Take Upon Us His Name

Take Christ’s Name Through Covenant Keeping

Elder Fantone distinguishes between merely adding Christ’s name as a badge of religious affiliation and truly taking His name upon ourselves. Jesus Christ is the only name through which salvation comes. His invitation calls us to keep covenants and become more like Him, aligning our hearts with our outward profession of faith.

The Savior’s invitation is not merely for us to add His name to our name like a badge of religious affiliation.

His invitation is for us to take upon us His name. It is an invitation to become more like Him through covenant keeping.

There shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent

• What distinction does Elder Fantone make between adding Christ’s name to our names and taking His name upon ourselves?
• How does covenant keeping help us become more like Jesus Christ?
• How does the Savior’s warning about honoring Him with our lips but not our hearts clarify His invitation?
• How do my daily choices show that I take upon myself the name of Jesus Christ?
• Where do I notice a gap between my outward expression of faith and the desires of my heart?
• What specific covenant commitment can I honor more intentionally this week?

Serve Christ Through Lifelong Service to Others

Drawing on Moroni’s teaching about baptism, Elder Fantone explains that taking Christ’s name requires a lifelong determination to serve Him. King Benjamin teaches that service to our fellow beings is service to God. This commitment invites us to lift, love, and serve others with all our heart, might, mind, and strength.

Taking upon us His name requires a lifelong determination to serve Him.

When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God

His invitation is for us to take upon us His name by covenant and to serve Him with all our heart, might, mind, and strength—by lifting, loving, and serving our fellow men.

• What determination does Moroni associate with taking upon ourselves the name of Christ?
• Why is serving other people a way of serving God?
• How does Elder Fantone connect covenant commitment with lifting and loving others?
• Who in my family, ward, or community needs lifting, love, or practical help?
• What does a determination to serve Christ to the end look like in my current circumstances?
• What simple, sustainable act of service can I make part of my daily or weekly life?

Make Room for Others Through Generous Service

Elder Fantone describes his parents opening their modest home to a student who needs housing and to children who need safety. Their example illustrates a willingness to make room for others even when doing so requires personal sacrifice. President Marion G. Romney’s teaching presents service not merely as a requirement to endure but as an essential part of exalted life.

Desiring to help him fulfill his potential, my parents opened our home and offered him the boys’ room.

When the Relief Society president in the ward spoke of a vulnerable family whose children desperately needed a safe place to stay, my parents, without hesitation, opened our doors, and some of the children indefinitely moved into our sisters’ room.

Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made

• How do Elder Fantone’s parents demonstrate service through their use of their home and resources?
• What does President Romney’s teaching reveal about the place of service in celestial life?
• How do these family examples illustrate King Benjamin’s teaching about serving God?
• What time, resources, skills, or attention can I offer to help someone feel safe or fulfill their potential?
• How can I make more room for others while honoring my responsibilities and circumstances?
• Whose example of generous service strengthens my desire to serve, and what do I learn from that example?

Experience a Mighty Change Through Christlike Service

Elder Fantone describes missionaries whose loneliness gives way to love for the people and the work as they persevere in service. He emphasizes that the missionaries change, not time or the work itself. Losing ourselves in genuine service invites a mighty change of heart that leads to true conversion, helps us know the Savior, and helps us find ourselves.

Time did not change—the missionaries did.

When we genuinely take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ by losing ourselves in the service of others, something miraculous happens.

We experience what Alma the Younger referred to as a “mighty change” in our hearts (Alma 5:14)—the kind of change that leads to true conversion and not merely personal elation.

I testify that He lives, that this is His restored Church, and that as we lose our lives in His service, we will find Him and we will find ourselves.

• What changes in the missionaries as they continue serving despite loneliness and homesickness?
• How does Elder Fantone distinguish true conversion from merely feeling happy?
• According to King Benjamin’s question, how does serving the Master help us know Him?
• What experiences with service help me recognize a change in my heart?
• When service feels difficult, what helps me continue with faith and genuine concern for others?
• How does serving others deepen my knowledge of Jesus Christ and my understanding of who I am?
• What opportunity to serve can I approach with a greater willingness to let the Savior change me?