Mosiah 2:16-17 Service

1. Mosiah 2:16-17   Service "Continue to seek opportunities for service.  Don't be overly concerned with status.  Do you recall the counsel of the Savior regarding those who seek the 'chief seats' or the 'uppermost rooms'? 'He that is greatest among you shall be your servant‘ (Matt. 23:6,11)  It is important to be appreciated.  but our focus should be on righteousness, not recognition; on service, not status.  The faithful visiting teacher, who quietly goes about her work month after month, is just as important to the work of the Lord as those who occupy what some see as more prominent positions in the Church.  Visibility does not equate to value."  HWH (Ensign, Nov. 1992,  pp. 96-97)

2. Mosiah 2:24--Sin of Ingratitude "I believe that one of the greatest sins of which the inhabitants of the earth are guilty today is the sin of ingratitude....We see a man raised up with extraordinary gifts, or with great intelligence, and he is instrumental in developing some great principle.  He and the world ascribe his great genius and wisdom to himself.  He attributes his success to his own energies, labor and mental capacity.  He does not acknowledge the hand of God in anything connected with his success, but ignores him altogether and takes the honor to himself; this will apply to almost all the world.  In all the great modern discoveries in science, in the arts, in mathematics, and in all material advancement of the age, the world says, 'We have done it.'  The individual says, "I have done it,' and he gives no honor or credit to God.  Now, I read in the revelations through Joseph Smith,  the prophet, that because of this, God is not pleased with the inhabitants of the earth but is angry with them because they will not acknowledge his hand in all things  (DC 59:21)"

3. Mosiah 3:7   Christ's Suffering "The Father withdrew His spirit from His Son, at the time he was to be crucified....at the very moment, at the very hour when the crisis came for him to offer up his Life, the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, and cast a veil over him.  That is what made him sweat blood [in Gethsemane].  If he had had the power of God upon him he would not have sweat blood...."  BY  JD 3:206

4. Mosiah 4:16-23  Advice to the Affluent "It is better to feed ten impostors than to run the risk of turning away one honest petition."  Joseph Smith (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, vol. 9, ch. 8, p. 226 Suppose that in this community there are ten beggars who beg from door to door for something to eat, and that nine of them are impostors who beg to escape work....[What is your choice?]  To give food to the ten,...or to repulse the ten because you don't know which is the worthy one?  You will all say, administer charitable gifts to the ten, rather than turn away the only truly worthy ....person among them.  If you do this, it will make no difference in your blessings, whether you administer to worthy or unworthy persons, inasmuch as you give alms with a single eye to assist the truly needy."  D of BY p. 274

5. Mosiah 4:24-25    Advice to the Poor • "[Those] who have been denied blessings...in this life--who say in their heart, 'If I could have done, I would have done, or I would give if I had, but I cannot for I have not'--the Lord will bless you as though you had done, and the world to come will compensate for those who desire in their hearts the righteous blessings that they were not able to have because of no fault of their own."  Harold B. Lee Ye are the Light of the World, p. 298

6. Mosiah 4:27  Order "Our lives can become cluttered by many things.  Some are obvious, such as material things, the stuff we collect....How well I know that we can surround ourselves with the material things to the extent that we have no time for the spiritual.  Look around and you will see all the gadgets and toy s and the nice and the fun things that cause us to squander and pay, and to wander and play.  Other things that clutter our lives and use up our time are not as obvious as the material.  They are more subtle and just seem to evolve, taking control of us.... Nothing suits the devil better than to become a silent partner with us....He also knows that while in mortality we are subject to time.  If by his subtle means he can become our silent partner, he can then influence us to make wrong choices that use up our time unwisely and prevent us from doing that which we should.  We give our lives to that which we give our time." William R. Bradford, CR Apr. 1992, p. 38

7. Mosiah 4:9-10  How can we grow our understanding of the things of God? "The gift of the Holy Ghost will....train our dispositions to the point that truth and light and understanding will become a part of us, that these things will become second nature to us, that we will know them and understand them and delight in them.  This truly is a gift of God, even the spirit that manifests the revelations of God.  I believe that the power of the gift of the Holy Ghost is withheld from some of us because we lack faith in it.  The Lord has told us that we have not because we ask not.  And I believe that sometimes this gift is limited in our lives--to strengthen us and help us and lead us to truth--simply because we do not seek it, simply because we do not ask for it; and I believe that when we do ask for it that it sets in motion certain influences that will draw us in the direction of light and truth--influences that will help us to know things as they are , influences that will finally make the process of communication accurate and true." Loren C. Dunn,  The Need to Know,  BYU Speeches of the Year, Apr. 1, 1969, pp.9-10