Heart, Might, Mind and Strength

"Unless you are fully engaged in living the gospel - living it with all of your 'heart, might, mind and strength' - you cannot generate enough spiritual light to push back the darkness."

Elder Robert D. Hales, April 2002 general conference

Last week I shared this quote with someone who mentioned it aligned with the goal-setting areas people often use - Intellectual, Physical, Spiritual, Social - and I decided I wanted to remember that in the future, hence this post. These four areas of self-improvement are taken from Luke 2:52, which states that "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man."

"Heart, might, mind and strength" is mentioned in D&C 4:2. Many years ago, when studying that section, I looked up definitions for each of these words. Isn't it great how defining words leads to new insights? 

• Heart - love, innermost feelings, essence, core, courage, character, inclinations, emotions
• Might - power, authority, ability, energy, intensity, vigor
• Mind - conscious mental events, intention, desire, disposition, focus, intelligence
• Strength - strong, enduring, physical prowess, force, capability

My first inclination, when trying to align these different sets of four, was to put "heart" with "spiritual" because our relationship with God is internal and very personal. However, after thinking about it for a bit, I decided the simple "righteous routines and holy habits" (prayer, scripture study, worship, etc. - see here and here and here.) are what give us energy and power, and it comes as authority from God. Isn't that a great way to think about it? I know it helps me.

We don't necessarily set New Year's Resolutions in our family, because we feel personal improvement goal-setting shouldn't be limited to once a year. However, no matter when we set goals, it's good to have different areas of focus. This is a good way to organize them.

Heart - Social - "favour with man"

Might - Spiritual - "favour with God"

Mind - Intellectual - "wisdom"

Strength - Physical - "stature"