Another way
to put this is that all in Zion are SELF RELIANT.
President
Marion G. Romney taught the importance of this in these words:
The scriptures are full of commandments regarding our obligation to care for the poor; therefore, I will not elaborate further. It has always seemed somewhat paradoxical to me that we must constantly have the Lord command us to do those things which are for our own good. The Lord has said,
"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 10:39).
We lose our life by serving and lifting others. By so doing we experience the only true and lasting happiness. 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.
Knowing
that service is what gives our Father in Heaven fulfillment,
and knowing that we want to be where He is and as He is, why must we be
commanded to serve one another? Oh, for the glorious day when these
things
all come naturally because of the purity of our hearts. In that day
there
will be no need for a commandment because we will have experienced for
ourselves that we are truly happy only when we are engaged in unselfish
service. Let us use the freedom which comes from self-reliance in
giving
and serving.
Can we see how critical self-reliance becomes when looked upon as the
prerequisite to service, when we also know service is what Godhood is
all
about? Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires
to
serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry
cannot
come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an
empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally
starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of
all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak.
There is an interdependence between those who have and those who have not. The process of giving exalts the poor and humbles the rich. In the process, both are sanctified. [CR, 136] The poor, released from the bondage and limitations of poverty, are enabled as free men to rise to their full potential, both temporally and spiritually. The rich, by imparting of their surplus, participate in the eternal principle of giving. Once a person has been made whole or self-reliant, he reaches out to aid others, and the cycle repeats itself.
We are all self-reliant in some areas and dependent in others. Therefore, each of us should strive to help others in areas where we have strengths. At the same time, pride should not prevent us from graciously accepting the helping hand of another when we have a real need. To do so denies another person the opportunity to participate in a sanctifying experience.