Making Principles of Welfare Part of Your Life

Living welfare principles is about putting our faith in Jesus Christ into action—by eliminating unnecessary debt, living within our means, and establishing family home storage and financial reserves, for example. Our faith leads us to educate our minds and our hands and to work every day of our lives to be self-reliant. Having taken care of our own needs, we are better able to provide for ourselves and serve others. May we follow the counsel not only to do good but strive to be good, not just to do better but to be better.¹ Obedience to the Lord’s counsel brings temporal and spiritual blessings. It allows us to face the challenges of life armed with courage and confidence rather than fear and doubt.

President Thomas S. Monson reminds us of our duty to lift and bless others:

“My brothers and sisters, may we ask ourselves the question … : ‘What have I done for someone today?’ May the words of a familiar hymn penetrate our very souls and find lodgment in our hearts:

“Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed.

Has anyone’s burden been lighter today

Because I was willing to share?

Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?

When they needed my help was I there?

“That service to which all of us have been called is the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.”²

Notes

1. See Robert D. Hales, “A Gospel Vision of Welfare: Faith in Action,” in Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-Reliance (booklet, 2009), 1.

2. Thomas S. Monson, “What Have I Done for Someone Today?” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2009, 87.

“To all within the sound of my voice I declare that the welfare plan of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is inspired of Almighty God. Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ is its architect. He beckons to you and to me, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him’ (Revelation 3:20).

“May we hear His voice, may we open to His presence the doorways of our hearts, and may He be our constant companion as we strive to serve His children.”

President Thomas S. Monson, “The Way of the Lord,” in Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-Reliance (booklet, 2009), 13.

Photo illustration by Jerry Garns