The Savior’s life was filled with loving, serving and teaching. During these times, two simple words were an often-repeated request from Him, “follow Me.” But following Him is far from simple. To truly follow Him requires us to look outside of ourselves. It requires us to lose ourselves in the service of others.
Gordon B. Hinckley is an incredible example of someone who truly followed the Savior. At the beginning of Chapter 14, Losing Ourselves in the Service of Others, President Hinckley shares an experience that changed his life. As a young elder, he wrote to his father expressing his discouragement. His father’s response was, “Forget yourself and go to work.” Earlier that morning his scripture study had included the scripture found in Mark 8 which reads, “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”1 He said, “Those words of the Master, followed by my father’s letter with his counsel to forget myself and go to work, went into my very being. With my father’s letter in hand, I went into our bedroom in the house at 15 Wadham Road, where we lived, and got on my knees and made a pledge with the Lord. I covenanted that I would try to forget myself and lose myself in His service. That July day in 1933 was my day of decision. A new light came into my life and a new joy into my heart.”
So what does Mark 8:35 mean to each of us personally? How can we lose our lives for the Savior’ sake and for His gospel? It is by forgetting ourselves and going to work! It is by following Him. Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, “To follow Christ is to become more like Him. It is to learn from His character. As spirit children of our Heavenly Father, we do have the potential to incorporate Christlike attributes into our life and character.”2 May I suggest that it is through Christlike service that we demonstrate Christlike characteristics and make a place in our lives for those characteristics to take root and grow. It is only then, with a Christlike character, we are able to look outside of our own needs and serve others around us. David A. Bednar explains, “Perhaps the greatest indicator of character is the capacity to recognize and appropriately respond to other people who are experiencing the very challenge or adversity that is most immediately and forcefully pressing upon us. Character is revealed, for example, in the power to discern the suffering of other people when we ourselves are suffering. … Thus, character is demonstrated by looking and reaching outward when the natural and instinctive response is to be self-absorbed and turn inward.”3 Elder Bednar shares a powerful example of someone losing herself in the service of others, reaching outward when it would have been instinctive, and very understandable, to turn inward. A faithful single mother, serving as the Relief Society president in his ward, lost her only child in a car accident. “On the day of her daughter’s funeral, this Relief Society president from my home ward received a phone call from an irritated sister in our ward. The complaining sister had a cold and did not feel well, and she basically chewed out the Relief Society president for not being thoughtful or compassionate enough to arrange for meals to be delivered to her home. Just hours before the funeral of her only child, this remarkable Relief Society president prepared and delivered a meal to the murmuring sister.”3
This woman knew the meaning of losing one’s self in the service of others! She had clearly learned the importance of turning her life over to the Savior and to His gospel. Do we understand that He can do that for us too? At the beginning of Chapter 8 in Mark, we read about Jesus twice feeding the multitudes with just a few loaves and fishes. What a great reminder that when we give our all in His service, He will add to it and make it enough! And even more!
I love this quote of President Hinckley’s, “He who forgets himself in the service of others grows and blossoms in this life and in eternity.” To me this means that when we put our own interests and worries aside and serve others as the Savior would, we change and become a different, better person. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have tremendous opportunities to serve. How seriously do we take our callings, no matter what that calling is? If we merely go through the motions, we will never grow and blossom into what our Heavenly Father wants us to become. Nor will we bless others as He wishes them to be blessed. As we render Christlike service, President Hinckley challenges us to, “Get lost in the best cause in the world—the cause of the Lord. The work of the quorums, and of the auxiliary organizations, temple work, welfare service work, missionary work. You will bless your own life as you bless the lives of others. There is no other work in all the world so fraught with happiness as is this work. That happiness is peculiar. It comes of serving others. It is real. It is unique. It is wonderful.”
And it is also miraculous. Neil L. Andersen shared an exchange he had with President Monson while they were traveling on a train in Switzerland. He said, “I asked [President Monson] about his heavy responsibilities. His response strengthened my faith. ‘In the First Presidency, we do everything we can to move this work forward. But this is the Lord’s work, and He directs it. He is at the helm. We marvel as we watch Him open doors we cannot open and perform miracles we can scarcely imagine.'” Elder Andersen then reminded us all, “Seeing and believing the Lord’s miracles in establishing His kingdom on earth can help us see and believe that the Lord’s hand is at work in our own lives as well.”4
Are those miracles reserved for the prophets and apostles? I don’t think so. I believe when we serve our Heavenly Father He will bless us, and those we serve, in miraculous ways. When I think about my own life and the different callings I have had, I can see the Lord’s hand in bringing the right people, at the right time, into my life. And miraculous things have happened! I encourage you to think about your own experiences serving in the Church. I am confident that you will see miracles in your lives as well. Why? Because Heavenly Father knows and loves us individually. He knows not only where, but when and why, we need to serve. We need to show our love to Him by trusting Him.
President Hinckley reminds us, “Serve wherever you are called to serve. Do what you are asked to do. Every position you hold will add to your capacity. This … will require your unselfish devotion, your unyielding loyalty and faith. You will serve in many capacities before your lives are complete. Some of them may seem small, but there is no small or unimportant calling in this Church. Every calling is important. Every calling is necessary to the advancement of the work. Never demean a responsibility in the Church. … The Church may call upon you to make sacrifice. It may call upon you to give of the very best that you have to offer. There will be no cost in this, because you will discover that it will become an investment that will pay you dividends for as long as you live. The Church is the great reservoir of eternal truth. Embrace it and hold fast to it.” Often great sacrifices are required as we lose ourselves in service to others and for the Savior and His gospel. However, willing sacrifices bring great blessings.
Recently Henry B. Eyring taught, “When we walk the path of priesthood service, the Savior Jesus Christ goes with us, for it is His path, His way. His light goes before us, and His angels are round about us.”5 I believe that is true for any Christlike service we render. For when we are in His service, the Savior has promised, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”6
President Hinckley gives us this challenge, which I pray we will take seriously, “May the real meaning of the gospel distill into our hearts that we may realize that our lives, given us by God our Father, are to be used in the service of others. If we will give such service, our days will be filled with joy and gladness. More important, they will be consecrated to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to the blessing of all whose lives we touch.”
President Hinckley consecrated his life to the Lord. He touched countless lives, both in and out of the Church. He was such a great blessing to the Church! It is impossible to know the far-reaching influence of his life! He was an apostle for almost 20 years before being called as a counselor to President Spencer W. Kimball. He subsequently served as a counselor for both President Benson and President Hunter. He became the prophet on March 12, 1995. As prophet, he issued “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” He announced a plan to build smaller temples and the creation of the Perpetual Education Fund. During his nearly 13 years as the prophet, he traveled over a million miles. And from June of 1983 until October of 2006, he dedicated or rededicated 92 temples.
For nearly three-quarters of a century, Gordon B. Hinckley was true to the pledge he made to the Lord on that July day in 1933 to forget himself and go to work! My hope is that we will follow his example and be found truly following the Savior.
References:
1. Mark 8:35
2. Christlike Attributes – The Wind Beneath Our Wings – Dieter F. Uchtdorf
3. The Character of Christ – David A. Bednar
4. Thy Kingdom Come – Neil L. Andersen
5. Walk With Me – Henry B. Eyring