Allow God to lead you to serve

Published 2:02 pm Tuesday, September 14, 2010

By MARILYN EDDINGS/Guest Columnist

In today’s church, we often see two groups of people, those who want to lead and those who want to hide.

Those who want to lead may feel they can do a better job than the current leaders in their church.

If they were in a leadership position, instead of just a Sunday School teacher, then they could have the power to make things happen.

And then there are those Christians who avoid getting involved.

They have ready excuses when asked. They may feel they are too busy to serve in their congregations and in their local communities.

They simply don’t have the time to serve their fellow man. They take the attitude that someone else will take care of it but not me.

“I don’t have the time,” they say.

The underlying motives of both of these groups stems from man’s selfish nature.

The Savior taught, “Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.”

Developing a servant’s heart means setting aside our natural tendency to put self first by practicing charity, which is the pure love of Christ.

This is the way He lived His life and the way we must live ours, if we want to be like Him.

In John 10:37-38, the Savior proclaimed, “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works; that we may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.”

It is often the small acts of kindness that have the greatest impact.

These can be a phone call to a lonely widow, surprising a new mother with a meal or sending a heartfelt card to a bereaved family.

As we listen to that still small voice and act upon those quiet promptings in reaching out to others, not only will their lives be blessed but we will learn to be more like the Savior.

And one day, we hope to see Him and hear Him as he proclaims,

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” Matthew 25:21

Marilyn Eddings is the Relief Society president of the Oak Mountain Ward. She can be reached by e-mail at maeddings@hotmail.com.