The Lord's Storehouse

One of the most famous passages of the Sermon on the Mount says, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:14-16).  The underlying idea behind this seems to be that we should seek for personal achievement and improvement and success as long as we do that with the intent of honoring our Father in Heaven and serving others.  I think we see this same principle taught in many other scriptures. 

                Jacob 2:19 is one scripture that encourages a kind of personal success as long as the motivation for that success is to serve God: “And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.”  To the world the acquisition of wealth is done to bring self-aggrandizement, but in the Lord’s plan any motivation for wealth should be to use it to serve others.  Another scripture along these same lines is the more general instruction to seek gifts from the Lord.  We are invited in these words: “Seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given… that all may be benefited” (D&C 46:8-9).  We are to seek spiritual gifts from the Lord, not so that we can show off our righteousness but so that all those around us are benefitted.  When one uses spiritual gifts in the way the Lord intended then others will be strengthened and edified and brought closer to their Father in Heaven.  Another example that follows this same principle is this: “And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith” (D&C 109:7).  I think the key phrase in this verse is the first one—we seek to improve our knowledge and understanding and wisdom through study and faith not for our own aggrandizement but because all have not faith.  In other words, our greatest motivation for learning should be to teach others.  The school of the prophets’ purpose was not just to educate the leaders of the Church but to prepare them better to depart into the world and preach the gospel.

                Wherever we are in life, the Lord seeks our improvement and wants us to better ourselves both spiritually and temporally.  But that improvement must be done with our eye single to the glory of God and His children.  Perhaps it is in the Doctrine and Covenants that we learn this lesson most succinctly: “And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church” (D&C 82:18).  We are to improve upon our talents, but we do it with the intent to use them in whatever ways God needs of us.  Our talents are, spiritually speaking, in the Lord’s storehouse for Him to use whenever He needs us.  So we must keep working on improving them while always remembering for what purpose our talents are given.  As Christ taught the Nephites, “Hold up your light that it may shine unto the world.  Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up” (3 Nephi 18:24).