The above is an excellent site with a plethora of information about service. Below is a talk I've written for church; I thought that I'd post it here in the meantime.
[Introduce Self]
I’d like to preface my talk with a primary song that expresses this topic very well in my opinion. I am a very musical person, and when I got this topic I wanted to find a song that fit. This song was a clear choice, and I hope you will all see why after I recite the lyrics.
Some people walk away from you,
But I won’t! I won’t!
If you don’t talk as most people do,
Some people talk and laugh at you,
But I won’t! I won’t!
I’ll walk with you. I’ll talk with you.
That’s how I’ll show my love for you.
Jesus walked away from none.
He gave his love to ev’ryone.
So I will! I will!
Jesus blessed all he could see,
Then turned and said, “Come, follow me.”
And I will! I will!
I will! I will!
I’ll walk with you. I’ll talk with you.
That’s how I’ll show my love for you.
What a simply beautiful and touching song. I hope that we all will walk and talk with our spiritual brothers and sisters, despite physical or mental drawbacks.
The topic that I’ve been given (and I’m paraphrasing) is “How Giving Service Enables One to Become a Disciple of Jesus Christ.”
When addressing this topic, I decided to approach it using each question word, who, what, where, when, why, and how. I’d like to start with “Why.”
Why should we give service? Answer: Because Christ gave service. In Luke 22:27, he stated that ‘I am among you as he that serveth.” To be a disciple means to be a follower of a person or ideal. To be disciples of Jesus Christ, we must follow his ideals and his example. He exemplified his teachings, so we need only look to his life to see what we must become. As that primary song, “I’ll Walk With You,” said, ‘Jesus blessed all he could see’. We have a multitude of stories about the Master blessing all he met. He raised the dead, healed the leper, caused the lame to walk, turned water to wine, filled fishnets, and performed so, so many more acts of service than I could put in this list. We give service because Christ did, and he taught in John 13:35 that, ‘By this ye shall know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Giving service is an expression of love. We are all also obligated to serve by our baptismal covenant. In Mosiah, chapter 18, Alma
The second question is “Who?” The answer to this is simple. Service is a personal act that you commit that helps somebody. It is usually others, though there are ways you can
serve yourself. We perform service because we all want to be happy, and it helps us to perfect ourselves. When it comes down to it, the purpose of service is to help each other. We all want to help each other and become perfect and happy. In that famous verse in Mosiah about service, it states that when we serve our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God. That is because it is our Heavenly Father’s work and glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. When we perform meaningful service, we get ourselves and others a little nearer to this eternal goal, which is God’s plan for us.
The third and fourth questions are “Where” and “When.” The answer? We can give service anytime and anywhere. Service is not just temporal, and the ways we can perform it are infinite. The Savior showed us that as long as we look for it, there is always an opportunity for service.
The fifth and sixth questions are, to me, the lengthiest to answer. They are, “What” and “How.” I believe that there are five different (but always similar) ways to give service. Three of them are services to others, but the last two are services for ourselves. We mustn’t forget that we are also in need of service at times, though we should make sure to always serve others and not put ourselves and our needs above others. I’d like to outline these five ways to serve.
The first way to serve others is temporally. That is usually the first form of service a person thinks of. It is a simple, effective, good way to give service. Many of the acts of service Christ performed were physical; healing of afflictions being a prominent one. In the same way, we should perform temporal service. There is a multitude of stories about heartfelt acts of temporal service, ranging from a small child’s gifted toy to a lonely playmate, to entire wards gathering together to harvest fields and build houses. If you have not experienced the blessing of giving temporal service, I encourage you to go out and serve. It could be raking a widow’s yard, or making a meal for an ill family. Although I’d like to warn you that, if you choose to make a meal, you had better check with the Relief Society first! Speaking of which, the Relief Society, along with the bishopric, forms a sort of parenthood of service in each ward. They are always there to serve, and ensure that those in need receive aid. If you need, or wish to give any form of service, you need only to speak to a member of the bishopric, or Relief Society presidency. Great amounts of time can be spent on any topic regarding service, but for the sake of time I will move on.
The second form of service for others is spiritual. Often, this form of service is linked with the temporal variety of service. Examples of this service include teaching a church class, or giving a priesthood blessing. Any member who magnifies their calling is also giving spiritual service. To me, those who teach are giving the third greatest act of spiritual service. Teaching is a divine calling, appointed by God. The second greatest act of spiritual service is to forgive and apologize for wrongdoing. In Deiter F. Uchtdorf’s words, we should “stop it.” The single greatest act of spiritual service any person has given to another is the atonement of Jesus Christ. The atonement is the greatest single event in all of history. The Savior, in the ultimate act of sacrifice and of self-less service, gave us a way to return to our Father in heaven.
The third act of service you can perform for others is emotional. This form of service is heavily connected to the other forms. This is a varied, and, arguably, vague topic, so, for the sake of my sanity, I will speak about the most sacred way to give this service. This special act of service is not always thought of as service. It is true friendship. Being a true friend is, I will be so bold to say, the second greatest act of service, eclipsed only by the atonement. Even the atonement, if looked at from a different point of view, is an act of familial friendship. Indeed, Jesus the Christ should be our most intimate and close of friends, along with our Heavenly Father. A true friend can make all the difference in a person’s life. Being a true friend is like going through life. People can give you examples and advice, but in the end it’s up to each and every one of us to experience it for ourselves. I encourage all to first make friends with those in your family. They are your most important relationships. Then, branch out to everybody else in your life. Be friends with all! To learn more about being a true friend, I suggest looking to the scriptures, especially the gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John, which detail the life of the truest of friends, Jesus the Christ. I would add, on a personal note, Doctrine and Covenants, 18th Chapter. How great should be your joy, if because of your friendship with another, they develop those same bonds with others, and this continues, until, one great day, all the people of Earth shall link their hands together in a single, great bond of love and friendship. I hope we will all strive to bring that day just a bit closer, by being the best friend you can to everyone you meet.
The first way that you can serve yourself is by forgiving yourself. That is critical to your eternal progression. Repentance and forgiveness are vast subjects, and I am running out of time. I will simply say this: you must serve yourself along with others. Forgiveness and repentance are important for you, and for you to give to others. Isn’t it interesting how similar the words “serve” and “save” are? I think it is no coincidence.
The second form of service you can give to yourself, and my last way to give service in general, is to serve others. This is the sum of everything service related. The best way to serve our God is to work towards eternal perfection, and one of the best ways to do that is to perform true, meaningful acts of service. In closing, I’d like to share a few quotes about service with you, which coincide with my own testimony about service.
George MacDonald observed that “it is by loving and not being loved that one can come nearest to the soul of another.” I testify that this is true.
The Savior, in Luke 9:24, taught His disciples that “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” This scripture has many applications, but it is most in it’s application to service that I hold it in reverence.
President Thomas S. Monson once said that “I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service for others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish – and in effect, save their lives.” Clearly, these words of a prophet were inspired by the Savior’s message in Luke 9. And it is with that promise, and warning, that those who live for themselves will shrivel up and spiritually die, while they who live for others will prosper and save their selves spiritually, that I close this talk.
[Close]
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