A Simple Concept

People are more important than things.  It's a simple concept.  Yet so many people don't seem to get it.  So many people spend their lives chasing the almighty dollar while neglecting family and others.  Sure, material things are nice to have but like Mark Chesnutt says, "they don't make a hearse with a luggage rack".  You can't take it with you when you die. 

Alma 39:14

"Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you."

But what you can take with you when you die, if you are worthy, are your relationships with people; family and friends.

What is the first great commandment?  One of the Pharisees asked the Savior that very question.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Nowhere in that scripture does it say anything about seeking riches or gaining material possessions.  The Prophet Alma mentioned in the previously quoted Scripture that we should not seek after riches nor the vain things of this world.  Jacob elaborated on the subject.

Jacob 2:18-19

18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.

19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

Jacob ties in obtaining riches with the second great commandment.  If we are blessed with riches, we should do good by helping those in need.

The society we live in teaches selfishness. This is not the Lord's way.  Yet so many people subscribe to the philosophy of selfish materialism.  They believe that life is all about making money and obtaining material possessions.  That somehow that's where happiness is found.

In fact, I know of a young man who explained to his mother, in a recent conversation, that someday she would find out that life is all about making money and obtaining riches. Boy, that young man is in for a rude awakening.

Some people seek for riches to impress their fellow man or perhaps to feel superior to others. I, for one, feel sorry for those people. What a shallow, empty life.

Some people value their house or car or any possession above that of their family members.  They are so worried about something getting scratched, dented, spilled on, smudged with fingerprints, etc. that they ostracize their family members by excluding them from using, touching, looking at or even getting near their precious possessions.

Things can be replaced, people can't.

People remember how they are treated.  People can quickly deduce when you value stuff more than them. Well, guess what?  Moth and rust doth corrupt.  Things don't last.  Relationships do.

Matthew 6:19-21

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 I think the Lord makes it very clear how he feels about seeking for riches and what you treasure.

Riches and material possessions don't make you happy.  Yes, they are nice to have and should be taken care of but not to the exclusion of people.  People are what really matter not things.  Especially family.  Moth and rust doth corrupt. You cannot carry them with you.

It's a simple concept.  People are more important than things.  Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  What do you treasure?

That's my two cents.