Rewards of Productivity

Our personal lives, the world, and God’s work thrive on productivity. The Lord has said:

“For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

“Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

“For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.” (D&C 58:26–28.)

Unproductivity is not damned by God’s wrath or anger. It is its own damning agent, since there is no reward without productivity, and since each productive step leads to another. Quality in life is the combination of a continuing sequence of productive returns that buoy us up with their contributions and open the door for new visions. It seems to me that this might be a major reason for the principle of sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit given to us by the Lord—that we find quality as we review ourselves and our productivity and remove sequentially, at the price of some pain, the trolls that get in the way of our trip to more lush fields of life. Such sacrifice provides the disciplining self-action which sharpens our vision and faculties so we can see, hear, and feel more than others may.

J. Joel Moss, Chairman of the Department of Child Development and Family Relationships, Brigham Young University