“And again, to some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know the differences of administration, as it will be pleasing unto the same Lord, according as the Lord will, suiting his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men.” (D&C 46:15). When Jesus was on the Earth, He served and ministered and blessed one by one. I have no doubt that He had the capacity to say one prayer and cleanse all of the lepers and restore the sight to all the blind and heal every hurt in all of Judea or even the whole world. But instead He brought strength and peace and healing into the lives of those He met one by one. This was not merely to give comfort and reassurance to each person that they were unique and noticed and not lost as an anonymous figure in a sea of faces. But He recognized that each person’s needs were unique, and that each required a mercy that was suited to their particular condition. If we are to follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ, then we need to seek after and obtain and freely use the gift to know the differences of administration. We need to jettison the idea that there is a one size fits all approach to keeping the commandments or living the gospel or just being human in general. When we have the gift to know the differences of administration, we look at each person as an individual, and we see how the challenges they are struggling with aren’t exactly like anyone else’s, and that we have to tailor our ministering to their exact situation. A coal becomes a diamond under immense pressure. Bread dough rises when it’s left alone. Plants can’t live without sunlight, but mushrooms have to be kept in the dark. We all rush so quickly to place labels on people so that we no longer have to exercise any judgment or creativity when we deal with them, but that is not the Lord’s way. When we are led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand what we should do, then we don’t bring any kind of preconceived notions to our service and we give ourselves the room to come up with a solution that fits in exactly with the unique problem that is placed before us. I hope that we can all take the problems in our own lives and in the lives of our neighbors one by one, blessed with the gift to know the differences of administration so that we may suit the tender mercies of the Lord to each new condition.
