The following is an excerpt from President Monson's book Be Your Best Self. In it, he provides three steps in a formula that "will help you and help me to journey well through mortality and to that great reward of exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our Heavenly Father." President Monson's entire life of love and service exemplifies these ideals.
During the meridian of time the apostle Peter declared: "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9.) This is the destiny of every Latter-day Saint if he or she will live for the fulfillment of that destiny. . . .
I would like to suggest that if we are really to be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, we have the responsibility to be prepared, to be productive, to be faithful, and to be fruitful as well. What we need, as we journey along through this period known as mortality, is a compass to chart our course, a map to guide our footsteps, and a pattern whereby we might mold and shape our very lives. May I share with you a formula that in my judgment will help you and help me to journey well through mortality and to that great reward of exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our Heavenly Father.
First, fill your mind with truth; second, fill your life with service; and third, fill your heart with love.
1. Fill your mind with truth.
Let's talk about each one of the parts of the formula and see if each does not find lodgment within the human heart. First, fill your mind with truth. I'd like to suggest that when we search for truth, we search among those books and in those places where truth is most likely to be found. I've often referred to a simple couplet: "You do not find truth groveling through error. You find truth by searching the holy word of God." . . .
This is a day when time is precious. This is a time when we cannot afford not to be engaged in an earnest search for truth. May we fill our minds with truth.
2. Fill your life with service.
The second part of the formula is: Fill your life with service. From the Book of Mormon we learn, "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17.) Missionaries particularly have a wonderful opportunity to give of their full time in sharing with all the world that commodity of such priceless value—a testimony of the gospel. . . . Remember, a testimony is perishable. That which you selfishly keep, you lose; that which you willingly share, you keep. All of us benefit when we remember to magnify our callings.
3. Fill your heart with love.
Our third part of the formula is: Fill your heart with love. . . .
Let us turn . . . to a United Press International news release I read a short time ago from Los Angeles: "A blind father rescued his tiny daughter from drowning in the new swimming pool that had been installed in the neighborhood." Then the story went on to describe just how this had been accomplished. The blind father had heard a splash when his little girl, who could not swim, fell into the pool. He was frantic and wondered how he might help her. It was evening, and she was the only one in the pool. He got upon his hands and knees and crawled around the side of the pool and listened for the air bubbles that came from that little girl, as she was actually in the process of drowning. Then, with a heightened sense of hearing, he followed carefully the sound of those air bubbles and, in one desperate attempt, with love in his heart and a prayer within his soul, he jumped into the pool and grasped his precious daughter and brought her to the side and to safety. Love prompts such miracles. . . .
I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me and the love Jesus offers you. I think of the love He provided in Gethsemane. I think of the love He provided in the wilderness. I think of the love He provided at the tomb of Lazarus; of the love He demonstrated on Golgotha's Hill, at the open tomb, and, yes, when He appeared in that Sacred Grove with His Father and spoke those memorable words to Joseph Smith. I thank God for His love in sharing His Only Begotten Son in the flesh, even Jesus Christ, for you and me. I thank the Lord for the love He demonstrated by providing His life, that we might have life eternal.
Lead image from lds.org
Learn more insightful truths from President Monson in Be Your Best Self, Teachings of Thomas S. Monson, Consider the Blessings—a compilation of some of President Monson's most beloved stories—and A Future as Bright as Your Faith, which provides one powerful quote from the prophet you can read with your family every day of the year.
