Prepare to Meet God

Prayerfully select and read from this message the scriptures and teachings that meet the needs of the sisters you visit. Share your experiences and testimony. Invite those you teach to do the same.

Alma 34:32: “This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.”

Elder Marvin J. Ashton (1915–94) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “The ten virgins [see Matt. 25:1–13] represent the people of the Church of Jesus Christ, and not alone the rank and file of the world. … The responsibility for having oil in our personal lamps is an individual requirement and opportunity. The oil of spiritual preparedness cannot be shared. … The oil could have been purchased at the market in the parable, but in our lives it is accumulated by righteous living, a drop at a time” (“A Time of Urgency,” Ensign, May 1974, 36).

President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973): “How long have you postponed the day of a repentance from your own misdeeds? The judgment we shall face will be before the Righteous Judge who will take into account our capacities and our limitations, our opportunities and our handicaps. One who sins and repents and thereafter fills his life with purposeful effort may not lose as much in that day of righteous judgment as one who, though not committing serious sin, falls down miserably by omitting to do that which he had capacity and opportunity to do but would not” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee [2000], 229).

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become” (“The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32).

Alma 5:28: “Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God.”

Moroni 7:47: “Charity is the pure love of Christ, … and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”

Anne C. Pingree, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency: “We can alter the face of the earth one family and one home at a time through charity, our small and simple acts of pure love. … Little by little our charitable acts change our natures, define our characters, and ultimately make us women with the courage and commitment to say to the Lord, ‘Here am I; send me’” (“Charity: One Family, One Home at a Time,” Ensign, Nov. 2002, 108–9).

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985): “For those who heed the warning and make their preparations, for those found at midnight with the oil of righteousness in their lamps, for those with patience, long-suffering, and full dedication, the promise is that they shall sit down at the banquet with their Lord” (Faith Precedes the Miracle [1972], 257).

How can we increase the oil in our lamps (see D&C 45:56–57)?
What can we do to become more charitable and less prideful?

Detail from Five of Them Were Wise, by Walter Rane