1 Careless work is anathema to duty. If you simply go through the motions, you will not be able to perform your duty adequately. You must put your heart into it! The chance to perform a duty is a rare thing; if one does not take hold of a chance God has given them, then they lose it. If they try again someday to find a chance to perform their duty, it will not be easy; indeed, such an opportunity might not exist. God’s work waits for no one, nor do chances to perform one’s duty. Not many opportunities come along, so you must grab hold of them.

2 Some people do not put their hearts into fulfilling their duty, and all they do, they do without care, with one eye open. They are not the least bit conscientious in their work. If they are made to do something, then they put in a bit of effort, and their work is a bit better when they are being watched, a bit worse when they are not—and they assume that no one sees them doing so. Over time, others will figure them out and see through them. They have completely discarded their dignity and integrity. If people cannot trust them, how can God? Such people are not trustworthy.

3 If one is always slack in fulfilling their duty and behaves perfunctorily and deceptively to God, they are in grave danger! What are the consequences of intentional deceit? In the short term, you have a corrupt disposition, commit frequent transgressions without repenting, and you neither know to put the truth into practice, nor do you put it into practice. In the long term, if you continue thus, you might not commit major mistakes, but there will be no end of small ones, and their consequences will be irreversible. The outcome you desire will be no more!

Adapted from The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Life Entry Must Begin With the Experience of Performing One’s Duty