In my last study I read about selfishness. I’ve thought a lot about how that effects a family and relationships. Hopefully Becky doesn’t read this because it will reveal some of my "Christmas Secrets". Service is a way to show selflessness. Selflessness is the opposite of selfishness; selflessness is a synonym with charity; charity is the pure love of Christ. Therefore, I feel service is the opposite of selfishness.
At LDS.org, when I do a search for service, this is one of the things I found:
During His ministry on the earth, Jesus Christ spent His time serving and helping others. True disciples of Jesus Christ do likewise. The Savior said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35 ).
One of my plans for Becky’s gift is to give her a 101 Ways to Show You I Love You "Coupon Book". I will list 101 different ways I can serve Becky to show her how much I appreciate what she does for me. The key to true service is not expecting reciprication – not having an attitude of "What’s In It For Me ".
Opportunities for service to others are limitless. Kind words and deeds can lift burdens and gladden hearts. Sharing the gospel is a great service with eternal consequences. One true key to happiness is to labor for the happiness of others.
Here’s a start to my list:
- Wash the dishes
- Unload the dishwasher
- Load the dishwasher
- Vacuum the entire house
- Empty all the garbages
- Wet swiffer the entire tile
- Wet swiffer the kitchen
- Dust the living room furniture
- "Deep clean" the refrigerator
- Do the colored laundry
- Do the white laundry
- Wash the sheets
- Clean the garage
- Plant the garden
- Install the lights above the oven
- Set up the new printer somewhere (have Adam help with a network connection)
- Take the kids for an activity so Becky can rest/relax
- Dinner date
- Deep clean the main bathroom
- Deep clean the guest bathroom
- Go through all my clothes and eliminate some
- Purchase a new "Wet Swiffer"
- Assist in purchasing a new treadmill
- Assist in purchasing a new van for the family
- Change light bulbs in the house
- Give a high-quality back rub (oils and all)
- Give a full-body massage with no reciprocation 🙂
- Foot massage
- Head massage
- Gift certificate to Main Spring Day Spa (or Spa of choice) for professional massage
- Wash the car
- Vacuum out the car
- Spray for spiders
- Hang the curtain in the guest room
- Temple trip together
- Get up to take care of the kids when they’re crying
- Breakfast in bed
- Come to bed with Becky every night
- No Computer Work Tonight!
- No TV Tonight
It’s getting hard to be creative at this point…
Will work on this more tomorrow.
Overall though, I feel that if I can "lose myself in the service of others" I will find myself and will not have problems that I can’t overcome with the help of the Savior.
On a side note, I’ve been working hard to pray for others and keep a prayer in my heart often. It’s helped quite a bit until tonight, when I wasn’t really thinking about it and slipped a bit. I know, if I am centered on Jesus Christ and the teachings of the gospel, Satan will have no power over me.
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things" (Moroni 7:45 )
Charity "seeketh not her own" – in other words, if I have charity I’m not selfish. Charity "thinketh no evil" – which means I don’t even entertain the ideas that so easily beset me. Charity "endureth all things" – it’s like the quote by Sherry Dew – "If life were easy, it wouldn’t be hard."
I’m glad to be writing in my "journal" and hope to have a great week, focused on things of eternal consequence.
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