When Alma organized the church at the waters of Mormon, he emphasized the importance of taking care of each other. “Bear one another’s burdens,” he advised them. “Mourn with those that mourn…and comfort those that stand in need of comfort” (Mosiah 18:8-9). After they were baptized, they followed his council, “imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants” (Mosiah 18:29).
This same counsel runs like a thread through the three revelations we are studying this week. In Doctrine and Covenants 81, the Lord calls Frederick G. Williams to serve as a counselor to Joseph Smith, inviting him to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees” (v. 5). In Doctrine and Covenants 82, the Lord encourages church leaders to help every member receive “according to his wants and his needs, … every man seeking the interest of his neighbor.” And in Doctrine and Covenants 83, He explains that those who cannot meet their own needs, including widows and orphans, “have claim upon the church, or in other words upon the Lord’s storehouse.”
This morning, I participated in a meeting where a young woman reported back on her missionary service in Chile. Someone asked her what she noticed about the congregations where she served. She said, “They are like a tight-knit family.” This is what the Lord wants for us: to be part of a community that feels like family, everyone taking care of each other, “having [our] hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another” (Mosiah 18:21).
Here are some of my favorite passages from these revelations with relevant blog posts and Book of Mormon connections.
Scripture Highlights and Related Blog Posts
Pray sincerely, both in public and in private.
Doctrine and Covenants 81:3
Therefore, verily I acknowledge him and will bless him, and also thee, inasmuch as thou art faithful in counsel, in the office which I have appointed unto you, in prayer always, vocally and in thy heart, in public and in private, also in thy ministry in proclaiming the gospel in the land of the living, and among thy brethren.
Blog Posts
📄 Prayers, Public and Private
Pray more spontaneously. Overcome inhibitions about praying in front of others or about opening your heart fully to God in private.
Book of Mormon connection: Alma 33:4-11; Alma 34:17-27
Succor, uplift, and strengthen the people around you.
Doctrine and Covenants 81:5
Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.
Blog Posts
📄 Feeble Knees
Pay attention to the people around you, and offer support and help that is appropriate to their circumstances and their needs.
Book of Mormon connection: Mosiah 18:8-9, 28
📄 Love One Another and Serve One Another
Acts of service are not wasted, even when they may seem small.
Book of Mormon connection: Mosiah 2:17; Mosiah 4:15, 26
Use your blessings to bless others.
Doctrine and Covenants 82:3
For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation.
Blog Posts
📄 “Highly Favored” – Alma 9:20-24
God will hold us accountable for how we use the resources He had entrusted to us.
Book of Mormon connection: Alma 9:20-24
📄 Had the Mighty Works Been Shown Unto Them
Be grateful for the blessings you have received and humble when observing others who have not received those same blessings.
Book of Mormon connection: Helaman 15:15-16
God’s commandments are instructions for a happy and successful life.
Doctrine and Covenants 82:8-9
And again, I say unto you, I give unto you a new commandment, that you may understand my will concerning you;
Or, in other words, I give unto you directions how you may act before me, that it may turn to you for your salvation.
Blog Posts
📄 I Am the Law, and the Light
God gives us commandments and assignments to help us grow and live successfully.
Book of Mormon connection: 3 Nephi 15:9
📄 Who Teacheth Thee to Profit
Seek direction from Heavenly Father, knowing that His commandments are actually instructions for success and happiness.
Book of Mormon connection: 1 Nephi 20:17
God is perfectly reliable.
Doctrine and Covenants 82:10-11, 15
I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.
Therefore, verily I say unto you, that it is expedient for my servants Edward Partridge and Newel K. Whitney, A. Sidney Gilbert and Sidney Rigdon, and my servant Joseph Smith, and John Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery, and W. W. Phelps and Martin Harris to be bound together by a bond and covenant that cannot be broken by transgression, except judgment shall immediately follow, in your several stewardships–
Therefore, I give unto you this commandment, that ye bind yourselves by this covenant, and it shall be done according to the laws of the Lord.
Blog Posts
📄 Bound
An important characteristic of God is that He is willing to limit His future actions by making promises to us.
Book of Mormon connection: Mosiah 5:5
📄 Because of the Fulfilling the Oath
Keeping our covenants can strengthen our faith.
Book of Mormon connection: Alma 56:6-8
📄 So Great Was His Faith in God – Ether 12:20-21
Pray with specificity and faith, knowing that God will hear and answer.
Book of Mormon connection: Ether 12:20-21
📄 The Ordinances of the Sun, Moon, and Stars
The rising of the sun is a daily reminder of the constancy of God.
Book of Mormon connection: 3 Nephi 10:9; 3 Nephi 12:45
Serve others according to their needs and their wants.
Doctrine and Covenants 82:17
And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just–
Blog Posts
📄 Needs and Wants
Strive to understand the preferences and desires of the people you serve, so that you can help them in ways which are most meaningful for them personally.
Book of Mormon connection: Mosiah 18:27-29
God expects us to care for the most vulnerable among us.
Doctrine and Covenants 83:4-6
All children have claim upon their parents for their maintenance until they are of age.
And after that, they have claim upon the church, or in other words upon the Lord’s storehouse, if their parents have not wherewith to give them inheritances.
And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor. Amen.
Blog Posts
📄 Widows and Orphans
Find ways to serve the people you know who have lost close family members.
Book of Mormon connection: 2 Nephi 20:1-2; 3 Nephi 24:5; Mormon 8:40
📄 Maintenance
Providing for your children means more than giving them food, clothing, and shelter. It also includes helping them maintain their physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
Book of Mormon connection: Mosiah 4:14-15
Questions to Ponder
Here are some questions and topics I intend to work on this week:
- What can I do to “lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees?” (Doctrine and Covenants 81:5).
- What does the Lord mean when He says that “the former sins” will return to those who sin after repenting? (Doctrine and Covenants 82:7)
- Why is the Lord “bound” when we do what He says, and why does He want us to “bind” ourselves by a covenant that cannot be broken? (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10-11, 15).
- How can I use the talents I’ve been given to bless others? How can I more fully develop those talents? (Doctrine and Covenants 82:18)
- What are some ways I can share with widows, orphans, single mothers, and others in need? (Doctrine and Covenants 83)
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