The greatest fulfillment in life comes by rendering service to others, and not being obsessed with what one can gain, said President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency. "Unfortunately, one of the curses of the world today is encapsulated in this selfish response, 'What's in it for me?' "

Courtesy Church Photo Services

President James E. Faust

Speaking Saturday morning, President Faust told a personal experience in his career of helping "heirs of a noble couple settle their estate." While dividing the property, a dispute developed about who should get what. Feelings of selfishness and greed among some family members caused a rift in relationships that never healed and continued into the next generation.

"How tragic that the legacy offered by these wonderful parents turned out to be so destructive of family unity and love among their children," he said.

"I learned from this that selfishness and greed bring bitterness and contention; on the other hand, sacrifice and giving bring peace and contentment."

President Faust recounted the events in the grand council of heaven and contrasted the willingness of the Savior to do the will of the Father, with Satan who countered that he would "redeem all mankind," but on two conditions.

"First was the denial of agency, the second, that he would have the honor. In other words, something had to be in it for him," President Faust said.

"Taking up one's cross and following the Savior means overcoming selfishness; it is a commitment to serve others. Selfishness is one of the baser human traits, which must be subdued and overcome. We torture our souls when we focus on getting rather than giving.

"I have learned that selfishness has more to do with how we feel about our possessions than how much we have," President Faust continued. "A poor man can be selfish and a rich man generous, but a person obsessed only with getting will have a hard time finding peace in this life."

He quoted the Savior in the Book of Luke, to "Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth."

President Faust recounted an experience originally told by Elder ElRay L. Christiansen about a distant Scandinavian relative who was well-to-do in Denmark and sold his lands and stock to come to Utah with his family.

For a while he did well in his new home and prospered financially. "However, he became so caught up in his possessions that he forgot about his purpose in coming to America," President Faust said. The bishop visited him and implored him to become active. Years passed. Some of his brethren visited him and warned that he was getting older and wouldn't be able to take his possessions with him.

"Vell, den, I vill not go," said the man.

"But he did. And so will all of us," said President Faust.

"It's so easy for some to become obsessed with what they possess and to lose eternal perspective," President Faust continued, describing how "Lot saw 'what was in it for him' as he looked over the fruitful plain of Jordan and chose to take that land which was close to the worldly place of Sodom."

While, "Abraham was content to take his flocks to live in the more barren land of Canaan, yet he accumulated even more wealth."

President Faust recounted a Washington Post story about Retired Army Colonel Cyril "Rick" Rescorla who was vice president for corporate security for his company located in the World Trade Center in New York. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, "he took a call from the 71st floor reporting the fireball in One World Trade Center, and he immediately ordered an evacuation of all 2,700 employees in Building Two.

"Using his bullhorn, he moved up the floors, working through a bottleneck on the 44th and going as high as the 72nd, helping to evacuate the people from each floor.

"His wife had watched the United Airlines jet go through his tower. 'After a while the phone rang. It was Rick.'

" 'I don't want you to cry,' he said. 'I have to evacuate my people now.'

" 'She kept sobbing.'

" 'If something happens to me, I want you to know that you have made my life.'

" 'The phone went dead.' Rick did not make it out.

"Most of us don't demonstrate our unselfishness in such a dramatic way, but for each of us unselfishness can mean being the right person at the right time in the right place to render service," President Faust said.

"Almost every day brings opportunities to perform unselfish acts for others. Such acts are unlimited and can be as simple as a kind word, a helping hand, or a gracious smile," he continued.

"One of life's paradoxes is that a person who approaches everything with a 'what's-in-it-for-me' attitude may acquire money, property and land, but in the end will lose the fulfillment and happiness that a person enjoys who shares his talents and gifts generously with others . . .

"I wish to testify that the greatest fulfilling service to be rendered by any of us is in the service of the Master."