Why must we serve

We know from these inspired words that even the most extreme acts of service—such as giving all of our goods to feed the poor—profit us nothing unless our service is motivated by the pure love of Christ. If our service is to be most efficacious, it must be accomplished for the love of God and the love of his children.

The Savior applied that principle in the Sermon on the Mount, in which he commanded us to love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us.

See Matt. He explained the purpose of that commandment as follows:. This principle—that our service should be for the love of God and the love of fellowmen rather than for personal advantage or any other lesser motive—is admittedly a high standard. The Savior must have seen it so, since he joined his commandment for selfless and complete love directly with the ideal of perfection. This principle of service is reaffirmed in the fourth section of the Doctrine and Covenants:.

We learn from this command that it is not enough to serve God with all of our might and strength. He who looks into our hearts and knows our minds demands more than this. In order to stand blameless before God at the last day, we must also serve him with all our heart and mind. Service with all of our heart and mind is a high challenge for all of us. Such service must be free of selfish ambition.

It must be motivated only by the pure love of Christ. If we have difficulty with the command that we serve for love, a Book of Mormon teaching can help us. After describing the importance of charity, the prophet Moroni counseled:. The service of persons filled with that love will meet the high test expressed in the Twenty-fourth Psalm:. I know that God expects us to work to purify our hearts and our thoughts so that we may serve one another for the highest and best reason, the pure love of Christ.

And I know that God has restored the fulness of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith in these latter days. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. October Why Do We Serve? Dallin H. Write Down a Date M. Russell Ballard. Tom Perry. The Joy of Service Russell C. When the members of the church work together to point others to Christ, it is a beautiful thing. When churches come together to bring God glory, those who do not know Him will see Him through us.

Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Instead, when we serve, we should serve humbly. It is through serving others that we will shine a light that will glorify the Lord.

We all have gifts we can use to serve Him and serve others. We just need to be willing. Our service schedule includes Saturday night at p. By way of illustration, and without pretending to be exhaustive, I will suggest six reasons. I will discuss these in ascending order from the lesser to the greater reasons for service. Some may serve for hope of earthly reward. Such a man or woman might serve in Church positions or in private acts of mercy in an effort to achieve prominence or cultivate contacts that would increase income or aid in acquiring wealth.

Others might serve in order to obtain worldly honors, prominence, or power. Another reason for service—probably more worthy than the first, but still in the category of service in search of earthly reward—is that motivated by a personal desire to obtain good companionship. We surely have good associations in our Church service, but is that why we serve? These first two reasons for service are selfish and self-centered and unworthy of Saints.

Reasons aimed at earthly rewards are distinctly lesser in character and reward than the other reasons I will discuss. Some may serve out of fear of punishment. The scriptures abound with descriptions of the miserable state of those who fail to follow the commandments of God.

Such descriptions surely offer sufficient incentive for keeping the commandment of service. But service out of fear of punishment is a lesser motive at best. Other persons may serve out of a sense of duty or out of loyalty to friends or family or traditions. These are those I would call the good soldiers, who instinctively do what they are asked without question and sometimes without giving much thought to the reasons for their service. And the measure of our love, the measure of our service, is always the cross.

Jesus calls us to make our lives a gift that we offer to God. He taught us to think of our lives as he thought of his — as a seed that falls to the ground, dies and is buried, only to spring up again and produce beautiful fruit.

In our service of love, we grow closer and closer to Jesus Christ, until the day we can say, as St. Paul did, that is not we who serve, but Jesus who serves through us. Let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary to help us to learn the joy of Jesus, the joy of giving our lives in service to God and to others. Subscribe now! Allen, Jr.