Discipleship: Following in the Savior's Footsteps

I talked yesterday about the need for preparation of our hearts and minds for service experiences.

Elder Henry B. Eyring said: “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.” (Henry B. Eyring, "Rise to Your Call," Ensign Nov. 2002, 7)

We need to remove our thoughts and focus from our own needs and trials and place them on the needs of those around us. This task requires us to reach within, to put our lives and hearts in order with the teaching of Christ and invite the Spirit to guide our hands and feet for good.

This connection with the Holy Ghost is our key to discipleship. When we let it prompt us, we may find that the schedule we had in mind for the day, or the words we might have said in passing to a friend, aren’t what the Lord has in mind for us and them. With out that inspirational connection, how would we know the difference?

Consider the instructions Christ gave His disciples:

And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the twelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 3 Nephi 13:25

While this may seem harsh council from the Savior, it’s a challenge with a blessing for the faithful. Christ needed to make it perfectly clear to His disciples that other’s needs were to be placed above their own. Their first responsibility was to service and their fellow man. How often, in our own ways, do we think about what we will eat, (and then what we’ve eaten too much of) how we should spend our time or whether or not the pants we want to buy flatter us or are a good bargain when the Spirit has been trying to whisper, “Stop. Look there. Do you see where I need you to send your love?” What have we missed because we have been looking inward at our own selves, cares, and desires rather than reaching inward to tap our divine nature for goodness and love?

Service, ministering to others, is doing God’s work in His way. It is holy and sacred. The Bible Dictionary states, “The work of the ministry is to do the work of the Lord on the earth—to represent the Lord among the people . . . The chosen servants and appointed officers in the Church of Jesus Christ are put on earth by him to conduct the work necessary for the salvation of mankind.”

“As we seek to emulate the Savior, we should remember that our personal ministering of others is more than what we do to and for them. It is about who we are and are becoming. Acquiring the attributes to minister or to nurture is part of the eternal process of becoming like Christ, which happens as we develop pure motives for our service and then act upon them. . . . At times, we can become distracted by a whole list of good pursuits, but the bottom line is that the essential divine instruction we have received is to minister to the needs of others. . . . The impressions I receive are that simplification and flexibility allow for more personal ministry.” (Bonnie D. Parkin, Relief Society General President)

Many of us feel we haven’t the time for a true commitment to service, but we will find that if we keep focused on the Spirit, there are many opportunities to serve that “fit” with who we are. Granted, there will also be opportunities that require us to stretch beyond who we think we are. Those are the sweetest of all.

Remember, look inward to the Spirit and you will be able to reach out in service.

When Christ was preparing to leave His disciples for the final time, He promised them a special gift. This gift, the Holy Ghost, was described by Christ as a Comforter, as foundation of peace, a Teacher, a source of truth and a Testifier, a way for Christ to be with His disciples even when He was removed from their physical presence. It was, in my opinion, the most beautiful gift He could give them.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. . .
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:16-27

The Holy Ghost’s role within the Godhead is to offer a direct connection with our spirits. Our spirits remember and rejoice in truths and recognize our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The spirit within us that remembers and recognizes these things is the very center and core of who we are. We are literal children of a loving Heavenly Father who sent the purest of His children as a Savior for all of us. When our spirit recognizes this, it changes who we are, it awakens our true nature and potential for goodness, it allows us to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

When Christ promised this gift to those who would follow Him, He was promising to keep that line of contact and communication open to us. He was promising that as long as we were living His commandments, we would have access to His loving guidance through the Holy Ghost. The faith we gain because of our connection with the Holy Ghost allows us to take His love into our hearts and trust in it. We can not cast our every care upon someone who we don’t intimately know and trust to comfort and bless us with what we need most. We can not trust in an atoning sacrifice that can relieve us our all our imperfections if we do not know we are loved to such an extent. We can not heed or follow His voice if we do not know what those tender whisperings feel like.

Keep the commandments and live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. He is the best friend and companion that Christ can offer His disciples when we need to feel His love and guidance.