De-Serve

The word deserve comes from the Latin word deservire, which if you break it down, is composed of the root word servire, which means to serve, and the prefix de- which was used in a variety of ways in Latin but in this case is used as an intensifier. Essentially, the word deserve, in the original Latin, means to serve greatly or mightily. Instead of worrying and fretting about whether or not we do or don't deserve what is happening to us, something we have little to no control over anyway, we ought to focus on the original, much more active and empowering use of the word deserve - to serve greatly or mightily. When we lose ourselves in the service of our brothers and sisters, then we are in the act of deserving, of serving greatly. If we are worried that we don't deserve all of the nice things someone is doing to us, then we need to deserve them and serve them greatly right back. If we are upset and convinced that we don't deserve all of the cruel things someone is doing to us, then we need to let the power of the Atonement heal us and mend the broken relationship that their cruelty wreaked and deserve or greatly serve them by forgiving them and building a new way forward. Deserving or greatly serving puts the power and the agency and the responsibility back into our hands. It is no longer up to fate or coincidence what we do and don't deserve. We choose to serve greatly and we choose to deserve, and when we are in the great service of our fellow men and women, we are only in the service of our God. The more we proactively deserve and serve, the more our Heavenly Father will bless us, and the less we will get hung up on whether or not the good and the bad happening to us are something we do or don't deserve.