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Music & the Spoken Word: The value of good work

‘The fruits of our labors can bring a sense of purpose and fulfillment,’ observes Derrick Porter

Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025.

A quarter of a century ago, Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made this statement: “Work is always a spiritual necessity even if, for some, work is not an economic necessity” (“Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel,” Ensign, May 1998, page 38). This principle still applies today. As God designed it, good work — that which is valuable and contributing — is a necessity for happiness.

President Thomas S. Monson, then second counselor in the First Presidency, put it this way: “God left the world unfinished for man to work his skill upon. He left the electricity in the cloud, the oil in the earth. He left the rivers unbridged and the forests unfelled and the cities unbuilt. God gives to man the challenge of raw materials, not the ease of finished things. He leaves the pictures unpainted and the music unsung and the problems unsolved, that man might know the joys and glories of creation” (see “In Quest of the Abundant Life,” Ensign, March 1988).

Since the beginning, good work has been an important part of our growth and progress (see Moses 5:1). God has given us the gift of work, knowing there is great value and learning in the process of working through a challenge. It’s through good work that we are stretched, enabling us to achieve accomplishments and advancements we might have never dreamed possible.

In our day, work is often associated with financial reward and income. But good work is worth so much more than money. The fruits of our labors can bring a sense of purpose and fulfillment and can build resilience and discipline. Good work enables us to develop and refine our character.

Our work is much more than just our occupation. In the words of Thomas Carlyle, “All true work is sacred” (see “Past and Present," published in 1844, page 141). Our good work can be sacred. A busy parent taking time away from the demands of the day to pause and talk with a child, a neighbor sensing a need and taking action, a young person joining forces with friends to serve others — these are examples of good and sacred work.

Wherever we may be or whatever our circumstances are, we can choose to be engaged in good work. There is great value in good work, and good work will always pay a return dividend in helping us become all that we can be.

Tuning in …

The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.

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