Followers of
Jesus Christ have long known that He expects us to serve others in His name. The
Savior showed us an example of how to give unselfish service because He devoted
His life to serving Heavenly Father and all of His Father’s children. He works
unitedly with His Father to give the gift of immortality and the blessing of
eternal life to all of us. (See Moses 1:39.)
President Henry B. Eyring of the
First Presidency reminded his listeners that “Jesus went about teaching His
gospel and doing good (see Acts 10:38). He healed the sick. He raised the dead.
With His power He fed thousands when they were hungry and without food (see
Matthew 14:14-21; John 6:2-13). After His Resurrection He gave food to several
of His Apostles as they came ashore at the Sea of Galilee (see John 21:12-13).
In the Americas, He healed the sick and blessed the children one by one (see Book
of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 3 Nephi 17:7-9, 21).
We can find numerous references
in the scriptures that admonish us to serve. The Apostle Paul taught, “By love
serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).
An ancient prophet known as King
Benjamin exhorted: “When ye are in the
service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Book of
Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Mosiah 2:17)
Modern-day prophets and apostles
also teach the importance of service to the needy, poor, sick, widows, and
fatherless. Just a month ago, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints were admonished to reach out and help the refugees in our
communities.
President Thomas S. Monson told
the story of Jack McConnell who “grew up in the hills of southwest Virginia in
the United States as one of seven children of a Methodist minister and a
stay-at-home mother. Their circumstances were very humble. He recounted that
during his childhood, every day as the family sat around the dinner table, his
father would ask each one in turn, `And what did you do for someone today?’ The
children were determined to do a good turn every day so they could report to
their father that they had helped someone.
Dr. McConnell calls this exercise his father’s most valuable legacy, for
that expectation and those words inspired him and his siblings to help others
throughout their lives. As they grew and matured, their motivation for
providing service changed to an inner desire to help others.
“Besides Dr. McConnell’s
distinguished medical career – where he directed the development of the
tuberculosis tine test, participated in the early development of the polio
vaccine, supervised the development of Tylenol, and was instrumental in developing
the magnetic resonance imaging procedure, or MRI – he created an organization
he calls Volunteers in Medicine, which gives retired medical personnel a chance
to volunteer at free clinics serving the working uninsured. Dr. McConnell said
his leisure time since he retired has `evaporated into 60-hour weeks of unpaid
work, but [his] energy level has increased and there is a satisfaction in [his]
life that wasn’t there before.’ He made this statement: `In one of those paradoxes of life, I have
benefited more from Volunteers in Medicine than my patients have.’ There are
now over 90 such clinics across the United States.
“Of course, we can’t all be Dr.
McConnells, establishing medical clinics to help the poor; however, the needs
of others are ever present, and each of us can do something to help someone.”
President Monson quoted the
Savior as saying, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake,
the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24); he then added the following statement.
“I believe the Savior is telling
us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose
to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and
figuratively lose their lives, which those who lose themselves in service to
others grow and flourish – and in effect save their lives.
“I am confident it is the
intention of each member of the Church to serve and to help those in need. At
baptism we covenanted to `bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light’
(Mosiah 18:8). How many times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed
the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet
how often has day-to-day living interfered and you’ve left it for others to
help, feeling that `oh, surely someone will take care of that need.’
“You may lament: I can barely make it through each day, doing
all that I need to do. How can I provide service for others? What can I
possibly do?” (See Thomas S. Monson, “Lose Yourself in Service,” New Era, August 2015.)
President Eyring taught that
service to other will help to qualify us for eternal life. “One of the
assurances that you are being purified is an increasing desire to serve others
for the Savior. Home teaching and visiting teaching become more of a joy and
less of a chore. You find yourself volunteering more often in a local school or
helping care for the poor in your community. Even though you may have little
money to give to those who have less, you wish you had more so that you could
give more (see Mosiah 4:24). You find yourself eager to serve your children and
to show them how to serve others.
“As your nature changes, you
will feel a desire to give greater service without recognition. I know
disciples of the Savior who have given great gifts of money and service with a
determination that no one but God and their children would know about it. God
has recognized their service by blessing them in this life, and He will bless
them in the eternal life to come (see Matthew 6:1-4; 3 Nephi 13:1-4). …
“The Savior teaches us how we
can learn to serve others. He served perfectly, and we must learn to serve as
He learned – line upon line (see Doctrine and Covenants 93:12-13). Through the
service we give, we can become more like Him. We will pray with all the energy
of our hearts to love our enemies as He loves them (see Matthew 5:43-44; Moroni
7:48). Then we may at last become fitted for eternal life with Him and our
Heavenly Father.” (See Henry B. Eyring, “Service and Eternal Life,” Liahona, March 2014.)
There is something we can all do
to help someone else. We must be wise in our service and not attempt to do more
than we have strength, and we must remember that some of the greatest service
we can give is given within the walls of our own homes and for members of our
own families. The question asked by the father of Dr. McConnell’s father is one
that we should ask ourselves every day: “And
what did you do for someone today?” The best way to know where our service
would do the most good is to ask Heavenly Father each morning where He would
like us to serve. We cannot do everything, but we can do something!
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