2.153 Helping Others Helps You

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello, my friends, it is great to have you with me.

Today let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. Welcome to the beginning of a new week. We are going to have a little bit of a reprieve from our readings last week, so if you got a little bit behind, I think you've got a chance to get a bit of a breather here, as our reading this week will be Doctrine and Covenants Sections 58 and 59, as well as Alma chapters 2 through 5.

And oh my goodness, we are about to get into the Alma 'Preach It' moments. As we get into Alma 5, love that one. Great chance for us to look in the mirror there.

It's always a good chance to look in the mirror, actually. We are going to cheat just a little bit, not in the repetition of a verse, but I do want to add just one thought from Alma chapter 1. So this week, as we're going to dive into those verses and chapters that I've mentioned, we're actually going to look at the end of Alma chapter 1, a very important chapter, as we get kind of the introduction of Nehor and an Antichrist of sorts.

But then we get this tail end of Alma 1, which actually leads us into 2, 3, and 4. It kind of sets up everything, and it actually sets us up for Doctrine and Covenants Sections 58 and 59 as well. So that's why I picked it.

Our verse for today is Alma chapter 1, verse 30. And I want you to actually connect verses 30 through 32 here and spend some time, maybe even creating like a T-chart, where you look at 30 as descriptors and then you look at 32 as descriptors and see what they are for you and for your life. Our verse in 30 says this: Now, we find out after this verse—now, first of all—these church members, currently in Alma chapter 1, they're being prosecuted.

I should say they're being persecuted, actually. That's a better way to say it. They're being persecuted, they're being picked on, they're being made fun of by non, and yet this is their condition that they hold.

This is the frame of mind and the behaviors they choose. And we find out in 31 that because of it, they prosper. They become far more wealthy than those who did not belong to the church.

And then it describes, in verse 32, those who did not belong to the church. And I want you to compare the two of those a little bit. My friends, the message I have for you is helping others helps you.

Now there's a million different ways we can say this. There's a million different ways you can experience it, but it is true all the time. A good friend of mine, I've talked about her before in Season 1, Heidi Totten.

I've worked with her with 100 Humanitarians International. And she says, you know, you can't out give God. And I love that.

Whenever we spend time helping others, as we are reminded in the Book of Mormon, we are helping God. President Nelson has reminded us that when we are building up others, we're building the kingdom of God on the earth. So my friends, I love the idea that if you are facing challenges and persecutions, if you are in difficult and heavy times yourself, take an opportunity to help those around you.

It sounds paradoxical. It sounds like it is the exact opposite of what you should be doing. The world tells us, "Focus on you!

Focus on you! You need to focus on you! You need to make sure you, you, you!" And what we see here is the people that are in verse 30, that are members of the church, that are currently being made fun of by others, are going to say, you know what?

We're going to help others. It doesn't matter who they are, but we're going to lift them up. We're going to help them out.

I love that reminder. It's a chance for each one of us to look outside of ourselves and see where we can serve others and then realize that the prosperity that comes in life comes as we give to others, as we uplift others, and as we strengthen others. Such a great reminder and such a great piece to have at the beginning of this week as we dive into our other readings.

I am excited for the readings we got this week. We've got some good stuff coming up. But that's all for today, my friends.

Lift up your hearts and rejoice. Cleave into the covenants you have made, and together we will be savory salt. For more information, visit us at www.fema.org.