Duties In the Kingdom

This last Thursday I went to a tri-ward Relief Society meeting.  The guest speaker was a local member from another stake.  He talked about so many wonderful things and really was on my wavelength.  It was thought provoking. 

One thing that he emphasized was the difference between the church and the gospel.  Often I think many of us members, and especially non-members, are not able to properly distinguish the difference between the two.  He made two really good points.  First, the church is merely a shell, or building of sorts, for which the Lord is able to take his gospel to the world.  It gives structure and order to the gospel and is the "vehicle" for allowing the doctrines and practices of the gospel to function.  Second, when it comes to importance in the church, the church is totally two dimensional.  To demonstrate this he held up a piece of paper.  There is no status in the church.  The prophet and a nursery leader are on the same plain.  We often mistakenly add status in the church where it really doesn't exist.  He said the Kingdom of God is what adds the 3rd dimension.  Our testimonies and growth in the gospel is what moves us upward, not our callings.  In this light, the nursery leader could be far "higher" in the Kingdom of God then the bishop.  Wisely, no one really but ourselves and God can judge where we are in our third dimension climb within His Kingdom.  How might one climb in the Kingdom?  I believe it's through fulfilling duties.  Duties to God.

As a devout member of Christ's gospel I take my duties within His Kingdom fairly seriously.  I have many.  I am a wife in an eternal marriage and have duties to my husband in upholding covenants made in the temple, maintaining our home, raising our children, and serving him.  I am a mother and have constant duties of feeding, clothing, teaching, and caring for my little ones.  I have duties within my callings, which are set up to help others in their climb in the Kingdom.  As a YW's leader I have duties to guide, teach, and on occasion correct the young women in my ward.  I have duties to the presidency I am in to support and help the other women as we collectively strive to follow the things we are inspired to do to accomplish God's will within that organization.  I have duties as a visiting teacher to reach out to and extend friendship and assistance to women the Relief Society presidency has felt inspired to assign to me and my partner. I have duties as a daughter of God to stand up for anything that would oppose or try to take down the Kingdom of God and it's teachings.  I have duties to promote goodness in the world.

In a perfect world all of my duties would be completed with a happy heart and done out of pure love for those I serve.  We all know this isn't a perfect world.  My motives and reasons are not always 100% pure, but I try really hard to make sure they are.  I can honestly say that 99.9% of the time I do my duties because I know it's what I'm suppose to do and it's what God wants and expects me to do.  But that doesn't mean it's easy or necessarily what I want to do.

In talking to a friend once about a calling he has that is hard for him he said, "Even the Lord as He suffered in Gethsemane asked for that cup to pass from Him.  What He was doing was not fun and He didn't really want to do it if there was another way.  But, He did it because it was the Father's will."  And I will add, He did it because it was His duty.  And aren't we ALL so glad He fulfilled that Duty!

The amazing thing is that Christ did it knowing many would reject His fulfillment of that duty.  Luckily only one Person's will mattered to Him.  I hope I can always follow that last example and fulfill all of my duties with that same Person always in mind.  And I hope and pray by doing so it will continue to grow my testimony and those I have a duty towards testimony in the Kingdom of God.