Self-reliance is
the condition of having enough education and/or training, wise management of money
and other resources, spiritual strength, emergency preparations, physical
health, and social and emotional well-being (Julie B. Beck). As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints we are taught to be responsible for our own spiritual and
temporal well-being. We are taught to
use our agency wisely while we set our own course in life and solve our own
problems. Church teachings also include
the fact that we are to rely on ourselves first, our families second, and the
Church last.
While preparing temporally to
care for ourselves and those for whom we are responsible is important, being
prepared spiritually for a crisis is essential.
President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once
stated: “We have been taught to store …
food, clothing, and, if possible, fuel – at home
“Can we not see that the same
principle applies to inspiration and revelation, the solving of problems, to
counsel, and to guidance?…
“If we lose our emotional and
spiritual independence, our self-reliance, we can be weakened quite as much,
perhaps even more, than when we become dependent materially.”
Even when we have done all that
we can to become self-reliant, we will still be dependent on Heavenly Father
for His blessing and on each other for the human touch. The real key to understanding the importance
of self-reliance is the understanding that we have a greater capacity to serve
others when we are self-reliance. The
other side of this “coin” is the fact that we should be willing to allow others
to help and serve us in order for them to receive blessings too. The ultimate purpose for becoming
self-reliant both spiritually and temporally is that the process prepares us to
do good in our world and to return to the presence of God in the life to come.
Elder Robert D. Hales of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained, “Our ultimate goal is to become like
the Savior, and that goal is enhanced by our unselfish service to others. Our ability to serve is increased or diminished
by the level of our self-reliance.”
President Spencer W. Kimball
stated, “No true Latter-day Saint, while physically or emotionally able, will voluntarily
shift the burden of his own or his family’s well-being to someone else. So long as he can, under the inspiration of
the Lord and with his own labors, he will supply himself and his family with
the spiritual and temporal necessities of life.”
The Church does not simply help
people with a handout. It helps people
to help themselves and to free themselves from dependence on any person or
organization. What is the difference
between a handout and a hand up? The
latter is temporary while the first becomes permanent.
President David O. McKay stated
in 1938 when the Church welfare program was first introduced: “The development of our spiritual nature
should concern us most. Spirituality is
the highest acquisition of the soul, the divine in man; `the supreme, crowning
gift that makes him king of all created things.’ It is the consciousness of victory over self
and of communion with the infinite. It is
spirituality alone which really gives one the best in life.
“It is something to supply
clothing to the [poorly] clad, to furnish ample food to those whose table is
thinly spread, to give activity to those who are fighting desperately the
despair that comes from enforced idleness, but after call is said and done, the
greatest blessings that will accrue form the Church [welfare program] are
spiritual. Outwardly, every at seems to
be directed toward the physical:
re-making of dresses and suits of clothes, canning fruits and
vegetables, storing foodstuffs, choosing of fertile fields for settlement – all
seem strictly temporal, but permeating all these acts, inspiring and
sanctifying them, is the element of spirituality.”
No comments:
Post a Comment