Serve Others, Serve the Lord

In my reading this week of Matthew 25, I learned more about the nature of service. In this chapter, Jesus tells the story of the ten virgins and the righteous people who are prepared for the second coming of the Savior. He then goes on to bless them for the service that they did for Him when He was hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and in prison. The people did not understand this at first -- when had they ever seen Him in these circumstances? Jesus explains "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (v. 40). 

As we serve those around us, we are in effect serving God. Through our actions of love and aid to others, we can act as His "hands" here on Earth. Of course, God is all-powerful and can make whatever He wants to happen come to fruition. But, He knows it is so much more meaningful for us to be able to act as instruments in His hands. He can use us as tools to make His good purposes come to pass. That way not only those whom we serve are blessed, but we are made even better for it too. God's purpose is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). He does this in several ways, but allowing us to serve one another is a major way in which God lets us grow. True discipleship strengthens as we focus less on our selfish needs and turn outwards to help another. Sometimes it may seem illogical to stop and serve someone -- maybe they seem to have things under control themselves, or you may be in a rush. But, I know that when we act on the desire to do good to others, it always ends well. You may not see any dramatic results, but you can rest assured that you have done some measure of good in the life of another. Serving others is something I strive to do, but I'll admit that sometimes it is hard! It's hard to go outside of your comfort zone or to use your time for someone else when you may feel in need. However, I have seen that whenever I choose to make sacrifices to help another it always works out well for me. Things fall into place and I feel so much happier. Service helps us grow and feel God's love for others. If every day we made the effort to do at least ONE purposeful act of service, just think how much better the world would be! 

Lift Up Those Who Have Fallen

In John 8:1-11, we read the story of the woman caught in adultery, or having sexual relations outside of her marriage. It is important to note that adultery is one of the "thou shalt not's" commanded against in the Ten Commandments and had very severe punishments according to the Law of Moses. Therefore the scribes and Pharisees, who were very strict in following the law, brought this woman before Christ to be condemned. They brought her before Christ while He was teaching in the temple, which was a very public place. These men were trying to publicly shame the adulteress for her sins as well as potentially use her as a means to make Jesus look bad. If He forgave her, they could accuse Him of disobeying the law. But if Jesus condemned her, that would go against all that He had previously taught about love, forgiveness and repentance. However, Christ does something they were not expecting. He tells them, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone" (John 8:7). 

All of them left, with none to accuse her. In His most merciful way, Christ explains "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more" (v. 11). 

This story has great applications for us today. Every single person we meet, including ourselves, commits sin in one way or another. None of us are perfect yet. Yes, you may have issues with temptations that do not bother me, and vice versa. But, this does not make any one person better than the other. We all struggle and we all feel the despair of sin at times. It is our responsibility not to judge one another, but to lift up and love those around us. A particular application of this that all of us can apply has to do with those who struggle with addiction. There are addictions of every kind running rampant in the world today, and many people struggle with them every day. Some addictions are more visible than others, but all of them hurt. They cause pain in the lives of the addict and their loved ones. It can be hard to accept it when someone we love struggles with an addiction or temptation. But, through the atoning power of Jesus Christ, I KNOW that they can be healed and move forward. A big factor in this healing process is helping them to feel the pure love of Christ, which is charity. We can be instruments in the hands of the Lord to love, support, encourage, and accept those we love for where they are now and see the infinite potential that they have. Judgement only opens wounds; it is pure love that heals them.

Sacrifice

I have thought a lot recently about what it means to sacrifice something. Typically, the word "sacrifice" has a negative connotation in our minds, but it does not have to be so. To me, sacrificing one's time, effort, resources, comfort, and countless other things in order to promote a just cause will bless beyond measure. Sure, you may miss out on something you want to do or have, but I think this is outweighed by the impact you can have. For example, sacrificing an afternoon of watching television to volunteer at a homeless shelter. Temporally, there is no reason for you to do so. But, such service will help you grow, widen your perspective, and make you happier. It's amazing how giving up a small portion of what you have helps you to recognize how much you truly do have and how blessed you are. Here's the catch though, you can't just physically sacrifice something in order to be changed. If your heart is not in it, or you give it up begrudgingly or just to appease others' expectations, you will not be as effective as you could be. You may certainly help someone and meet their needs, but imagine how much sweeter of an experience it would be to sacrifice what you have with a humble heart and a loving attitude. In life, especially I think at my stage of it, we get so caught up in trying to plan our futures, take care of our needs, and make sure that we are getting everything that we want, that we forget to serve others. I know from experience that this state of mind is ultimately more stressful and unhappy. Helping others, making sacrifices, and giving service with love makes you feel more fulfilled and allows you to worry about others instead of yourself. Turning your thoughts to other people widens your view, puts your problems into perspective, and helps you learn that maybe you aren't as bad off as it seemed before. Of course, we do have to reasonably take care of ourselves, but there are many supposed "needs" that we attend to that are probably more like "wants" in our daily lives. Sacrifice takes trust in the Lord that He will help you and bless you to accomplish all that you truly do need to do, along with serving others. If you think about it, if everyone in the world gave service to those around them, everyone would have several people helping them and thinking of their needs and providing support, instead of trying to take on only their own worries all at once. Sacrifice brings people together and deepens their love and compassion. Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for all of mankind. This supreme act of love brings Christ close to us, as He has felt and understands all of our pains and sorrows. If Jesus Christ could suffer and sacrifice everything for everyone, how selfish is it of us to not give up a small, insignificant want for a fellow human's need? Finally, I believe the key to serving and sacrificing for others is respect. You may not agree with or be in the same situation as another, but they are still a person of worth and deserve to be treated with respect. It is easy to be angry, it is easy to be offended -- what is hard is to love someone despite the differences you have. I am definitely not any where near being good at this, but I understand now that I want to be. Everyone on Earth is God's child, and we all deserve to be treated as such. We all need love, help, and validation. I invite you to try sacrificing something for someone this week that you may have trouble dealing with, or that you usually do not get along with. Do something to serve someone who is not close to you, and see the change that can develop in both of you.

Charity Never Faileth

In our world today, the word "charity" is often regarded simply as giving aid or help to someone, typically in the form of money. However, it has a much broader, deeper, and important meaning than that. Charity, as defined in the Book of Mormon, is the "pure love of Christ" (Moroni 7:47). This phrase can be interpreted in several ways. I love to think of charity as our love towards Christ, which we show and express through our prayers and testimonies of Him. In another sense, the word "of" indicates possession, in which charity is the pure love that Christ possesses towards mankind. This manner of love is perfect and lasts forever. In Moroni 7:45-46, a description of charity is given. If we replace the word charity with "Christ", this description becomes a depiction of our Savior and His nature: "And Christ suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not His own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. / Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not Christ, ye are nothing, for Christ never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto Christ, which is the greatest of all". As we pattern our lives after that of Jesus Christ, we will be able to love others and help to build them up. Christ does not just love those who loved Him, He loves everyone. This includes the sinners, the outcasts, and those who revile against Him. Though we will not be able to reach that pure and perfect kind of love that Christ showed in His life and the Atonement, we can try our best to improve. In following this example, we must try to remember that everyone we meet is a divine child of God, and treat them as such.