Desire for Better Discipleship
Many Church members daily consider the question of how to become better disciples of Jesus Christ. They have a righteous desire to please our Heavenly Father and follow the example His Son set forth during His mortal ministry.
So, how do we become better disciples?
Here are three ideas:
- Remember foundational principles.
- Lose ourselves in service.
- Ask for the Lord’s guidance.
Walking with the Savior-Modern Grace Gallery
Remember Foundational Principles
Sometimes we complicate the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can take time to return to the basics of the gospel in our lives by considering the following key points of the doctrine of Jesus Christ:
- Faith in Jesus Christ
- Repentance
- Baptism
- The Gift of the Holy Ghost
- Enduring to the End
The Covenant Path
These five points lay out the basic path we are to follow—the covenant path. Faith in Jesus Christ drives us to start on the covenant path through baptism and continues through to making covenants in the temple.
As we endure to the end, we will need to consistently strive to strengthen our faith, repent often, partake of the sacrament weekly on the Sabbath to renew our covenants, and learn how to better hear the promptings of the Holy Ghost in our everyday lives.
Elder Dale G. Renlund has taught that living the gospel will influence who we become. He said,
The momentum produced by living the doctrine of Christ not only powers the transformation of our divine nature into our eternal destiny but also motivates us to help others in appropriate ways.”[1]
Lose Ourselves in Service
Service is vital to discipleship. During His earthly ministry, Jesus urged his disciples to selfless service, saying,
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:24–25).
Wilford Woodruff was a faithful disciple of the Lord, serving as a missionary, an Apostle, and one of God’s prophets. He said about his service as an Apostle:
It has been good to serve the Lord, good to honor God and to obey His commandments. No matter what we may be called to do, or what office we may be called to fill, if we trust in God and do our duty, we will be carried through.”[2]
Wilford Woodruff, Mar 1, 1898, Salt Lake City, Utah
Church Callings as Service
As we ponder our service, we can think over our callings. What can we do to fulfill our responsibilities more fully? Having responsibilities to serve can bring valuable experiences and blessings and help us connect with and serve other Church members or visitors.
We can also seek service opportunities outside of our callings. The Savior was always serving others, and He asks us to do the same. For those who are seeking to be better disciples of the Lord, service can be a refining opportunity.
Seek Out Service
Elder Gary E. Stevenson said,
We seek out those who are hurt and broken, the marginalized, for ‘all are alike unto God.’ We ‘succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.’ ”[3]
We can pray and ask Heavenly Father, “Who needs me?” He will help us see the opportunities to lift others and enable us to be instruments in His hands to accomplish much good.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf reminded us that serving others is a significant part of our baptismal covenants, and that we will be blessed for our service. He said, “ ‘When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God’ [Mosiah 2:17], and God will repay your kindness generously. The joy you give to others will return to you in ‘good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over’ [Luke 6:38].”[4]
Ask for the Lord’s Guidance
Ultimately, the Lord can guide us to find the next step on our journey of discipleship. He is always willing to help His disciples follow Him.
In a letter to Wilford Woodruff, George Teasdale said, “We who trust in the Lord and believe in prayer believe in God, who has said, ‘Ask and ye shall receive.’ ”[5] As we come to the Savior and ask for direction, we can expect the Lord to answer our prayers.
The Rich Young Ruler
One example of this is in the story of the rich young ruler in the Bible. He came to Jesus and asked, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16).
When Jesus had listed the ten commandments, the man said, “All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?” (Matthew 19:20).
Then Jesus told him exactly what to do: “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me” (Matthew 19:21).
Christ and the Rich Young Ruler by Heinrich Hofmann
Wilford Woodruff wrote,
It is our duty to humble ourselves before the Lord and call upon his name until we are filled with the Holy Ghost and the spirit of inspiration, walk in the light of Christ, pay our tithes and offerings, keep the commandments of God, and have faith in his word, remember and honor our covenants, obligations, and ordinances we have entered into in the holy places and temples of our God.”[6]
As we walk on the path of discipleship, let us remember that the Savior, Jesus Christ, is always there to help and guide us.
Caralyn Bullough is studying Public Relations at BYU–Idaho. She has enjoyed working as an intern on the public relations team for the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation and greatly admires the goals of the Project to increase faith in the Savior and preserve valuable history. She has a large family and loves singing, cooking, and being outdoors.
The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation’s mission is to digitally preserve and publish Wilford Woodruff’s eyewitness account of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and make his records universally accessible in order to inspire all people, especially the rising generation, to study and to increase their faith in Jesus Christ. For more information, please explore wilfordwoodruffpapers.org.
Endnotes
- Dale G. Renlund, “The Powerful, Virtuous Cycle of the Doctrine of Christ,” April 2024 general conference, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Discourse by Wilford Woodruff, October 5, 1897, p. 1, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/discourse/1897-10-05. ↑
- Gary E. Stevenson, “Bridging the Two Great Commandments,” April 2024 general conference, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “A Higher Joy,” April 2024 general conference, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Letter from George Teasdale to Wilford Woodruff, August 19, 1891, p. 4, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/letter/1891-08-19. Punctuation standardized. ↑
- Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, February 26, 1879, p. 373, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/journal/1879-02-26. Capitalization and spelling standardized. ↑
