We all remember well the Savior's explanation of the final judgment. He explained that to the righteous on his right hand he would say: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

"For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

"Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

"When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

"Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me"  Matt. 25:34-40

How to serve God

To serve God, then, is to serve our fellowmen.

How can we serve? Our ability to serve might well be increased through preparation.

In seeking education, one should seek to develop those talents that he has that would make him most serviceable to his fellowmen. Therefore, learn to do that which you enjoy doing, the thing you are happiest at doing. People like doing that which they do well.

Give only secondary thought to the monetary advantage of your chosen vocation. As you serve others, your joy in serving increases.

Einstein said: "It's high time that the ideal of success should be replaced by the ideal of service."

Lord Halifax said, "Service is the rent we pay for our own room on earth."

I like this slogan the Brigham Young University uses: "Enter to Learn—Go Forth to Serve."

Your vocation should be to help you serve more fully. If one's education omits the spiritual side of life, it is very unbalanced.

To know where we came from, why we are here and where we are going is most vital of all our learning.

In the Church we learn by doing. Knowledge alone is of little value. For this reason the Lord has given opportunities to serve in his kingdom. Each member of the Church may have the opportunity to serve in one capacity or another.

Being a missionary is a wonderful way of serving. He who fulfills a mission with the idea uppermost in his mind to take the glorious message of the gospel to others, giving little thought to his own benefits, will have the greatest joy and happiness and success in his work.

President McKay has said, "Every member a missionary," which should give everyone an opportunity of serving in the kingdom of our Lord.

All the activities of the Church are acts of service. Priesthood is given to us that we might be of service to others. There is no such thing as priesthood power that enables a man to elevate or benefit himself, except as he serves others. He cannot use priesthood for his own benefit. Priesthood is service.

Joseph Fielding Smith has said: "No man is independent. Put a man off by himself where he could communicate with none of his fellow beings or receive aid from them, and he would perish miserably. It is a mistake to draw within ourselves, as does a snail into its shell. No man has been given the Priesthood as an ornament only. He is expected to use it in behalf of the salvation of others." (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, p. 218.)

Then we have the unselfish service rendered by mothers. There is no greater service than honorable motherhood, not just the biological service of motherhood, but the rearing of children and teaching them the ways of the Lord, teaching them what they should know and what they should do that they might live with him some day. To me, the greatest title of all is the title of "Mother." The Lord has said, ". . . he that is greatest among you shall be your servant"  Matt. 23:11 What better way to describe motherhood!

Temples are built, first, that the living might receive the ordinances of sealing of families together for time and all eternity, that each may serve each other as a family unit; then, that we may take part in that grand and glorious work of service of vicarious work for the dead, of sealing families together for time and eternity.

President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., has reminded us, "In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how." (The Improvement Era, June 1951, p. 412.)

The greatest of all the acts of service was that of Jesus Christ, our Savior, who suffered as he did and gave his life for us, for all mankind, that we might, through our faithfulness, receive immortality and eternal life; not to satisfy the will of Christ alone, but for the will of our Father which is in heaven, who has declared, ". . . this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man"  Moses 1:39

Then we too must come to that degree of perfection of total service as he did, if we are to receive the great blessings promised of immortality and eternal life.

If service is the work of God, and if we are to become as he is and return to live with him in his kingdom, our work must be to serve others. There are many ways to serve. Every activity of the Church provides an opportunity to serve—priesthood, Relief Society, genealogy, the paying of tithes; all of the auxiliary organizations are mediums through which we may serve.

We can serve God by serving our fellowmen and by keeping his commandments. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I wish to bear testimony that this gospel has been restored in these latter days by revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and to us today through President David O. McKay, who is now the President and Prophet of God in this dispensation. I pray the blessings of the Lord on all, that we may learn to do his will and serve him by serving our fellowmen; I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.