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, Nov. 16, 2025. This week is No. 5,018 of the broadcast.
A young man, far from home, was spending his first night away at college. That evening, he found himself with little to do except entertain his feelings of loneliness and uncertainty. He was in a place that felt unfamiliar with people he didn’t know.
So he called his father and asked, “What should I do?”
The reply caught him off guard: “Find someone to serve.” Looking around the shared apartment, he noticed a sink full of dirty dishes. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He felt better.
Rather than looking down in discouragement and turning inward, he looked up in faith and reached outward. Calling his father, asking for help, listening to counsel and then acting on it changed the feelings in his heart.
This young man’s experience is not unique — it’s one that each of us can have. When we call upon God with a sincere heart, asking, “What should I do? Who can I serve?” we will receive answers. We will be guided to people who need to feel God’s love.
No matter how difficult our own circumstances may be, when we look upward in faith and reach outward to others, our own burdens become lighter, lifting our hearts and encouraging our souls. God is the giver of all that is good (see Moroni 7:12-13; James 1:17). He sees — and rewards — every act of kindness (see 2 Corinthians 5:10; Doctrine and Covenants 112:34; Mosiah 2:17, 24).
The needs in this world are immense. There are people all around us who desperately need to feel the warmth of God’s love and to sense His light in their lives — a light that may shine through your service.
In the words of the hymnist Will L. Thompson:
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed. …
There are chances for work all around just now,
Opportunities right in our way.
Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,”
But go and do something today.
‘Tis noble of man to work and to give;
Love’s labor has merit alone.
Only he who does something helps others to live.
To God each good work will be known.
(“Have I Done Any Good?” “Hymns,” No. 223.)
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.
