Impart as the Gospel Requires

The Lord commanded in a revelation, “See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires” (D&C 88:123).  I’ve thought often about this phrase—what is it exactly that the gospel requires us to impart?  The immediate context of the verse is speaking about teaching one another in the school of the prophets, and so one way to interpret the verse is that we are required to teach and impart of our testimonies and knowledge to others.  In particular the gospel requires us to teach others of Jesus Christ; in other words, the gospel requires us to impart of our testimonies in performing missionary work.  The world teaches that we should focus on improving our own station in life; the gospel requires that we reach by sharing our wisdom and love and knowledge to improve others. 

               In addition to sharing our knowledge, the other obvious meaning of the word “impart” is to give of our substance to help others.  That the Lord does indeed require this is clear.  He said in another revelation, “But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them” (D&C 105:3).  The Lord requires of our hand that we impart of our substance to the poor and afflicted.  In fact, this seems to be the essence of the “law of the gospel” as the Lord defined it: “Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (D&C 104:18).  So how much does He “require”?  The only viable answer is everything.  To the rich young ruler He said, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me” (Matt. 19:21).  For Ananias and Sapphira who “kept back part of the price” the answer was similarly demanding: only an offering of everything was acceptable in living the higher law of the gospel (Acts 5:2).  The Prophet Joseph similarly taught that religion should require the “sacrifice of all things.” 

This is not to say that we have to today give all of our material possessions away to the poor, but I think it does mean that we must be willing to give up anything that the Lord asks for. We know that “the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind,” which I believe means that there must be nothing of more importance in our hearts than doing what God desires of us.  (D&C 64:34).  Ultimately the gospel requires that we be willing to impart everything to the Lord: our time, our talents, our material possessions, and even our own lives.  And from each of us He may require something different.  So the important question becomes: what does the gospel require of each of us individually in our own circumstances