Let Him Be Your Servant

Several years ago, President Monson told a story about flight in 1981 from Anchorage, Alaska to Seattle, Washington that was diverted to help save the life of a two-year-old boy. The boy lived in a remote town in Alaska and had fallen on a piece of glass and severed an artery. The medical professionals who responded sent out a plea for help to get him to a hospital, and this flight had gone well out of its flight path to land as near as possible to the boy and pick him up. When they landed, they learned the boy was bleeding too much to make the flight to Seattle, and so instead they went out of their way again and took him to Juneau, Alaska which had the nearest hospital. President Monson continued, “After transporting the boy to Juneau, the flight headed for Seattle, now hours behind schedule. Not one passenger complained, even though most of them would miss appointments and connecting flights. In fact, as the minutes and hours ticked by, they took up a collection, raising a considerable sum for the boy and his family. As the flight was about to land in Seattle, the passengers broke into a cheer when the pilot announced that he had received word by radio that the boy was going to be all right.” President Monson highlighted the love that these people had, and it is truly remarkable that a group so large could together be so selfless, sacrificing their time and convenience, to save the life of this little boy. He highlighted this scripture, “Charity is the pure love of Christ, … and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him” (Moroni 7:47). I hope that I would not hesitate to be inconvenienced in order to help another like the passengers on this flight. We only have one chance to live our life on earth, and if we do not do it with love for others we will have missed out on our greatest opportunity.

The Savior was of course our best example of love. At the last supper, shortly before He would atone for the sins of all mankind, John recorded, “Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” He showed that love by what He did next: “He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded” (John 13:1, 4-5). Here He was, the one they called Lord, and yet he knelt down and cleaned their feet undoubtedly caked with dirt from the dusty roads they walked. What He did there showed that He truly believed what He had taught them: “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister” (Matthew 20:25-28). He came down from heaven as the Son of God, a Heavenly King and the Jehovah of the Old Testament, and yet He chose to spend His life ministering to others and serving them. He showed that greatness comes from loving others, not from being loved by others. After washing their feet, He said this to His apostles, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:15-17). The key to our happiness in this life is to follow His example of service and love. Though it seems paradoxical, we will be happier if we spend less time we spend focusing on our own happiness and instead seeking the happiness of others. He put it this way on another occasion: “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25). By “hate” I don’t think He meant that we have to be miserable in this life; rather, I believe He was telling us that if put others’ needs in front of our own, if making life good for others is more important to us than making it good for ourselves, then we will find eternal life.