Serving in the Kingdom of God

Recently I have been overcome with gratitude for being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I am so grateful for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the instrumentation of Joseph Smith.  I am so grateful for the many individuals who have given their lives over many years to serve in leadership capacities as apostles and prophets, and bishops and stake presidents, as teachers and leaders and students, as home teachers and visiting teachers and for every member’s contribution since the establishment of the church in 1830.  I am directly blessed by each person who has sacrificed and consecrated his or her time to the building up of the kingdom of God upon this earth.  Without each of their efforts the church would be less.  Without each dime of tithing, the hours spent cleaning the church, the great work of temples and family history, the sacrifice of personal time and pursuits and on and on, my life would be bereft of so much richness.  

The fruit of the kingdom of God is there for the picking but only seems available in full to those who themselves take hold of the iron rod and in doing so add their contribution to the whole.  We are all imperfect people and so our contributions are less than perfect as well.  But, through those individual efforts the kingdom grows and much good is accomplished. When I see and hear those who can only find fault or criticize the efforts of others and all the while they choose to hold back their own contributions and make minimal efforts, I sorrow for what they are depriving themselves of and for the blindness that ensues.  Without great personal sacrifice the early church would have gradually dissolved into a meager existence and the Book of Mormon would have gathered dust on obscure library shelves.   On the other hand, what incredible results have come from the continuation of constant effort of many individuals over multiple generations.

Happiness comes from giving of yourself to causes that are for the greater good of those around you.  Concerning yourself only with your own life eventually grows into discontent and lack of fulfillment.