It is God Which Worketh in You

The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).  He said something similar to the Colossians about his own work: “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily” (Colossians 1:28-29).  He testified to the Saints that God worked through them to do His will, and Paul felt that it was indeed Christ who was working through Him as an apostle serving the Saints.  Mormon felt the same way when he was putting together the Book of Mormon and felt to include the small plates even though he wasn’t quite sure why: “And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will” (Words of Mormon 1:7).  That is what we all strive for as followers of Jesus Christ, to do the work He would have us do, to let Him work through us.  We promise weekly through the Sacrament to strive to take upon us His name, which at least in part means that we act as He would act, working such that His aims are accomplished through our actions.  Of course, He doesn’t need us to do His work—He could do it alone—but He wants to transform both us and those that He reaches through our hands. 

So what can we do so that the Lord can work through us?  I think Paul gave us the answer in this same chapter to the Philippians: we must turn our focus to others instead of ourselves.  He told the Saints, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  To have the mind of Christ we must look to the “things” or needs of others around us.  Paul continued by explaining that Christ “took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men,” ultimately giving his life “unto death, even the death of the cross.”  The apostle also explained how he had sought to do the same for them: “That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.”  That was how the Lord was able to work through Paul: he sought to serve and sacrifice himself for the Saints.  Continuing this theme Paul also commended Timothy for the same kind of selfless service: “I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you…. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel (Philippians 2:4-5,7,16-17, 19-22).  Most men will “seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s,” but Timothy served such that Paul trusted him to care for the Saints.  Paul’s witness to the Philippians was that to be like Christ, to have Him work through us, we must look first to serve others as Christ spent His whole life doing.  We can all seek to take upon ourselves the form of a servant to those around us, and then, with that focus, Christ will surely work in us “both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”