“We Follow Jesus Christ by Joining Him in His Work,” Liahona, June 2025.
We Follow Jesus Christ by Joining Him in His Work
We take part in the Savior’s work as we focus on His purposes, keep His commandments, and love one another.
Detail from Christ and the Rich Young Ruler, by Heinrich Hofmann
When we are baptized, we begin the process of taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. Part of this process signifies that we join the Savior in His work. President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, wrote, “One of the most significant meanings of taking upon us the name of Christ [is] a willingness and a commitment to take upon us the work of the Savior and His kingdom.”
The Savior’s work is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Immortality is an unconditional gift Jesus Christ has already guaranteed through His Resurrection. Eternal life, however, is not the same as immortality. Eternal life is the greatest gift God can give to mankind (see Doctrine and Covenants 14:7). It is to live forever as families in His presence. For us to receive eternal life, we must become faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. This means we receive the restored gospel by having faith in the Savior and His Atonement, repenting, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, making and keeping temple covenants, and enduring to the end. Enduring to the end includes joining the Savior in His work.
Anxiously Engaged
We take part in the Savior’s work as we help God’s children also become faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. This includes sharing His gospel, thereby gathering scattered Israel, by fulfilling responsibilities in the Savior’s Church and by striving to become like Him. Our “success [in His work] does not depend on how others choose to respond to [us], to [our] invitations, or to [our] sincere acts of kindness.” President Russell M. Nelson affirmed, “Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel.”
To make the Savior’s work our work, we focus on His purposes, keep His commandments, and love one another. While we do His work His way (see Doctrine and Covenants 51:2), some things are left for us to figure out on our own. The Savior told the Saints who gathered in Jackson County, Missouri:
“For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
“Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
“For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–28).
As we follow the Savior, join Him in His work, and help others become His faithful disciples, we teach what He would teach. Because we are not authorized to teach anything else (see Doctrine and Covenants 52:9, 36), we focus undeviatingly on His doctrine (see Doctrine and Covenants 68:25). Additionally, we pay particular attention to those who are poor, in need, and vulnerable (see Doctrine and Covenants 52:40). These emphases were made clear when the Savior quoted from Isaiah in a synagogue in Nazareth:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
“To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18–19; see also Isaiah 61:1–2).
The acceptable year of the Lord refers to the time when all the blessings of God’s covenant will be heaped on His people. We follow Jesus Christ by inviting others to receive the blessings of making and keeping covenants with God and by caring for those who are poor or otherwise in need.
Joining Jesus Christ in His work is exhilarating because His works, designs, and purposes “cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught” (Doctrine and Covenants 3:1). For those who feel discouraged, the Lord counseled: “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:33). We let the Lord worry about the harvest, and we simply do our part.
The Heart and a Willing Mind
Doing our part is simpler than we might imagine because we need not bring extraordinary talents or abilities to the Lord’s work. His requirement is simply commitment and willingness. The Lord said to the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, “Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:34). The Lord can make the willing able, but He cannot or will not make the able willing. In other words, if we are committed and willing, He can use us. But no matter how talented we are, He will not use us unless we are committed to His work and willing to help Him.
Samuel and Anna-Maria Koivisto showed both commitment and willingness. Soon after their marriage, the Koivistos moved from Jyväskylä, Finland, to Göteborg, Sweden, to pursue career opportunities. After arriving, Brother Koivisto was invited to visit with President Leif G. Mattsson, a counselor in the Göteborg Sweden Stake presidency. Because Samuel did not speak Swedish, the interview was conducted in English.
Following a brief visit, President Mattsson asked Samuel to serve as the ward mission leader in the Utby Ward. Samuel pointed out the obvious: “But I don’t speak Swedish.”
President Mattsson leaned over his desk and pointedly asked, “Did I ask if you could speak Swedish, or are you willing to serve the Lord?”
Samuel answered, “You asked if I was willing to serve the Lord. And I am.”
Samuel accepted the calling. Anna-Maria also accepted callings. Both served faithfully and learned to speak beautiful Swedish along the way.
Commitment and willingness to serve the Lord have characterized the lives of Samuel and Anna-Maria. They are ordinary heroes in the Church. They have faithfully served every time they have been asked. They have taught me that when we serve, we use the talents we have (see Doctrine and Covenants 60:13), and the Lord then helps us accomplish His purposes.
When we are willing to serve, we strive not to complain or murmur, because we do not want to tarnish our service in any way. Complaining may be a sign of wavering commitment, or that our love for the Savior is not as it ought to be. Left unchecked, murmuring can progress to outright rebellion against the Lord. This progression is seen in the life of Ezra Booth, an early convert to the Church in Ohio who was called as a missionary to Missouri.
As he left Ohio in June 1831, Ezra was upset that some missionaries were able to travel by wagon while he had to walk in the summer heat, preaching along the way. He murmured. When he arrived in Missouri, he felt deflated. Missouri was not what he had expected. Instead, he looked around and noted that “the prospect appeared somewhat gloomy.”
Ezra became increasingly cynical, sarcastic, and critical. Upon leaving Missouri, instead of preaching as he went, as he had been asked to do, he returned to Ohio as quickly as he could. His initial murmuring evolved into wavering and finally into losing confidence in his earlier spiritual experiences. Soon Ezra left the Church and “ultimately ‘abandoned Christianity and became an agnostic.’”
The same can happen to us if we are not careful. If we do not maintain an eternal perspective, reminding ourselves whose work this really is, we might complain, waver, and eventually lose the faith we have.
I pray that we can choose to follow Jesus Christ by joining Him in His work. As we do, we are given “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4). These blessings include forgiveness of sin (see Doctrine and Covenants 60:7; 61:2, 34; 62:3; 64:3), salvation (see Doctrine and Covenants 6:13; 56:2), and exaltation (see Doctrine and Covenants 58:3–11; 59:23). Indeed, we are promised the greatest gift God can give—eternal life.