Instruments of Righteousness: Accomplishing God’s Work

We can use our spiritual gifts to fulfill the divine work that God has prepared for us.

The Lord has prepared important and specific tasks for us to accomplish. God’s work is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39), and our divine gifts play an important role in bringing God’s children back to him. Although we may doubt our ability to successfully accomplish the tasks God has given us, he “has always used ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things,” as Elder John C. Pingree Jr. says in his October 2017 general conference address, “I Have a Work for Thee.” Elder Pingree shares four ways that we can work toward completing the tasks God has given us.

1. Focus on others. Just as Christ ministered unto the people one by one, we can humbly seek out those who need our individual attention and care. Our primary assignment should be “doing much good” (Doctrine and Covenants 11:8).
2. Discover and develop spiritual gifts. God has blessed each of us with specific spiritual gifts to help his children. We can ask God directly what our gifts are and then develop them as Christ did, “grace to grace” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:13).
3. Make use of adversity. “Like the Savior, whose atoning sacrifice enables Him to succor us . . . we can use knowledge gained from difficult experiences to lift, strengthen, and bless others.”
4. Rely on God. Heavenly Father will prepare the way for us to accomplish our divine tasks. We need only ask for his help and the help of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Elder Pingree cautions us to be wary of the adversary and to be worthy of God’s divine instruction. Staying clean and confident of God’s love for us will allow us to become his “instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13).

Listen to Elder Pingree’s full talk, “I Have a Work for Thee.”

Source: LDS General Conference

—Jess Verzello, Mormon Insights

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Find more insights

Find ways to serve and love those around you by reading “To Love Is to Lift: 5 Simple Things You Can Do Today,” on LDS.org.

Learn more about spiritual gifts through watching Mormon Channel’s Q&A session on the topic.

Read Cinzia Donatelli Noble’s BYU devotional address, “Rely upon the Lord,” to learn how to better rely on the Lord throughout life.