and evil is rapidly arriving, and both Captains will need every player they can get. It’s time to get in the game, and it’s up to us to decide which jersey we will wear. In the cautionary words of the prophet Joshua, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Avery Palenske isn’t really sure what’s going on in her life. Unsure of what summer job she’ll get, where she’ll be living in a few months, or even what the weather will be the next day (Utah seems to love doling out summer sun one day, and the most frigid blizzard known to man the next), nevertheless she is trying her best to take one day at a time and do the next right thing. She trusts the peace she can find as she worships Christ each week in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.