Skip to main content
Campus Community

Johnston Devotional: Assistance Required, We Can't Make it on Our Own

Part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is helping those around us who are in need, and we must help them to obtain our own salvation, taught Judge Robert Johnston, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Nevada, during his devotional address at BYU-Hawaii on October 14. His thoughts were centered on the idea that students should “reach out that we perish not.”

Judge Johnston used the words of King Benjamin to teach about spiritual death: “But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

Judge Johnston then added, “When King Benjamin encourages us to remember, and perish not, he is speaking of the spiritual death, which comes from our own disobedience. Perish not is a critical warning.”

He also used one of his own favorite pastimes –running– to make an analogy: “It is not uncommon for a marathoner to hit the wall,” said Judge Johnston. “This refers to a time in the race when the body loses energy and is overcome by fatigue, often after 18 to 20 miles... Similarly, we must avoid hitting the wall in life. According to King Benjamin we must watch ourselves, our thoughts, our words and our deeds, and obey God’s commandments, and with faith, endure to the end. If we are diligent in these things, we perish not.”

Focusing on the element of assistance, Judge Johnston said, “No runner can finish without help. None of us can meet the standards outlined by King Benjamin without help.”

Latter-day Saints have the responsibility of “reaching out” to those who are in need, Judge Johnston said, and he shared a number of ways the students can and should reach out to those around them.

The Poor and the Needy
Judge Johnston asked, “Who are the poor and needy? Am I poor and needy?” He then borrowed from King Benjamin and answered, “are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend on the same being, even God, for all substance which we have... including a remission of your sins.” He then added, “Clearly, we all have need of temporal and spiritual nourishment.”

After working a full morning in court, Judge Johnston had to run errands during lunch recess. He was hungry, and after running errands, in his haste, he pulled through the drive-thru at a Burger King and missed the speaker-box, and his opportunity to order. He could not reverse because there was a car behind him, so when he pulled up to the window, the man at the window took his ten dollars, threw a bag in his lap, gave him his change and asked him to clear out because it was the busy lunch rush.

From this story, Judge Johnston made an important analogy: “I drove away with the bag I had been given and my change,” he said. “I don’t know what the person behind me had for lunch, but I did have something to eat. Finding the poor and needy is something like my lunch experience that day–we get what is given to us. We cannot place an order for those we would like to reach out and serve. Always be prepared to reach out to others and impart of your substance and spirit.”

Reach Out and Invite
As a young child growing up in Florida, Judge Johnston and his sister were invited to attend primary by their neighbor, Betty Kimball. Judge Johnston shared that “For more than a year, we attended Primary at the chapel in a nearby town, Valpariso, Florida. Betty Kimball always drove us there and brought us home. Betty Kimball reached out. It proved to be an unexpected benefit in my life.” Fifteen years later, when he was invited to meet the missionaries by some other Church members, he “knew something of what they spoke. Betty Kimball’s kindness to reach out to the poor and needy – a nonmember child – had prepared me,” he shared.
Reach Out in Callings
“President Henry B. Eyring has counseled that through callings, you can forget yourself and begin to pray for and love those you are to serve. Then, he continues, you will be able to measure success by the degree to which it changes the hearts of the people you serve. Reach out in your callings to change hearts.”

Reach Out at BYU-Hawaii
“Each person enrolled or employed at BYU-Hawaii commits to live the Honor Code. Many other universities have adopted codes of conduct. A unique feature of the BYU Honor Code is the agreement to encourage and help others fulfill their responsibilities under the Honor Code.”

“If you see a roommate, or someone in your class, or your ward, struggling to maintain his or her commitment, reach out. Failure to help may result in their departure from BYU-Hawaii, which could lead to their departure from the Church, which could lead to the loss of generations who will follow.”
Jesus Christ Reached Out
“Jesus Christ set the example by constantly reaching out to the needy and the poor. He reached out his hand and caught Peter, saving him from sinking in the water. He reached out healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. He reached out to raise from death. He reached out and opened the eyes of the blind. He reached out and blessed their little children, one by one, and prayed unto the Father for them.”

“If we will but make Jesus the pattern for our life by reaching out to the poor and needy, that is, all those around us, eternal life can be ours. We will perish not, because we know that Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Reach Out in Testimony
“I bear personal testimony, confirmed by the Holy Ghost, that Jesus is the Christ. I have a firm knowledge of the atonement of Jesus Christ and that he is our Savior and Redeemer. I testify that a living prophet, even Thomas S. Monson, leads and guides the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that we are the beneficiaries of God’s prophets, seers and revelators on the earth today.”

“I know these things because Betty Kimball took me to Primary in my youth and opened my mind and heart to the lessons of the gospel. After reading the Book of Mormon, I kneeled at my bedside for the first time in my life at the age of twenty-four. An answer came from God and it has made all the difference in my life. Betty Kimball is with us today. With thanksgiving in my heart I celebrate her for reaching out. May each of you reach out to another, and may you give thanks for the Betty Kimballs in your life.”

-Photo by Ian Nitta

:: For a complete transcript of Judge Johnston's devotional...

:: Watch video excerpts from Judge Johnston's devotional...