Welcome to the Verbal Motivation podcast. Where we talk about the things that motivate our lives, our religion and our relationships. My name is Nathan Vail.
If you have an opinion about the subject matter of this or any episode, please leave it in a voicemail at 530-876-4153 or you can send an email to verbalmotivation@gmail.com.
This is episode number 20. It is part one in a two part series called Doers Of The Word, Not Hearers Only.
I have always been amazed at the great men and women who have come before us as pioneers in the gospel and those generations before us who built this country and gave us the freedom we enjoy. Many of these individuals gave their lives that others may have a better life.
I have always accepted the fact that these were the men and women spoken of in the oft quoted scripture in John that says,
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
I remember watching a tv program many years ago that was showing several caskets of men and women returning from war. Within the same program they also interviews several veteran who had returned at the same time with these fallen hero's. One person it highlighted was a concert pianist before he left for war. It was very inspiring listening all the things he had accomplished as a pianist. As they talked the camera slowly panned out and as it did I suddenly noticed that this person came home without hands.
When I saw that I was startled and my heart swelled with emotion for the sacrifice these men and women had made for my freedom.
As a tear formed in my eye, an interesting question crossed my mind that I have been pondering for a long time now. Did this person give his life for my freedom? He didn’t die, but the life he would have had is gone. He gave up that life so others could have a better one.
Mathew 16:25
25. For whosever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Is this scripture talking about dying? It could be, but it could also be about living. Because when we sacrifice the experiences we would have had by serving other people we have given them something actual.
I think there is a difference between giving your life and giving of your life. But it is made of the same material.
2 Nephi 2:25 says, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.”
If men are that they might have joy. Why should we not spend our time in pleasure and good company?
Perhaps its because that is not joy. It’s just pleasure.
When I was between high school and college I was playing basketball on a rec team at the Utah State University rec center. There was a really small sliver of time when I was actually good at basketball. Especially when I played against shorter people. One of these games in particular was probably the best game I ever played in my non-existent basketball career. During one of the first plays of the game a player on the opposing team went in for a layup and I ran up behind him and I swatted the ball against the backboard so hard that it bounced back toward the three point line. Another player on their team picked up the ball and went for a jump shot, but I was already coming at him through the air and I swatted it again down toward the other end of the court. There were several ladies in attendance on the front row that I was interested in, so instead of running down the court and making a point for my team, I ran along the edge giving high-fives and having a good time. That’s pretty much how the game went. Me showing off and while keeping an eye on who was watching. And I’ll never forget I was trotting lightly back to the other end of the court with a sly grin on my face and the buzzer rang and I looked up at the score board and the game was over. We lost by only a few points. I stood there in the disappointment that suddenly washed over me realizing that I wasn’t tired. That game ended our participation in the tournament and I was so preoccupied with having a good time and showing off for the ladies, that I didn’t play for the team.
The difference between self-serving and self-sacrifice is that when we serve our own pleasures it leaves us wanting more. It’s an empty journey. But when we give of ourselves in the service of others we are filled.
It has always been fascinating to me that when you are stranded in the middle of the ocean, you can die of thirst. The more sea water you drink, the more thirsty you will become. That is because, even though Salt is vital for humans survival, our bodies can only handle so much and the concentration of salt in seawater is so high that our bodies use more water to flush out the excess salt than it took in drinking the water. Thus, we eventually die of dehydration while surrounded by water.
John 4:13-14 says, “…Whosever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
So I guess we could say that salt is like pleasure. In the right amounts it is vital to our spiritual and emotional health. But too much of it, becomes a principle of diminishing returns until our spirits are dehydrated.
Self-sacrifice or service to others on the other hand is the opposite, it is the well of springing water that never dries up.
In Greek mythology there is a character that you have probably heard of named King Midus. Everything he touched turned to gold. He had so much gold that eventually it probably didn’t have any value to him.
Things are only valuable if they are finite and limited.
The most finite and the most limited thing that we have is our lives. When its over, its over. We can’t go back and be teenagers again or play sports again the way we did.
That is what makes our time here so valuable and that is why giving up something that we can never get back is a sacrifice and that is what makes it a precious and actual gift.
When you give a piece of your life you have given something of great value.
I was out tracking as a missionary one day and I got into a conversation with a gentleman on his doorstep about God and the blessing we are given. The more we talked the more frustrated he became until he held up his hands for me to see and said in a very animated voice, “everything I have I got with these two hands.” To which I replied, “Who gave you those hands?” He slammed the door. I wasn’t a very good missionary, as it turns out.
We have all been given hands. The question is, what will we do with them?
One of the most profound things that President Spencer W. Kimball said was, “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.”
In April 2022 Elder Eduardo Gavarret gave a talk called A Mighty Change of Heart in which he told a beautiful story about a woman who gave her husband a ring before he left to travel it had an inscription on the inside that said, “I have nothing left to give” meaning that she had given everything she had for their relationship.
Similarly…
How many young mothers give the prime years of their lives making sure their children have a good start in life.
How many senior spouses give the little energy they have left caring for their beloved companions.
How many daughters give their lives caring for their parents?
How many friends give their lives serving their neighbors?
IF you look around, you’ll realize that you are surrounded by heroes. Regular people who are not famous. But people who are giving everything they have to give.
I think some day, as we parade out of this life into the next, many regular people will find themselves surrounded in glory and in surprise will say,
“Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in…
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Math ew 25: 37-40)
My name is Nathan Vail and this is the Verbal Motivation Podcast.