Top Devotionals of the Decade

The last 10 years have brought prophets, apostles, and professor-disciples to BYU’s pulpit for Tuesday devotionals. And their messages have gone out to millions of you as you’ve read, watch, or listened online. Here we share the ten most-viewed devotionals that were given between 2010 and 2019. Did your favorites make the list?

10) Neil L. Andersen, “A Compensatory Spiritual Power for the Righteous” August 18, 2015

“As evil increases in the world, there is a compensatory spiritual power for the righteous. As the world slides from its spiritual moorings, the Lord prepares the way for those who seek Him, offering them greater assurance, greater confirmation, and greater confidence in the spiritual direction they are traveling. The gift of the Holy Ghost becomes a brighter light in the emerging twilight.

“This added blessing of spiritual power does not settle upon us just because we are part of this generation. It is willingly offered to us; it is eagerly put before us. But as with all spiritual gifts, it requires our desiring it, pursuing it, and living worthy of receiving it. ‘For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? (D&C 88:33).’”

9) Lynn G. Robbins, “Avoid It,” September 17, 2013

“Avoiding temptation should be our first line of defense. However, we live in a world in which the wheat is growing together with the tares and in which it is impossible to completely avoid temptation. But it would be wise to minimize it to the extent possible.

“When we are faced with temptation, we should resist it with an avoidance mentality. ‘Get thee behind me’ (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33; Luke 4:8)  was the Savior’s example of resisting with an avoidance mentality. ‘He suffered temptations but gave no heed unto them’ (D&C 20:22; see also Hebrews 4:15). When we are faced with temptation, it would be wise to follow the Savior’s example by dismissing Satan without any further argument or discussion—immediately and swiftly.”

8) Todd B. Parker, “True Doctrine, Understood, Changes Attitudes and Behavior,” January 20, 2015

“I don’t know if you have considered Jesus’s birth in the light of His being the Lamb of God. To whom did the angels go to announce the birth of the Lamb of God? Specific shepherds were assigned to tend the flocks of sheep to be used in temple sacrifice. Only certified firstborn lambs could be used. The shepherds were the eyewitnesses of which lambs were firstborn. So when the Lamb of God was born, where did the angels go? To the shepherds. Why? Because that was their job—to witness the birth of firstborn lambs.

“Moses tells us in Leviticus 1:11 that the lambs to be used for sacrifice were to be slain on the north side of the altar. Where do you suppose Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed? The Crucifixion took place just north of the temple altar in Jerusalem at a place called Golgotha. The Lamb of God was sacrificed north of the temple altar. All things testify of Christ.”

7) Russell M. Nelson, “The Love and Laws of God,” September 17, 2019

“God knew that because of the adversary’s deceptive tactics and traps, the covenant path would not be easy to find or to stay on. So He sent His Only Begotten Son to atone for us and to show us the way. The godly power available to all who love and follow Jesus Christ is the power to heal us, strengthen us, cleanse us from sin, and magnify us to do things we could never do on our own. Our Savior is the Divine Exemplar who marked the path that we are to follow.

“Because the Father and the Son love us with infinite, perfect love and because They know we cannot see everything They see, They have given us laws that will guide and protect us.”

6) Jonathan G. Sandberg, “Healing = Courage + Action + Grace,” January 21, 2014

“Sometimes we may not appreciate the manifestations of His grace because healing blessings do not always come in the form we ask. Sometimes His grace is made manifest by letting us sit and struggle with an issue. Again, our Heavenly Father and Savior are more interested in our growth and progression than in our comfort and convenience. Moments of struggle often bring the greatest growth. ”

5) Eva Witesman, “Women and Education: ‘A Future Only God Could See for You,’” June 27, 2017

“Sisters, never question the value of your education or wonder whether you will have an opportunity to learn and use the knowledge you have gained. God knows you, and even though you may not yet know His plans, He knows the end from the beginning. He is preparing and qualifying you for the work He wants you to do. He will continually guide you to ways in which your knowledge and skills can be of benefit to yourself, your family, your community, and His kingdom.”

4) Tad R. Callister, “Our Identity and Our Destiny,” August 14, 2012

“Innocence and perfection are not the same. An infant may be innocent but certainly not perfect in the sense that he or she has acquired all the attributes of godliness. Once Adam and Eve were cast from the garden, we read in the book of Genesis that God Himself said, ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us [meaning like the gods]’ (Genesis 3:22; emphasis added). How could that be? God then tells us why this new destiny was possible—because men now ‘know good and evil.’ Being immersed in a world of good and evil, having the capacity to choose, and being able to draw upon the powers of the Atonement resulted in man having unlimited opportunities to progress toward his destiny of godhood.”

3) Lynn G. Robbins, “Be 100 Percent Responsible,” August 22, 2017

“If the anti-responsibility list is so dangerous, why do so many people frequently turn to it? Because the natural man is irresponsible by nature, he goes to the list as a defense mechanism to avoid shame and embarrassment, stress and anxiety, and the pain and negative consequences of mistakes and sin. Rather than repent to eliminate guilt, he sedates it with excuses. It gives him a false sense that his environment or someone else is to blame, and therefore he has no need to repent.

“The anti-responsibility list could also be called the anti-faith list because it halts progress dead in its tracks. When Satan tempts a person to avoid responsibility, that person subtly surrenders their agency because the person is no longer in control or ‘acting.’ Instead they become an object who is being acted upon, and Satan cleverly begins to control their life.”

2) Lawrence E. Corbridge, “Stand Forever,” January 22, 2019

“More phenomenal than resurrection is birth. The greater wonder is not that life, having once existed, could come again but that it ever exists at all.

“More amazing than raising the dead is that we live at all. A silent heart that beats again is not nearly as amazing as the heart that beats within your breast right now.

“That one could see on a stone or through a special lens the modern translation of ancient text written on plates of gold is far less amazing than the human eye. The wonder is not what the human eye may see, rather, that it sees anything at all.

“How can you believe in extraordinary things such as angels and gold plates and your divine potential? Easy, just look around and believe.”

1) Brad Wilcox, “His Grace Is Sufficient,” July 12, 2011

“‘Grace shall be as your day’: grace shall be like a day. As dark as night may become, we can always count on the sun coming up. As dark as our trials, sins, and mistakes may appear, we can always have confidence in the grace of Jesus Christ. Do we earn a sunrise? No. Do we have to be worthy of a chance to begin again? No. We just have to accept these blessings and take advantage of them. As sure as each brand-new day, grace—the enabling power of Jesus Christ—is constant.”