One thing that has been weighing on my mind recently is the responsibility I have as a member of Christ's church and a holder of the Priesthood of God, to bring other people into the fold of God. I remember a scripture my mission president shared with us at a zone conference once, in which we learned that a big part of the purpose in bringing other people into the church was more than simply increasing our numbers, more than to become stronger members ourselves, and even more than bringing the blessings of the gospel to people who otherwise wouldn't have had them--the scripture said (paraphrasing) God the Father is glorified in that we bring Him much fruit. I remembered that verse because in our class discussion we came to Philippians 1:11 - "Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." D&C 4 notes that we must have an "eye single to the glory of God," and when we bring forth much fruit, or bring many people into the light of the gospel, God is glorified.
I had always understood the idea of God being glorified as that He receives a fuller joy in His family. That isn't wrong, but it's also not a complete explanation.
When the in-class discussion got to Philippians 2:9 - "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him..." we began talking about how Christ was exalted. In the King Follett Discourse, Joseph Smith taught that when Christ was exalted, He took Heavenly Father's place, and Heavenly Father was promoted as well to a higher exaltation. So by extension, as we each individually approach exaltation, it really does exalt our Father even more, in a pretty literal sense. And when we bring others with us, our Father is exalted that much more.
I love how the gospel makes so much sense.
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