Living Your Best Christ-centered Life

Choosing to invite Christ into your life will help you experience a life full of joy and blessings

BY: Symber Canepari

When Christ is the center of our lives, He is our strength and motivator through challenges. Elder Richard J. Maynes, of the Seventy, taught, “Our core, the center of our lives, must be Jesus Christ and His gospel.”¹ When we strive to follow His guidance and live the gospel, we will be blessed with joy and strength.

Keep Christ close

Prayer can help keep Christ close.

The closer Christ is to our hearts, the deeper our love will be for Him. We feel this love by following the teachings of apostles and prophets, studying the scriptures, and praying daily. We should follow the Lord’s commandments and His example. In the scriptures the Savior teaches, “Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.”²

Filling our homes with the Savior’s teachings will help our hearts become full of His love. Welcoming the Spirit into our lives can bring inspiration and help us to see Heavenly Father’s touch on our souls. The gospel can aid us in our desire to deepen our love for Christ and motivate us to continue praying and studying His teachings.

President Ezra Taft Benson shared, “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.”³

Be friends with the Savior

Being friends with the Savior brings strength.

When Christ is at the core of our endeavors, He becomes the source of strength and motivation for all our difficult challenges. Like a best friend, He encourages us and pushes us to be our best selves. 

Keeping the Savior close will allow us to receive blessings in surprising ways — we can better manage our education, become closer with our families, and reach our goals. He can even help us overcome our fears, stresses, and worries. President Thomas S. Monson taught, “As we make Christ the center of our lives, our fears will be replaced by the courage of our convictions.”⁴

In the scriptures, we have been promised that when we put the Savior and His gospel first, we can receive these blessings of strength and encouragement: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”⁵

Spread the happiness

Share the joy that comes from knowing Christ.

When we are close to the Savior, we will want to share the joy that comes from having a close relationship with Him. Find ways to share your testimony in the Savior and His restored gospel. By doing so your love for the Savior will increase.

PathwayConnect gatherings and online courses are places where Christ can be present. They provide a center for learning and allow us to share ways in which we can make Christ a constant companion. This is also a great opportunity to practice ministering.

President Russell M. Nelson taught, “When we love God with all our hearts, He turns our hearts to the well-being of others in a beautiful, virtuous cycle.”⁶ As Christ becomes the center of our hearts, our lives will be brighter, we will show more love toward others, and we will teach others the joy of the gospel.

How do you keep Christ at the center of your life? Comment below!

1.^ Richard J. Maynes, “The Joy of Living a Christ-Centered Life,” Ensign or Liahona, Oct. 2015

2.^ Doctrine and Covenants 6:20

3.^Ezra Taft Benson, “Jesus Christ — Gifts and Expectations,” (Brigham Young University devotional, Dec. 10, 1974), speeches.byu.edu

4.^ Thomas S. Monson, “Be an Example and a Light,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015

5.^ Matthew 6:33

6.^Russell M. Nelson, “The Second Great Commandment,” Ensign or Liahona, Oct. 2019