“Ministering as the Savior Would,” Liahona, June 2025.
Covenant Women
Ministering as the Savior Would
It is a sacred work to partner with Jesus Christ in blessing the lives of our Heavenly Father’s children.
Christ Raising the Daughter of Jairus, by Greg Olsen
“The early practice of ministering visits started not long after the Relief Society was established in 1842. …
“Although the details of the process have changed since those early days, the principles remain the same—to minister as the Savior would minister.”
Ministering is not about checklists; it is about relationships—our relationship with others and our relationship with God. In the General Handbook we read: “Ministering means serving others as the Savior did (see Matthew 20:26–28). He loved, taught, prayed for, comforted, and blessed those around Him (see Acts 10:38). As disciples of Jesus Christ, we seek to minister to God’s children.”
Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said: “When trials come, often what we most want is for someone to listen and be with us. … Sometimes we yearn for someone who will grieve, ache, and weep with us; let us express pain, frustration, sometimes even anger; and acknowledge with us there are things we do not know.”
He went on to say: “A father assigned with his teacher-age son as ministering companions explained, ‘Ministering is when we go from being neighbors who bring cookies to trusted friends [and] spiritual first responders.’”
Each Individual Is Unique
A ministering sister in New Zealand was led to a unique way to help a sister in her ward. This sister had recently gone through a separation from her husband. The ministering sister was up late with her baby and noticed that this sister seemed active online in the late hours of the night, so she decided to message her. After praying about how she could help, she was inspired to take some time to sleep during the day and set her alarm to wake up late at night to keep this sister company by messaging with her online because this was the time of the day the sister felt sad and lonely and especially missed her husband.
With regular interactions and invitations from both ministering sisters, over time this sister started coming back to church. Her ministering sisters would pick her up and accompany her to meetings and activities. She then had the desire to talk to her bishop about renewing her temple recommend.
The week after receiving her recommend, she and her ministering sisters attended the temple together. Through this time of inspired watchcare, she no longer felt lonely.
These ministering sisters truly became trusted friends and spiritual first responders for this dear sister going through a challenging time in her life. They provided temporal and spiritual relief. But it took time, patience, loving-kindness, and gentle invitations.
By seeking the Lord’s inspiration, this ministering sister was led to a unique way she could help. Ultimately, that inspired ministering led this sister back to the temple and the blessings of a covenant relationship with God.
Ministering with Love
For the efforts of these ministering sisters to be sustainable, however, it took their love of God and the love they had for this sister. We can pray for that love if we don’t feel it at first. Ministering to others only out of a sense of duty won’t be sustainable over the long term, especially if those we are assigned to are resistant at first.
Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said that we should “love and minister in such a way that others are drawn to Jesus Christ.” To do that, we need to develop relationships of trust with those we are assigned to. That type of relationship will develop over time. It will take more than just sending an occasional text or connecting in the hall at church.
If we think about how the Savior ministered and pray to know how to minister to our sisters and brothers as we imagine He would, we’ll know what to do. We have the privilege of representing the Savior in our ministering efforts. Think about a person in your life you have now or have had in the past, or wish you had, who makes you feel loved and valued and motivates you to be a better person just by being with him or her, who motivates you to want to follow the Savior.
That’s what higher and holier ministering is all about. It’s not complicated; it’s simple, but it takes a desire to be that kind of person for others, the type of person the Savior was for those who came into contact with Him. Ministering is like an apprenticeship with the Savior because we are practicing becoming like Him and learning to love and care for others in the way He would.
Because each individual is unique, each will need something different, just as the sister from New Zealand did. As we pray for, spend time with, and sincerely listen to others, we will discover their individual needs and can receive inspiration to know how and when to serve them, both temporally and spiritually.
As we develop relationships of trust, we will be able to help strengthen others’ faith in the Savior through our service and through the individual messages we feel inspired to share. I have been blessed over the years with inspired ministering sisters who became some of my closest friends. Those relationships of trust strengthened me in many ways and helped me to feel the Savior’s love and care for me.
It is so important that those we minister to also feel the Savior’s love and care for them. This is how we bring the Savior’s relief to others and, in the process, find our own relief in Him.
Becoming Like the Savior
The Savior’s example is one of individual ministering and love. As we practice ministering as the Savior would, we will be transformed to become more like Him. Ministering will become who we are, not just what we do. Over time, ministering will become a part of us, and we will go about doing good, as the Savior did, with or without an assignment.
President Jeffrey R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, invited us to be “more deeply committed to heartfelt care for one another, motivated only by the pure love of Christ to do so. In spite of what we all feel are our limitations and inadequacies—and we all have challenges—nevertheless, may we labor side by side with the Lord of the vineyard, giving the God and Father of us all a helping hand with His staggering task of answering prayers, providing comfort, drying tears, and strengthening feeble knees. If we will do that, we will be more like the true disciples of Christ we are meant to be. … May we love one another as He has loved us.”
It is a sacred work to partner with Jesus Christ in blessing the lives of our Heavenly Father’s children. If we approach this with a spirit of love and gratitude for the opportunity to bless others’ lives, our own lives will be greatly blessed in the process.
From a Brigham Young University Education Week address given on August 19, 2024.