A Conduit to God's Love - The Power of Ministering

17 years ago this month, my Mom passed away.   She taught me a lot of great things, but if I were to choose just one characteristic that I consider her “hallmark”,  I think I’d choose her unique ability to love.  Mom loved from deep within her heart.  And when she served, it was different than just going through the motions.  It was like her service came with a special stamp of approval from our Heavenly Father.  She  loved everyone - it didn’t matter what station in life or what circumstance a person came from.   Each was deserving of her completely genuine and sincere love.  Looking back, I think Mom spent her life ministering.  My brother Darl spoke at Mom’s funeral and he captured her so well when he described her as “a conduit for God’s love”.

Before that, I don’t think I had ever really thought much about what a conduit is or does.  But since then, I have thought about it  many, many times.

A conduit is a system that moves something from one spot to another.  The type of conduit I think of most often is an electrical conduit.  It’s a pipe used to cover and protect electrical wiring, and it takes those wires from a source of power to where it needs to go.

So my brother described mom as a conduit for God’s love.    And she certainly was that - a person who took God’s love and safely  delivered it, unchanged and just as God had sent it,  to the people around her.   She spent her life ministering.

Our charge as disciples of Jesus Christ, is to minister to others.  From electrical conduits, I think we can learn a few things to help us be better conduits for God’s love and better at ministering.

1)  Connect to the Source

First of all, we need to connect ourselves to the source.  For electricity to be passed through a conduit, it has to be connected to the source of the electricity, and for us to be  effective at passing God’s love on to His children, we first need to connect with the source of that love - connect ourself to God.   Elder Henry B. Eyring tells us that-

“Charity is born of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and is an effect of His Atonement.”    (From Jan. VT Message) .

As we work on strengthening our faith, developing our testimonies of God’s plan of happiness; as we have more gratitude for the atonement and more love of God, we’ll be better at sharing God’s love with others.

So the first thing is we need to connect to the source

2)  Channel God’s love

The second job of an electrical conduit is to “Channel or route the electricity.  If we are to be effective at ministering, we have to channel God’s love to the places it needs to go.   Lately, I’ve been hearing the word, “watchare” quite a bit.  Isn’t that a great word?  When we minister, the “care” is preceded by the “watching”.  That’s how we channel God’s love.  We watch.   Pres. Monson, who is a master at ministering, said this -

“If we are observant and aware, we can accomplish much good”

To minister, we can’t  just live in our neighborhoods, we have to observe and be aware of our neighbors and look for opportunities to share God’s love with them.  When we come to church, do we just slip into our seats and then slip out again, or do we take the opportunity to observe what’s around us?  Does someone look sad?  Is someone having trouble with their small children?    Is there someone sitting alone? Who isn’t there that day that usually is?  Who isn’t there that day that never is, but needs so badly to feel the love of God in their life?  We can’t channel God’s love  without observing and being aware of where it needs to go.

3)  We safely deliver God’s love

Okay, the last thing, then - to be conduit’s for God’s love, we have to act.  Ministering is all about doing something.   I’ve mentioned part of this, but listen to the complete quote by President Monson

“Often small acts of service are all that is required to lift and bless another: a question concerning a person’s family, quick words of encouragement, a sincere compliment, a small note of thanks, a brief telephone call.  If we are observant and aware, and if we act on the promptings which come to us, we can accomplish much good.

(Thomas S. Monson)

“If we act on the promptings which come to us”, if we do as the Lord himself would do if He were here to do it, than we can accomplish much good.  And because we are doing His work, the Lord will prompt us and direct us as we minister.

The result of an effective electrical conduit - connecting to the source, channeling it and delivering it - at the end of the line, the result is power.  And the result of effective ministering is Power - God’s power in the lives of His children.  Individuals are strengthened.  We’re strengthened, our wards and our stakes are strengthened, our communities are strengthened.   You just can’t be in the business of channeling God’s love without the result being greater strength and greater power.

At the last supper, Christ gave Peter an important instruction that I think is applicable to us today.  He said,

Luke 32  . . . when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

As people who have made covenants with the Lord, we have the charge to strengthen our brethren and our sisters.  I pray that we will be conduits of God’s love as we minister to their needs just as God would if He were here to do it Himself.