Giving Him Joy

"Jesus' life and sacrifice bring joy to us, and our coming to Him can and will bring similar joy to Him. I find profound purpose in knowing that in that one small, personal way He 'needs' me. 'Men are, that they might have joy' (2 Nephi 2:25), but men are also that they might give joy to Him."  --Brad Wilcox, The Continuous Atonement, pg 40

I often find that I am much more motivated when I am working for others rather than myself. How awesome it is to think, then, that every good thing I do gives joy to the Lord. Every effort to progress, every effort to choose the right, every effort to resist temptation, every effort to lift another, every effort to try a little harder to be a little better--all of these efforts, and the achievement that results, give joy to the Savior. Elder Maxwell has rightly said that just about the only thing we can ever really give the Savior is our will. I would add to that that the only thing besides our will that we can give to the Savior is the joy that comes to Him when we do so. There are many reasons for the Savior of the world to feel down. I hope that I can make the choices that let me be one of the things that counteracts, in a small way, all that weight and makes Him feel happy.