The Blessing of Work ~ Part Two

 Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take four minutes to seven minutes read from start to finish.

This post focuses on a BYU Devotional in March 2005, and it is called "The Blessing of Work" by Elder David E. Sorensen. This post is part two, and I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the Devotional. 

Elder Sorensen has mentioned the following; "Learn to Love Work

One of the best ways I know to enjoy life is to learn to love work. ... The happiest people I know are those who enjoy their work whatever it is. ... Remember the old saying, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” 

We should be able to find ample purpose in our work, no matter what it is. In any honest work we can serve God. King Benjamin, the Nephite prophet, said, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17).

Even if our work simply helps to provide for the necessities for our families, we are still helping God’s children. The Lord is not pleased with those who are lazy or idle. ... True Latter-day Saints will not voluntarily shift the burden of their own support to someone else. You should determine, young friends, right here and now, that to the extent possible in your own situation, you will be self reliant all of your life. 

Many of you young women are now or will become mothers and may be blessed to spend many years at home raising children. Others of you sisters may not be able to become mothers or, if you are mothers, may not be able to stay at home full-time. 

Whatever your situation, I would encourage all of you young women to follow our prophet’s counsel and get as much education as you can. Education itself is valuable. Your education will give you a sense of security if you are home raising children. 

Should your future lead you into the paid workforce, generally speaking, education will allow you to have more meaningful and more rewarding employment. Our work itself must have integrity and be for worthy purposes. 

Our Heavenly Father is not happy when we receive gain from evil or idle pursuits. 

... President Kimball defined the difference between honorable work and evil work: 

Clean money is that compensation received for a full day’s honest work. It is that reasonable pay for faithful service. It is that fair profit from the sale of goods, commodities, or service. It is that income received from transactions where all parties profit.

... Today there are many who offer the lure of easy money, suggesting shortcuts to quick riches and a life of ease. We hear about them all of the time. These offers are illusions, and the prophets have consistently counseled against falling prey to the temptation of “easy money.”

... In the workaday world there are many who are spiritually insensitive because they are carnally minded. Try to avoid them. How tragic it would be if, because of our employment, we were put in contact with those who would destroy our spirituality. ... Naturally we should find the proper balance between work, rest, and relaxation. 

Without work, rest and relaxation have no meaning. There’s an old saying: “Doing nothing is the hardest work of all.” Not only is it pleasant and necessary to rest, but we are commanded to rest on the Sabbath day (see Exodus 20:10). 

... Some of you may know that Sister Sorensen and I spent a few years in Asia. While living there we heard an old adage: “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” For the most part I believe that is wishful thinking. ... But the reality is that work is not always naturally appealing. 

I think a more appropriate maxim might be President Thomas S. Monson’s counsel. He said, “Choose your love; love your choice” (CR, October 1988, 82; or “Hallmarks of a Happy Home,” Ensign, November 1988, 71). He was actually speaking about marriage, but I would submit that this advice applies to your chosen vocation as well.

"The only way to do great work is
TO LOVE what you do." - Steve Jobs. 

Choose the job you love, then love your choice. ... When the going gets tough as it inevitably will - they start thinking that perhaps their chosen work isn’t really all they thought it would be. ... You’ll find these folks saying, “If I only had decided to study medicine instead of the law, I could have been a great doctor.” 

... If I were the boss like him, I’d work at it really hard and treat people well and be successful.” People who can’t get out of this rut often have difficulty achieving excellence in any profession. They fall in love with a career but then become disenchanted with the small and simple things and end up quitting to pursue their fantasy over the next horizon. 

They drift from job to job, never settling long enough to truly achieve excellence. ... Once you have chosen your work, love it! No job is perfect. Every job has its challenges and its days of drudgery. Just like marriage, success and excellence at your work will likely require years and years of dedicated and persistent effort.

... You will find more success if you enthusiastically persist in your work despite the shortcomings of your job and despite the daily small and simple things. Focus on the career at hand and resist the temptation of wandering eyes. In fact, I am so bold as to say it doesn’t matter so much what job you choose. I promise you that if you stick with it and pursue excellence in your chosen career, you will indeed enjoy a large measure of success and you will end up loving your work more than you might have imagined.

Words of Counsel

... First, work hard to get along with others. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Indeed, be a light, not a judge. Studies confirm over and over that people generally do not lose their jobs because they lack the technical know-how or skills. More frequently, the difficulty is that they can’t get along with other people.

... Second, remember that people seldom improve when they have only their own yardstick to measure themselves by. ... Learn to measure yourself with someone else’s yardstick occasionally. If your boss comments that you lose your temper too easily, take it seriously. 

If your spouse comments that you lose your temper too easily, and your friends comment that you lose your temper too easily, it is likely that you lose your temper too easily. When you hear such feedback, listen before you deny it. Evaluate it. Weigh it. Do you think changes are in order? Regardless of criticism, learn to get along with other people. If you want to get along with them, you can.

Third, be an optimist. Do not accept pessimism, especially when it is directed at you personally. Do not accept pessimistic statements about your Heavenly Father. Consider their source they come from Satan. ... It takes work to reject Satan’s messages, but such work will lead to happiness.

A word to the returned missionaries: Do not abandon the principles or the habits or the great experiences that you learned in the mission field. Do not abandon your appearance. ... Dress for success! When your personal habits reflect the cleanliness, the dignity, and the principles of the gospel you taught as a young missionary, they will serve you well in the workplace.

Summary

My message this evening could be summed up in two statements. The first is from President David O. McKay. He said, “Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, that power to work is a blessing, that love of work is success” (Pathways to Happiness [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1957], 381).

The second is from our own dearly beloved living prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley. He said: The major work of the world is not done by geniuses. It is done by ordinary people, with balance in their lives, who have learned to work in an extraordinary manner. [“Our Fading Civility,” Brigham Young University inauguration and spring commencement exercises, 25 April 1996, 15]

It is a given that there will be disappointment and discouragement along the way, brothers and sisters. Orson F. Whitney comforts us: No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. 

All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven. [Quoted in Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1972], 98]

... I promise you and bless you that as you work at keeping the standards the Lord has set through the scriptures and His prophets, as you study, as you pray, as you pay your tithes and offerings from the money you earn from your work, you will be more successful in all of your life as well as in your daily work. 

You will become a better worker. You will be a more productive worker. You will be a more effective worker. All because the Spirit of the Lord will be with you and aid and strengthen you. ... President Hinckley said: “Things are not as bad as we sometimes think. 

... We do not need to fear. We have nothing to fear if we will live the gospel, if we will make our decisions in the light of the gospel. If we will get on our knees and pray to the Lord for His enlightenment, understanding, direction, and courage, we do not need to fear.” ... I know Jesus Christ can help each of us in our work if we will help Him in His work. 

... I know and testify that we have a living prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, who can help us in our work if we heed his counsel. ... You are the hope of the communities where you live. You will become the future leaders of this Church, the future leaders of the communities, of the world. 

I bear you my humble testimony that if you will work for our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, that He will bless you and watch over and keep you all the days of your life. ..."

If you would like to read the whole devotional either now or in your own time, here is the link below. https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-e-sorensen/blessing-work/

Stay Tuned until next time.