Peace and Contentment Through Temporal Self-Reliance
We teach self-reliance as a principle of life, that we ought to provide for
ourselves and take care of our own needs.
- President Hinckley
President Hinckley was no stranger to hard work. In addition to regular household chores, President Hinckley detailed how his family owned a five-acre farm. He recounts how his whole family lived on the farm in the summer then returned to the city once school began. During his summers on the farm he pruned the trees in the orchard, and learned a great truth- that you determine what kind of fruit you pick in September by the way you pruned in February. This truth is part of President Hinckley's personal foundation, he often taught practical lessons of gospel living. He testified of the blessings that come through hard work, and he encouraged Latter-Day Saints to live within their means and prepare themselves for calamities that could come in the future.
I believe in the gospel of work. There is no other substitute under the heavens for productive labor. It is the process by which dreams become realities. It is the process by which idle visions become dynamic achievements.
It is work that provides the food we eat, the clothing we wear, the homes in which we live. We cannot deny the need for work with skilled hands and educated minds if we to grow and prosper individually and collectively. President Hinckley wrote;
I have observed that life is not a series of great heroic acts. Life at best is a matter of consistent goodness and decency, doing without fanfare that which needed to be done when it needed to be done. I observed that it is not the geniuses that make the difference in the world. I have observed that the work of the world is done largely by men and women of ordinary talents who have worked in extraordinary manner.
The great genius of this Church is work. Everybody works. You do not grow unless you work. Faith, testimony of the truth, is just like the muscle of my arm. If you use it, it grows strong. If you put it in a sling, it grows weak. We put people to work. We expect great things of them, and the marvelous and wonderful thing as they come through. They produce.
We have a responsibility to help others lift themselves and become self reliant.
There is widespread poverty among our people, we must do all we can to help them to lift themselves, to establish their lives upon a foundation of self reliance that can come of training. Education is the key and opportunity. It is our solemn obligation to "succor the weak and lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees." (D&C 81:5).
The Lord does not wish to see His people condemned to live in poverty. I believe He would have the faithful enjoy the good things of the earth. The individuals we teach ought to do for himself all that he can. When he has exhausted his resources, he ought to turn to his family to assist him. When the family can't do it, the Church takes over. And when the Church takes over, our great desire is to first take care of his immediate needs and then help him in securing employment and finding ways to help him get back on his feet again. The Church has many programs to help those members in need
- The Bishop's Storehouse
- The Church Welfare System/LDS Services
- Counseling
- Career Development
- Life Skills Training
- Desert Industries
- Thrift Store Employment
- Employment Resources
- The Pathways Program
- Self Reliance Learning Modules
The Spirit of the Lord guides us in helping others become self sufficient.
Prophets have encouraged us to prepare ourselves spiritually and temporally for catastrophes to come.
We need to plan ahead, keep food on hand, have a savings account, to see you through a rainy day. The Church encourages us to have an adequate Emergency Food Storage to provide for our family, and for neighbors. We should always have a savings to keep us sustained if we ever lose employment, or become ill, or cannot earn. We need to prepare ourselves and our family these possible calamities. President Hinckley suggested to start preparing in a small way, and gradually build toward a responsible objective. Save a little money regularly and you will be surprised how it accumulates. Save one can at a time and be cognizant of expiration dates.
We can enjoy interdependence and freedom as we avoid debt to the extent possible and set aside money for times of need.
President Hinckley counseled that it was acceptable to go into debt to purchase a house and to pay for an education but that it was not prudent to go into debt for another reason. Since the beginning of the Church, the Lord has spoken on this matter of debt. To Martin Harris through revelation He said: "Pay the debt thou hast contracted with the printer. Release thyself from bondage." (D&C 19:35)
President Heber J. Grant spoke repeatedly on this matter, he said "If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family is to live within our means. And if there is anyone thing that is grinding and discouraging and disheartening, it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet."
The Church is carrying a message of self reliance to its members. Self-reliance cannot obtain when there is serious debt handing over a household. One has neither independence not freedom from bondage when he is obligated to others. What a wonderful thing it is to be free of debt, to have a little money against a day of emergency put away where it can be retrieved when necessary.
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