Glorify Him with Your To-Do List

For Him

By Joy D. Jones

Primary General President

Sometimes we may initially serve from a sense of duty or obligation, but even that service can lead us to draw on something higher within us, leading us to serve in “a more excellent way”7—as in President Nelson’s invitation to “a newer, holier approach to caring for and ministering to others.”...

The first of the Ten Commandments reiterates this divine wisdom: “I am the Lord thy God. … Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”11 The placement of this commandment helps us understand that if we place Him as our main priority, everything else will ultimately fall into place—even our service to others. When He takes the preeminent position in our lives by our deliberate choice, then He is able to bless our actions to our good and to the good of others....

Can you think back on a time when you lovingly reached out with sincere effort to help someone in need and felt that your efforts went unnoticed or perhaps were unappreciated or even unwanted? In that moment, did you question the value of your service? If so, may the words of King Benjamin replace your doubt and even your hurt: “Ye are only in the service of your God.”6

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Rather than building resentment, we can build, through service, a more perfect relationship with our Heavenly Father. Our love for and devotion to Him preempts the need for recognition or appreciation and allows His love to flow to and through us....

The Lord counseled, “Look unto me in every thought.”12 And each week we covenant to do just that—to “always remember him.”13 Can such a godly focus apply in everything we do? Can performing even a menial task become an opportunity to demonstrate our love and devotion to Him? I believe it can and will.

We can make each item on our to-do list become a way to glorify Him. We can see each task as a privilege and opportunity to serve Him, even when we are in the midst of deadlines, duties, or dirty diapers....

When serving our God becomes our main priority in life, we lose ourselves, and in due course, we find ourselves....

May I share with you some words of wisdom that were found on the wall of an orphanage in Calcutta, India: “If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God … anyway.”