A grandfather was tending his two young grandsons recently when the boys' roughhousing turned a bit more serious as the two wrestled to the floor and what was once a friendly competition turned into near all-out war.

"Josh, why are you doing that to your brother?" the grandfather asked after separating the two combatants.

"I don't know, Grandpa," Josh replied. "My mind tells me not to, but my body does what it wants."

Just like Josh, many of us let our natural instincts take over even when we would do well to listen to what our sensible side is telling us. Each of us, throughout the day, is confronted with challenges which, if we give in to our baser mood, can inflict pain unnecessarily on others.

In Josh's and his brother's case, brotherly horseplay could have turned into actions with a more serious consequence had it not been for some adult interference.

The Savior's admonition to us is to treat others the way we wish to be treated, to go the extra mile, to care for those less fortunate and to give service to those in need.

Too often, we find ourselves coming up short in the compassion department or we do good things for the wrong reason, perhaps because others are looking at us or we expect something in return for giving of ourselves. Selflessness is just that — to do good for the right reason, not because we expect accolades or recognition. Our duty to our neighbors and family members is out of love for one another, not the expectation of rewards or acknowledgment.

President Gordon B. Hinckley has said, "The decisions we make, individually and personally, become the fabric of our lives. That fabric will be beautiful or ugly according to the threads of which it is woven....You cannot indulge in any unbecoming behavior without injury to the beauty of the fabric of your lives" (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 56).

The Savior said, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it" (Luke 9:24).

Commenting on this scripture, President Hinckley said, "It seems to me that (the Savior) is saying to each of us that unless we lose ourselves in the service of others our lives are largely lived to no real purpose....He who lives only unto himself withers and dies, while he who forgets himself in the service of others grows and blossoms in this life and in eternity" (BYU Speeches of the Year, 1977, p. 43).

In Lehi's dream recorded in the Book of Mormon, the people in the great and spacious building mocked those who sought the tree and its fruit. Some fell away while others completed the journey by holding fast to the iron rod leading to the tree and its contents.

Our challenge is to withstand the snickering of others, to push forward and seize the goodness as we live our lives in harmony with the gospel principles and the Savior's teachings.

We need not give in to unwelcome impulses, but learn early to distinguish the right path to pursue and let our minds rule our bodies, not the reverse.