[MUSIC PLAYING]
Among the most memorable parables the Savior ever
told is the story of a foolish younger brother who
went to his father, asked for his portion of the estate,
and left home to squander his inheritance,
the scripture says, in "riotous living."
Then the scripture says encouragingly,
"He came to himself."
He determined to find his way home.
Dad?
But being caught up in this younger-son story,
we can miss, if we're not careful,
the account of an elder son, for the opening
line of the Savior's account reads,
"A certain man had two sons."
And He might have added that both of them were lost.
[FESTIVE MUSIC PLAYING]
And the older brother "was angry, and would not go in:
therefore came his father out, and entreated him."
Surely for this father, the pain over a wayward child
is now compounded with the realization
that this older, wiser brother, the younger boy's childhood
hero, is angry that his brother has come home.
Need a hand?
I got it covered.
I was thinking we could fix up the old truck, get it up
and running.
I don't really have time.
I've been really busy running the family business.
I'm sorry for letting you down.
You didn't let me down.
Whatever you did or plan to do with your life
is your business.
Now stay out of my way.
I've been doing just fine without you.
But the older brother lives in some confinement, too.
He has, as yet, been unable to break out
of the prison of himself.
He is haunted by the green-eyed monster of jealousy.
One who has heretofore presumably been very happy
with his life and content with his good fortune
suddenly feels very unhappy simply because another
has had some good fortune as well.
It has been said that envy is the one
sin to which no one readily confesses.
How does this happen?
Every day we see allurements of one kind or another
that tell us what we have is not enough.
Someone or something is forever telling us
we need to be more handsome or more wealthy, more applauded
or more admired than we see ourselves as being.
[ENGINE CRANKING]
I remember the first time you and Michael trained together.
That was a long time ago.
Not for me.
Your mother was so afraid you two would fight nonstop.
But I said no, the boxing would help
you two respect each other.
I told her we would have one rule for this family.
What was the rule, son?
Keep it in the ring.
Hey.
Wake up.
It's a Saturday.
Let me sleep.
Wake up!
Start it up, brother.
[HORN BLOWING]
How can we overcome such a tendency
so common in almost everyone?
For one thing, we can do as these two sons did
and start making our way back to the Father.
We should do so with as much haste and humility
as we can summon.
Along the way, we can count our many blessings
and we can applaud the accomplishments of others.
Best of all, we can serve others, the finest exercise
for the heart ever prescribed.