Power is Purpose

We think life is about getting what we want. We work, pray, strive, suffer, and spend our time in search of what we want. Our wants, needs, and desires drive us to act on our own behalf. 

• Hope is the possibility of getting what we want. 
• Joy is getting what we want. 
• Faith is the substance and evidence that we can get what we want. 
• Peace and rest is having what we want. 

But this way of living has no foundation. It is the "great and spacious building" Lehi saw, standing "as it were in the air" (1 Nephi 8:26). We get what we want and only want more. Fulfilled desires bring fleeting joys, and it's never enough. The desires themselves are not the problem; it is good to want love, peace, joy, happiness, and even power. The problem is believing we can fill those needs with the things of the world. An infinite need cannot be filled with a finite object. That is the way of the natural man (Mosiah 3:19), and building on it is building on sand (Matthew 7:26–27).

A Firm Foundation

By nature, we seek to fill our own needs, and we try to fill them with the things of the world. Repentance is turning away from that and turning toward God. This is the "mighty change" of heart the scriptures describe (Alma 5:14; Mosiah 5:2). Our desires don't disappear; they change direction. Instead of seeking what we want, we begin to seek what God wants.

This change is how we discover who we really are. The purpose of life is to discover who we are in eternity: children of God, able to grow up to become like our Father. Part of that discovery is learning how much of His power we can be trusted to hold. We cannot learn this on our own. It happens only as we follow Jesus Christ, which is why the reason for being here on earth now is to accept Him.

“And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives. And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ.” (Mosiah 5:7-9)

I am a child of God

I have a purpose. A child grows up to become like his father. I can grow up to become like God through Jesus Christ. I can have the creative and directive power of God. I can receive honor and glory beyond what I can understand at this point in life. As well might a baby at his mother’s breast understand his potential to become a man. The purpose of life is to discover who I am, where I fit in the body of Christ, and how much power I am able to wield. God will not give power beyond what I am able to bear because that would become self-destructive. 

I am given power in a limited world where Christ can heal all wounds. This life is a proving ground, a probation, a place where we have limited power to act, constructively or destructively. We have bombs that can destroy the earth, and we call that power, but we don't even control ourselves. We can hurt people, even kill them, but that is a temporary thing. In the world we are on probation to see what we will do with the limited power that is available to us. 

“...it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:39)

Few will have eternal life and exaltation, to have the power of God, with all power and authority to act in any capacity. Everyone else, “almost all men,” will have some sort of limitation on their ability to act. We are given all the power we can be trusted with, as determined by how we handle it on earth. 

The Will to Power

A philosopher named Spinoza who lived in Amsterdam in the 1600’s posited that life was about increase and growth. Two hundred years later Nietzsche, who is famous for the saying, “God is dead,” believed that life was “the will to power.” Spinoza and Nietzsche both understood that life is about increasing, growing, and continuing. We all have “the will to power” but are seeking to use this power to get what we want, going in the wrong direction. The real direction is opposite, meekness. To be meek is to have power, but not use it for your own wants. A meek person carefully takes the ant that just bit him and puts it back in the colony. Nietzsche thought meekness and humility were a betrayal of the will to power; I believe meekness is its fulfillment. 

The real “will to power” is to become “...as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father,” (Mosiah 3:19) which brings a full and complete ability to act -- real power! This is because the power to direct the work of others can be exercised “only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile.” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-42) They freely give their “heart, might, mind, and strength” to such a one. 

• Hope is the possibility of Eternal Life and Exaltation -- to have the power of God. (see Moroni 7:41)
• Joy is to bring others into Eternal Life. (see D&C 18:15-16)
• Faith is the belief and evidence of becoming perfect in Christ (see Moroni 10:32). 
• Peace and rest is knowing that I am in the hands of a loving, all-powerful God. (see John 14:26-27)

Our purpose is power. We will, in the process of life, discover who we are in relation to God, and how much power we are willing and able to have. The power to do what I want, to use my own brains and brawn, is limited. Real power is the ability to bring others together to accomplish a goal. God has said that His power is His honor (see D&C 29:36) meaning the obedience that others give to Him to accomplish His ends. Honor is power others give freely out of obedience. God's word is His power. He speaks and everything obeys. That is real power, and that is what we can receive to a greater or lesser degree, depending on our faithfulness, humility, meekness, and love. This is our purpose; it is who we are or what we can become.