"As You Sow, So Shall You Reap"

If you were raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you may be familiar with the phrase "to be in the world but not of the world." Throughout the years, we have come to know that the world does things differently from what Heavenly Father would have us do. If we follow what the world does, then we are of the world, but if we do what Heavenly Father would have us do, then we are only in the world.

In Galatians 6:8, Paul taught that through our actions and choices, we will either be blessed, or we will be miserable.  If our works are those of the world, we may experience fame and fortune for a time but eventually that will all go away. If our works are centered on the Savior and all that He taught, are blessings will be eternal and we will know true happiness, not only in this life but in the life to come.

One thing that we can do to show that we are following the teachings of Christ is to bear each other’s burden. Paul teaches this in Galatians 6:2, but we are also taught this in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 18:8-10. We must reach out to comfort those that are mourning and suffering. As we do this, we are showing that we have taken upon us the name of Christ. We are His hands here on earth to help those in need.

Our actions here on earth are important. In Doctrine and Covenants 1:10, we are taught that what we do to others, we will also experience or will be given back to us. This returns us to Paul’s teaching again in Galatians 6:7-8 saying that we cannot hide from what we have done or will do. If we continually do good to all men we will receive good back; however, if do un-Christlike things, we can expect bad things to happen to us.

It’s not easy to do good all the time but we will be blessed in our efforts. Paul teaches us in Galatians 6:9 to “…not be weary of well doing...” Doctrine and Covenants 58:27 we are also taught that we “…should be anxiously engaged in a good cause…”As we make the effort to reach out and to find good things to do, I know Heavenly Father will know of our hearts through our works. He will know that we have listened and applied the teachings of His son, our Savior, and desire only the good things He has for us in the life to come. If we get tired of all the good things that we’re doing, we should kneel in prayer and ask for strength to keep going and He will send us that strength.