As Mormons, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), we believe in Jesus Christ. As such we want to be His hands and His feet by serving others.
In fact, here is an essential scripture on the subject:
“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
To be ready and able to serve others implies one very important aspect of life: we need to be able to do so! This is an essential part of preparedness in many ways. And it means our own bodies need to be healthy and well-cared for.
Preparedness means many things to many people. But one very important aspect to preparedness is that of physical health. “Without our health we’ve got nothing,” or so the common societal statement goes. And in so many respects it is true. Without our health, how can we serve? Because in truth, service constitutes a large portion of a Christian lifestyle.
At the Church’s Provident Living website, we read:
“The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that we are ‘to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church or in any other, or in no church at all” (Times and Season, Mar. 15, 1842, 732) (for more information, click here).
It’s interesting that ill has been spoken by some people about the Lord’s prophets. People ridiculed Noah as he was building the ark commanded by God. Moses’ own brother and sister were verbally caustic toward Moses (see this link), let alone all the other horrible comments thrown toward Moses (see Numbers 14:2-4 and Numbers 16 as just two examples)!
And thus it was that Joseph Smith was told by the Lord that even he would have ill spoken of him. Joseph Smith reported that he was told:
“…God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.”
Yet, let’s read these other words of his again:
“The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that we are ‘to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church or in any other, or in no church at all” (Times and Season, Mar. 15, 1842, 732) (for more information, click here).
This indeed was a man who sought to do God’s work. And as we seek to follow that counsel, it is imperative that we keep our bodies healthy and full of vigor so that we can.
Yes, indeed To learn more how to live providently, feel free to visit this link.
