No, the Lord doesn't really need us to take care of the poor, but we need this experience; for it is only through our learning how to take care of each other that we develop within us the Christlike love and disposition necessary to qualify us to return to his presence.
Interpretation
We help the poor not for divine necessity, but for our own growth in compassion and love.
This quote emphasizes that the act of caring for the poor is less about fulfilling a divine obligation and more about human development. By engaging in acts of service and compassion, we cultivate a Christlike love within ourselves, which is essential for our spiritual growth and readiness to return to a higher state of being.
In practice
During a community service event, this quote could inspire volunteers to appreciate the importance of giving back.
The truth is that we are saved by grace only after all we ourselves can do. (See 2 Ne. 25:23.) There will be no government dole which can get us through the pearly gates. Nor will anybody go into the celestial kingdom who wants to go there on the works of someone else. Every man must go through on his own merits. We might just as well learn this here and now.
Children know by instinct that hell is an absence of love, and they can pick out theirs without missing.
Love is - OK, it's 20 things, but it isn't 19. And I think that love reaches for something which is very, very deep in us and is very easily obscured, and is also very easily denied, which is the instinct towards the other person, other than toward the self.
You rose into my life like a promised sunrise, brightening my days with the light in your eyes. I've never been so strong. Now I'm where I belong.
Sweetness flows from your appearance and your beauty makes me fall more in love with you. Anytime I feel low, I think about the good times you have given me and everything seems good again.
Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine.
I will imagine you Venus tonight and pray, pray, pray to your star like a Heathen.
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