Feeling the Love of the Lord through Service

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.

How Does Service Bring Us Closer to the Savior and His Love?

D&C 76:5–6: “I, the Lord … delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end. Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.”

President Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor in the First Presidency: “As we love our God, as we love our neighbor, we can be the recipients of our Heavenly Father’s love. Of all the blessings I have had in my life, one of the sweetest is that feeling the Lord provides when I know that He has answered the prayer of another person through me. As we love the Lord, as we love our neighbor, we discover that our Heavenly Father will answer the prayers of others through our ministry” (“How Do We Show Our Love?” Liahona, Feb. 1998, 7; Ensign, Jan. 1998, 6).

What Does It Mean to Serve with Heart and Mind?

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “When we think of service, we usually think of the acts of our hands. … It is not enough to serve God with all of our might and strength. He who looks into our hearts and knows our minds demands more than this. In order to stand blameless before God at the last day, we must also serve him with all our heart and mind. Service with all of our heart and mind is a high challenge for all of us. Such service must be free of selfish ambition. It must be motivated only by the pure love of Christ” (“Why Do We Serve?” Ensign, Nov. 1984, 12–15).

Kathleen H. Hughes, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency: “[Heavenly Father] is a vastly loving God, and it has always been his intention to support us. … We have accepted [the] challenge to bear one another’s burdens. Now bearing one another’s burdens sounds like a chore, but it’s amazing how lightened we quickly feel when we do the work. Think for a moment why that is. When we bear one another’s burdens, we are acting as an agent for Christ, and by so doing we’re coming to Christ. … How blessed and grateful we should be that our Heavenly Father knew what we would need and then provided the means—Relief Society—where these needs could be met through the hearts and hands of others who love” (“Serving and Supporting One Another,” in The Rock of Our Redeemer: Talks from the 2002 BYU Women’s Conference [2003], 53–54).

Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “A call to service should be primarily a matter of the heart. … You are called to represent the Savior. Your voice to testify becomes the same as His voice, your hands to lift the same as His hands. … The Father and His Beloved Son will send the Holy Ghost as your companion to guide you. Your efforts will be magnified in the lives of the people you serve. And when you look back on what may now seem trying times of service and sacrifice, the sacrifice will have become a blessing, and you will know that you have seen the arm of God lifting those you served for Him, and lifting you” (“Rise to Your Call,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2002, 75–78).

Background: Photograph by John Luke; inset: Photograph by Matthew Reier; photography posed by models