Learning From Mary and Martha
When Martha criticized her sister for leaving her to “serve alone” as a host to the Savior, Jesus corrected her, indicating that “Mary [had] chosen the good part, which [would] not be taken from her (Luke 10:42).”
Because of this, my mind has often jumped to the conclusion that Martha’s serving was somehow wrong, whereas Mary’s listening was somehow right. The problem with this, however, is that I can’t seem to see what is so bad about doing everything you can to serve a houseguest (not to mention that the guest is the Savior), and at this point my conclusion is that there was nothing wrong with it at all. So what was the issue? As I see it now, it is that Martha wanted validation for her choice (I relate), which, while different from Mary’s, was still good. Martha was not fully secure in herself. I get the sense that Christ wanted both of them to find joy in making their own unique righteous choices without comparing themselves to each other.
A similar scenario actually happened later among the apostles following the resurrection: Peter desired to come directly to Christ following his death, while John wished to stay on the Earth to bring souls to Christ. It seems Peter may have begun to compare himself and his decision due to Christ stating “What is that to thee?… Ye shall both have according to your desires, for ye both joy in that which ye have desired (D&C 7).”
The gospel, as I want to see it, is remarkable in that it doesn’t mold us into righteous clones all making the same decisions, but instead frees us to make the personal choices that will bring each of us the most joy and sense of self and purpose. Let’s not forget that.