Please study Lessons
17 and
18 in the Lorenzo Snow manual on your own during the month of October.
In
Lesson 17, Priesthood -- "for the Salvation of the Human Family", President Snow teaches:
Purity, virtue, fidelity, godliness must be sought ambitiously, or the crown cannot be won. Those principles must be incorporated with[in] ourselves, woven into our constitutions, becoming a part of us, making us a centre, a fountain of truth, of equity, justice, and mercy, of all that is good and great, that from us may proceed the light, the life, the power, and the law to direct, to govern and assist to save a wandering world; acting as the sons of God, for and in behalf of our Father in heaven. We expect in the resurrection to exercise the powers of our priesthood -- we can exercise them only in proportion as we secure its righteousness and perfections; these qualifications can be had only as they are sought and obtained, so that in the morning of the resurrection we will possess those acquisitions only which we secured in this world! Godliness cannot be conferred but must be acquired, a fact of which the religious world seem[s] strangely and lamentably unconscious. Seek to benefit others, and others will seek to benefit you; and he that would be great, let him be good, studying the interests of the whole, becoming the servant of all.
President Snow speaks specifically to the brethren here, but how do these principles apply in our lives as women? Aren't these qualities that we must also cultivate if we wish to "win the crown"? Don't we also have responsibilities to cultivate "the light, the life, the power and the law to direct, to govern and assist to save a wandering world"? We as women must also seek to
acquire all of the qualities and characteristics of godliness in this life, so that in the resurrection, we are found possessed of the godliness necessary to exercise the Lord's power and continue in His work.
In
Lesson 18, Church Leadership and Selfless Service, President Snow teaches:
... Let those who preach in the midst of [the] Saints, realize what the Priesthood was placed upon them for; let them know and fully sense why they were appointed to fill such and such an office, viz., that they should act in the spirit of our Master, a servant of all, that they learn to consider and esteem in the same affectionate interest, the welfare of all, as they do that of themselves. ... Then will they enter into the spirit of the two great commands upon which, said the Saviour, "hang the law and the prophets," namely, loving the Lord with all our might, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves [see Matthew 22:37-40].
Do we fully realize the reasons why we have been appointed to our callings, or even to our privilege of membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? President Snow is clear in explaining that we are here to "act in the spirit of our Master, a servant of all" and to learn to "consider and esteem in the same affectionate interest, the welfare of all". Our purpose here is to learn the great commandments, to love the Lord and to love our neighbors. How often do we have opportunities to practice these commandments? We serve and interact with others constantly, in our daily activities, in our work, in our families, in our church callings, and in our Visiting Teaching. How often do we consider those we serve with the same "affectionate interest" with which we consider ourselves? If we can begin to change our hearts, then as President Snow promised, "God will give [us] revelation upon revelation, inspiration upon inspiration," and we "will never be at a loss how to magnify [our] office properly, nor will ever lack the power of God to bring about His wise purposes."
Feel free to share your thoughts about either of these lessons in the comments!
