Divine Strategy

I teach strategy and marketing to graduate students preparing to become healthcare administrators. Inevitably, our conversations go beyond numbers and frameworks. We talk about purpose. We talk about vision. Because to really understand strategy, we must first understand why an organization exists and where it hopes to go.

Understanding Mission, Vision, and Strategy

A mission statement expresses purpose—why the organization exists. A vision statement paints a picture of where it hopes to arrive. And strategy is the how—the intentional set of choices that direct scarce resources toward achieving those outcomes.

One of my favorite examples is the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Their mission is: “We will cure MS while empowering people affected by MS to live their best lives.” Their vision is simple but powerful: “A world free of MS.” Their strategy brings both to life through groundbreaking research (“Pathways to Cures”) and global collaborations like the International Progressive MS Alliance.

Their efforts matter to me personally. A dear friend of mine lives with MS, and I’ve seen how the Society’s work gives him hope and strength. Their mission, vision, and strategy aren’t abstract statements—they are lifelines for people like him.

And that leads me to wonder: If leadership success is achieved by clarifying our mission, vision, and strategy, how do these principles apply to our walk of faith?

God’s Strategy

God, too, has a mission, vision, and strategy for His children. His mission is beautifully clear: “To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). His vision for us is equally bold: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

And His strategy? It is love—embodied perfectly in His Son, Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice for us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Jesus is the centerpiece of God’s strategy. Why? Because “there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:17). He is the only Way!

And how does God draw us to His Son? I see three consistent patterns—His “tactics,” if you will:

1. He teaches us His word and truth,

2. He guides and comforts us through the Holy Spirit, and

3. He invites us to come closer through ordinances and covenants that bind us to Him (see Alma 43:2).

Warning: The Competitor’s Strategy

Of course, no strategy operates in a vacuum. Every organization has competitors. In the same way, God’s plan has an adversary.

Satan also has a mission, vision, and strategy. His mission is to destroy our agency (see Moses 4:3). His vision is self-centered: To claim God’s honor and power for himself (see Moses 4:1; Doctrine & Covenants 29:36). His strategy is deception—“to deceive and blind men, and to lead them captive at his will” (Moses 4:4).

He is crafty, but his tactics are predictable. He stirs up anger against anything good. He lulls us into carnal security, whispering that “all is well.” And he flatters us into believing there is no devil, no hell, and no consequences for our choices (see 2 Nephi 28:20-22).

When I look at the world around me—and sometimes at my own heart—I can see evidence of both strategies at play.

Discerning the Difference

With so many voices around us in our hyper-connected, social media-enabled world, how do we know which voice to follow?

Here’s a simple test: If something draws us closer to Jesus Christ and the principles He lived and taught, it aligns with God’s strategy. If something or someone pulls us away, it doesn’t. No person is wholly good or wholly bad, so we must learn to accept the good and reject the bad in each.

We don’t have to look far for guidance on what is good and bad. Just consider Jesus’ first great sermon (the Sermon on the Mount) and His final one to His disciples (the Last Supper). Together, they outline what a Christlike life looks like.

• Be humble and meek,

• Mourn with those who mourn,

• Be merciful and pure in heart,

• Be peacemakers,

• Avoid anger and verbal assaults,

• Forgive others, and seek the forgiveness of others,

• Do more for others than they ask,

• Love and do good to all, including enemies,

• Give and serve authentically and not for public recognition,

• Serve God above riches, and

• Look first to our own faults rather than judging others.

In the end, it all comes down to love: “Love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13:34).

Let Us Choose Wisely

President Russell M. Nelson recently reminded the world of this truth in a Time magazine op-ed, where he urged us toward more personal peacemaking. He wrote,

“Imagine how different our world could be if more of us were peacemakers—building bridges of understanding rather than walls of prejudice—especially with those who may see the world differently than we do. ... Even small acts—like reaching out across lines of faith, culture, or politics—can open doors to healing.”

That is the heart of God’s divine strategy.

When I talk to my students about strategy, I tell them it always comes down to choices. The same is true in our walk of faith. Every day, we choose whose strategy we will follow. Will we choose the adversary’s path of anger, pride, and division? Or will we choose God’s path of justice, mercy, and humility?

As the prophet Micah wrote: “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8).

That, my friends, is the way to peace. That is God’s divine strategy of love—for you, for me, and for all His children.