"Unselfish Service" by Dallin H. Oaks, May 2009 General Conference

A few favorite quotes / words of warning:


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Unfortunately, some Latter-day Saints seem to forego unselfish service to others, choosing instead to fix their priorities on the standards and values of the world.

But Jesus taught that we who follow Him should be precious and unique, "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world," to shine forth to all men.

Those chastisements remind us that we are called to establish the Lord's standards, not to follow the world's.

Elder John A. Widtsoe declared, "We cannot walk as other men, or talk as other men, or do as other men, for we have a different destiny, obligation, and responsibility placed upon us, and we must fit ourselves [to it]."

That reality has current application to every trendy action ... As a wise friend observed, "You can't be a life saver if you look [and act] like all the other swimmers on the beach.

Those who are caught up in trying to save their lives by seeking the praise of the world are actually rejecting the Savior's teaching that the only way to save our eternal life is to love one another and lose our lives in service.

C. S. Lewis explained this teaching of the Savior: "The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first—wanting to be the centre—wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race. Some people think the fall of man had something to do with sex, but that is a mistake. … What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could 'be like gods'—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come … the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

A selfish person is more interested in pleasing man—especially himself—than in pleasing God. He looks only to his own needs and desires. He walks "in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world" . Such a person becomes disconnected from the covenant promises of God and from the mortal friendship and assistance we all need in these tumultuous times. In contrast, if we love and serve one another as the Savior taught, we remain connected to our covenants and to our associates.

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I love how he just puts it out there and calls a spade a spade.  Good food for thought and a chance to do a little personal inventory to see if we are acting like a "swimmer" or a "life saver".