True Greatness – Sunday, September 15, 1985
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them,”1 according to William Shakespeare. That may be true. But what is greatness?
Many people in this world have been acclaimed as great, when, in reality, they were only powerful, famous, or wealthy. True greatness is independent of all these. It can exist in the humblest of this world’s positions as well as in the most exalted.
Greatness needs no pomp and power, no cheering crowds, no costly possessions. The foundation of true greatness is putting others’ needs before your own. Once that foundation has been laid, then talents, abilities, influence, and authority will be used to build an edifice of true greatness instead of a monument to personal vanity.
While it is true that the principles of greatness can be practiced at any level, the human race has been particularly blessed when men and women of true greatness have had influence in society.
Sydney Smith wrote, “Great men hallow a whole people, and lift up all who live in their time.”2
Certainly, the pages of history have been brightened by the greatness of such people as Confucius, Socrates, Washington, Lincoln, Albert Schweitzer, and Mother Teresa.
Unfortunately, these people and these periods have been relatively rare in human history, but they have given us a glimpse of what true greatness is. By studying and emulating the best characteristics of these great men and women, we begin to sense in a small way the greatness of God himself. We understand, at least in a limited human measure, that the glory and the greatness of God lie in the depth of His love for us and in the breadth of His wisdom.
We begin to comprehend that He has no need to glorify Himself or to impose His will on His children. He would find no satisfaction in ruling over serfs and slaves. Rather, the Lord God uses His power, His infinite wisdom, His endless compassion, and His eternal love only to bless His children. The only allegiance He wants if the allegiance which we voluntarily give to Him. He will force no person to follow Him. And His efforts, His abiding interest, and His constant concern are only for the growth, the welfare, and the development of His children.
For thus it is written of the Lord, “This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”3
This love, concern, and compassion is the essence of the greatness of God.
1 Shakespeare, William, “Twelfth Night,” The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Spring Books, London.
2 Smith, Sydney, The International Thesaurus of Quotations, Rhoda Thomas Tripp, Comp., Harper and Row, New York, 1970, p.400
3 Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39
September 15, 1985
Broadcast Number 2,926