As a reason for service, this motivation necessarily involves faith in God and in the fulfillment of his prophecies. The scriptures are rich in promises of eternal rewards. The last motive I will discuss is, in my opinion, the highest reason of all. The apostle Paul wrote:. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. We know from these inspired words that even the most extreme acts of service profit us nothing unless motivated by the pure love of Christ.
If our gospel service is to be most efficacious, it must be accomplished for the love of God and the love of his children. The Savior illustrated that principle in the Sermon on the Mount, where 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 Matthew Service for the love of God and our fellowmen is surely a different kind of service than that prescribed by contract, where we receive value and give equivalent value in return.
Similarly, as he continued his Sermon on the Mount, he declared:. Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. This principle—that our gospel 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. Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. Service with all of our heart and mind, which goes far beyond service with all of our might and strength, is a high challenge for all of us.
It goes far beyond the quid pro quo of contract service. It is unique to our service by covenant. It is free of selfish ambition. It is motivated only by the pure love of God and our fellowmen. 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:.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ. I testify 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.
Dallin H. Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles August 23, Speed 0. I will not give examples but only ask you to supply your own as my message procee I Service at BYU is different from other colleges and universities because BYU is owned and controlled by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has commissioned BYU to accomplish a special kind of teaching.
Consider these words by one who knew: It has been said the Saints will be saviors upon Mount Zion, that they are destined to redeem the world. Kimball: The uniqueness of Brigham Young University lies in its special role—education for eternity—which it must carry in addition to the usual tasks of a university.
Also relevant to our circumstances are these words of the apostle Paul written to Timothy just a few verses before the direction that is your theme: For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach. President Kimball described one important aspect of our covenant obligations in these words: It would be my hope that twenty thousand students might feel the normalcy and beauty of your lives.
II Having stated some general principles of your dual relationship to BYU and to its sponsoring Church, I now wish to discuss some of the ways these principles affect your responsibilities of service at BYU. For Riches or Honor Some serve others for hope of earthly reward. Hinckley said this: Service to mankind must ever be the ideal of this great university. Though I did not use the terms I now use to contrast contract service and covenant service, I did speak of that contrast: I have also been very uneasy about trying to match other universities on a dollar-for-dollar basis in the salaries paid at BYU.
To Obtain Good Companionship Another reason for service—probably more worthy than the first in gospel terms but still in the category of service in search of earthly reward—is that motivated by a personal desire to obtain good companionship. Fear of Punishment Some may serve out of fear of eternal punishment. Thus, King Benjamin taught his people that the soul of the unrepentant transgressor would be filled with a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.
Duty or Loyalty Other persons may serve out of a sense of duty or out of loyalty to friends or family or traditions. Hope of an Eternal Reward Although those who serve out of fear of punishment or out of a sense of duty undoubtedly qualify for the blessings of heaven, there are still higher reasons for service.
The Highest Motive for Service The last motive I will discuss is, in my opinion, the highest reason of all. The apostle Paul wrote: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. Such persons fill the ranks of voluntary organizations everywhere, and they do much good. We have all benefited by the good works of such persons. Those who serve out of a sense of duty or loyalty to various wholesome causes are the good and honorable men and women of the earth.
Although those who serve out of fear of punishment or out of a sense of duty undoubtedly qualify for the blessings of heaven, there are still higher reasons for service.
One such higher reason for service is the hope of an eternal reward. This hope—the expectation of enjoying the fruits of our labors—is one of the most powerful sources of motivation. As a reason for service, it necessarily involves faith in God and in the fulfillment of His prophecies.
The scriptures are rich in promises of eternal rewards. The last motive I will discuss is, in my opinion, the highest reason of all. The Apostle Paul affirmed and illustrated that truth in his great teaching about the reasons for service:. 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.
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. 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.
Praying with real intent means praying with total sincerity to act and respond. Am I praying with total sincerity to act and respond? Spiritually defining moments come as we prayerfully listen to general conference and as we better keep the commandments. While we cannot choose the timing of receiving these defining moments, President Henry B.
Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my [family]? In his April address, he likewise encourages us to remember our own spiritual experiences:. In this book, Elder Andersen writes especially to those who are "awakening" unto God—those who are just beginning to discover or who seek the divine gifts and power of repentance and forgiveness in their lives. The Divine Gift of Forgiveness is organized in such a way that readers can choose the section or chapter that applies most to them and study it without having to have read from cover to cover.
Available now at DeseretBook. In my church you are assigned or called to a task. You can do lots of different acts of service. This service is expected of all members and most members willingly accept their assignments. They are excited to do them. I am helping with something outside of church and was wondering what my motivations were. In college they encouraged us to do service outside of the church and so I did it. But I ask myself why I did it. Did I do it because I was expected to do it, or required for some classes?
Did the teachers and leaders know that one day our reason for service would change, that maybe while we were doing it we would enjoy it and want to serve more? I enjoyed the things I did and loved the people I served, but I would have to say that was not my motivation for doing it. This got me thinking, and I remembered a talk I heard in seminary my senior year of high school about reasons to serve. Here are the highlights, it is a talk by Dallin H Oaks, and I have thought of it a lot since I heard it now about 10 years ago.
People serve one another for different reasons, and some reasons are better than others. Perhaps none of us serves in every c apacity all the time for only a single reason. Since we are imperfect beings, most of us probably serve for a combination of reasons , and the combinations may be different from time to time as we grow spiritually. But we should all strive to serve for the reasons that are highest and best. Some may serve for hope of earthly reward.
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