WHO BENEFITS FROM GIVING SERVICE, REALLY?

One of my "most" favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon is Mosiah 2:17, "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service or your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

In this scripture, King Benjamin was teaching his people that they needed to give service to their King. Not to him, their earthly king, but to their heavenly King, their God. In order for them to do that, they needed to serve one another! IF they did serve one another, and IF they kept the commandments of God, THEY would prosper in the land. King Benjamin told his people that God "never doth vary" from that promise. In order for them to prosper, they must give service!

When I was younger, I worked outside the home. There were many times when a call went out from our Ward requesting service to someone in our Ward who needed help. I'm sorry to say, because I was working, that I didn't always heed that call. I would always, always, help if I was directly asked but often, I would not just volunteer my service. As I think back on those times, I realize now how many blessing I missed out on. I wonder if our struggles would have been so much less IF I had been willing to give service without being asked. Would it have been me that "prospered in the land?"