Gaining Strength Through Covenant Keeping

Covenant keeping is born out of the pure love we have for the Savior Jesus Christ as written in the holy books: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (⁠John 14:21). If we love God and strive to keep His commandments and the covenants we make with Him on holy grounds or in holy moments, He will bless us with His Spirit and fill us with His love.

Covenant keeping requires us to forgive one another and be at peace with all. President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Contention is a choice. Peacemaking is a choice. You have your agency to choose contention or reconciliation. I urge you to choose to be a peacemaker, now and always.” Sometimes it is hard and painful to choose peace over contention when one is hurt, abused, or denied. But that is what the Lord requires of me, of you, and of all of us.

Some years ago I sat in a departmental room to defend my doctorate thesis. I was put through great pain, trial, and frustration as a group of aggrieved senior colleagues and friends of mine in my university teamed up to prevent me from progressing with my doctoral thesis. It was their way of getting back at my supervisor. As they filed into the room, a gentle but firm voice whispered to me telling me that something was wrong but asking that I remain calm. They were united in their clandestine purpose as they clearly argued for a change of my topic—a topic that was earlier approved by the board with them in attendance. A topic that would require traveling to different regions of my country to source and collate data for the thesis. A topic that I prayed for and got confirmation of in the house of the Lord.

Unfortunately, my supervisor was absent in the room when all this happened. But when they eventually had their way, it dawned on me that I was going to spend more years, more money, more time, and embark on more journeys to gather fresh data. Uche, on her part, had also sacrificed her resources just to provide refreshments for the board, as the academe tradition required, but when this happened, I couldn’t brace up to face her to tell her that every sacrifice of ours was gone!

At that point, I cried in my heart and called upon the Lord. I could remember me saying with a broken heart, “Heavenly Father, please help me, for this load of mine is too heavy and hard for me alone to carry.” And as I closed my eyes for one brief moment, I heard a whispering voice tenderly telling me, “Get up, Son, and go look for your adversaries and make friends with them.” I obeyed the voice because it appealed to my heart, though I found the voice and invitation very difficult to do.

Trusting in Him, I navigated my way into one of their offices and, behold, they had assembled and were celebrating their success with the refreshments Uche had toiled and sacrificed to provide. I pulled a chair out and sat next to one of them as I took a drink from the tray on the table, opened it, sipped it, and asked to know what happened. “Your supervisor has been doing the same to our supervisees all these years, and we had to retaliate. Unfortunately, you happened to be the perfect person for it because of the great love she has for you”, one of them sarcastically retorted.

I lowered my head on hearing this and asked God for strength. While my head remained bowed, I received from Him the strength and power to forgive, keep peace, and reconcile with my adversaries. I had chosen peace over contention, reconciliation over enmity, healing over bitterness. As I allowed God’s will to prevail, my will was swallowed up by His, and I regained strength beyond my limits to forgive and reconcile with my adversaries and be healed from anger and vengeance. This is one of the promised blessings of covenant keeping that “as we keep our temple covenants, we gain greater access to the Lord’s strengthening power.”

Months later, as I commenced a new beginning in writing my doctoral thesis, the Lord blessed me for trusting in His word. He softened the hearts of my adversaries and helped me find favor in them and turned my afflictions to my gain. They provided me with relevant advice, materials, and guidance, which assisted me to complete my doctoral thesis earlier than I had anticipated.

Covenant keeping empowers us with righteousness to withstand difficulties as declared by Nephi, “I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14).

Some years ago, my colleagues and I left Calabar to attend a funeral at a distant local government area. Hours later, in the night, I observed some form of discomfort amongst my colleagues who had the intention to be unfaithful to their wives. I was sitting right on their way, preventing them from achieving their plans in secret. I had positioned myself, unknowingly, at the only entrance to the hotel. After enduring for over four hours with no sign of my leaving the position, one of them walked up to me and asked me to go have some rest in my room. When I replied that I wasn’t feeling asleep and would remain awake for a long period, he sorrowfully walked away through the entrance door only to return in company of strange women. As he walked past me, I felt how his life would have been different if he had the blessings of making and keeping temple covenants. I testify that he would have done things differently to honor his temple covenant. He would have been armed with the power of righteousness. He would have remembered sitting next to his wife in the temple. He would certainly have remembered the promises he made to Eternal Father to strive to keep His covenants and honor his body as the sacred temple of God.

Recently, on one of my trips at the Lagos airport, a registered taxi driver with the airport management who knew very well about the pick-up rules of the airport chose to violate the rules. He had the choice of picking passengers up at the official designated area or doing so at prohibited places. Rather than chose to exercise his agency wisely, he chose to use his agency wrongly and had his car impounded, his time wasted, his passengers disembarked, and his car dented.

Like the taxi driver, when we covenant with God, we are morally responsible to keep the covenant. But unlike the taxi driver who suffered multiple setbacks and consequences, Heavenly Father is ever willing to forgive us if only we sincerely repent and ask for forgiveness. The Atonement of Jesus Christ makes this possible. The price has been paid by His precious blood in Gethsemane and on the cross and so we do not have to pay a second price.

My dear brothers and sisters, why does Heavenly Father invite us into a covenant relationship with Him? The reasons are many, but a few are stated here:

1. Covenants with Heavenly Father are borne out of the love He has for all of us, irrespective of our current circumstances.

2. Covenant keeping strengthens, empowers, and protects us.

3. Covenants are essential for true happiness as faithfulness to them attracts happiness.

4. Covenant keeping is a demonstration of our love for the Savior, who first loved us.

5. Covenant keeping excludes us from avoidable consequences.

President Russell M. Nelson warned against prioritizing worldly labels above the most important identifiers, declaring that we should always remember that first, we are children of God, then sons and daughters of the covenant, and third, disciples of Jesus Christ.

Being a son of the covenant gives me much joy, peace, happiness, and hope, knowing that if I keep the covenants I make with God, as a seed of Abraham, I will receive the promised blessings of God made to Father Abraham.

I know that we face with trials, temptations, and snares as we walk the covenant path, but I testify that the Savior is kind and able and willing to help me, through His Atonement, when I am weak and stumbling if I put my trust in Him.

I bear you my solemn witness that Jesus Christ is a good example of a covenant maker and keeper. I testify to you that He made and kept covenants with His father to fulfill His divine purpose to atone for my sins, your sins, and the sins of the world. I invite you to now go forth and make or renew your covenants with God and seek His help in progressing through the covenant path back to His presence. I know He loves us. I know He will help us . I know He is calling on us to come back to Him.