"In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there is no professional clergy, as is common in the other churches. … All members of the Church are subject to call to render service and carry on the activities of the Church" (Boyd K. Packer, in Conference Report, Apr. 1966).
Our Church leaders have the responsibility to call members to fill positions in the Church. They know the requirements of each position and the desirable qualifications that members must have to fill them. With these thoughts in mind, Church leaders prayerfully consider the list of eligible people, seeking for and obtaining inspiration and guidance from the Lord in making each call.
Once we have been selected to fill a calling, we are called by our priesthood leader for a private interview. At this time he reviews the responsibilities of our new calling and inquires about our personal and family circumstances to help us assess whether we can meet the requirements of time, preparation, meeting attendance, travel, and so on, involved in our calling. We should understand to whom we report and from which leaders we may request assistance. Sometimes the family is asked to pledge their support to the person receiving the call.
Even though we may realize that the call to serve has come through inspiration, sometimes we still feel inadequate, unqualified, or afraid.
We can gain confidence as we realize that the Lord knows our abilities, talents, and potential, and that, in light of His knowledge, He has selected us to serve in our callings.
The bishop or the branch, district, or stake president usually gives us a blessing to help us perform our new calling. This is referred to as being set apart. When we are called to serve in the Church, we are not expected to do it alone. We can receive power, strength, and assistance from the Lord.
When we accept responsibility in the Lord’s Church, we become His stewards. This simply means that He has entrusted us to carry out particular responsibilities and that we are His agents to accomplish them. It also means that we are accountable to the Lord for the trust He has given us. Each of us is given a stewardship over that which we have been called to do.
Sister Belle S. Spafford, a former general president of the Relief Society, said: "The Lord’s call, ‘Follow me,’ comes to us in this day as truly as it came to his early disciples. … His work must go on. Its progress depends upon the strength we lend it. Needing our strengths, he is tolerant of our weaknesses. Each of us is called to a particular work because of some strength we possess. It is our responsibility to accept his calls, to grow in his service" (Women in Today’s World [1971], 67).
Remember that serving the Lord is a privilege. Remember also that the Lord inspires His leaders to call us to Church service. In fulfilling our callings we should seek for help from the Lord, our leaders, the scriptures, and authorized manuals. We should also be willing to accept full responsibility for our stewardships.
and with that i say "here i go."
and "please pray for me."
tuesday was rough for me.
baptism by fire my bishop kept telling me.
and that he was sorry.
i was up until 10:35pm doing church things.
i'm usually asleep by this time...and have been for at least 35 minutes.
all i could think about was how tired i was going to be the next morning (yes i know my attitude needs to change...i'm working on it).
well guess what? i wasn't tired at all.
a blessing.
No comments:
Post a Comment