Divine Love
Love is a feeling of deep
devotion, concern, and affection. The prophet Moroni taught…
47 But acharity is the pure blove of Christ, and it
endureth cforever; and whoso is found
possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my beloved
brethren, apray unto the Father with all
the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath
bestowed upon all who are true bfollowers of his Son, Jesus
Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear
we shall cbe like him, for we shall see
him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be dpurified even as he is pure.
Amen.
God’s love is a pure love.
I have met individuals who questioned
the love of God. I have been asked by these people who doubted God’s existence,
"If there really is a loving and all-powerful God, why did he create such
an imperfect world?"
It is my opinion and understanding that
the fall of Adam answers this question. God placed Adam and Eve into the garden
of Eden -- a beautiful, serene place where no harm would occur to them, also no
death. This would appear to be the perfect world these questioners of God’s
love desired. Eve, however, was first to learn (through Satan's unwitting
prodding) that existence in the garden provided no opportunity for growth. Eve
first, then Adam, recognized that knowledge of good and evil was necessary for
their progress. They exercised the most important gift given to mankind, agency. God had told them:
17 But of the
tree of the aknowledge of good
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou
mayest bchoose for
thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that
I cforbid it, for
in the dday thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely edie.
God did not put them in this
"imperfect world", they chose it for themselves and for all mankind
that would come after them because they recognized the unique doctrine taught
by Lehi:
2 Ne 2:25 Adam fell that
men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
Now one might ask, how does man’s
choice to live in a lone and dreary world, a world filled with trials and
temptations, one in which man must eat bread in the sweat of his face and deal
with thorns and thistles, where women must bring forth children in pain and
sorrow, how will that bring joy? And if a knowing God knew Adam and Eve would
choose this world, how could he be loving?
The prophet Lehi, in the Book of
Mormon, answers:
2 Ne 11 For it must needs be, that there is an aopposition in all things. If not so, … righteousness could not be
brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good
nor bad.
In other words, without opposition
there would be no learning or growth. There would be no happiness because there
would be no unhappiness to contrast with it. Without sorrow there would be no
joy.
Because of the opposition and temptation
we face when trying to follow God’s loving guidance in this world, we make
mistakes and these mistakes limit our progression unless the opportunity for
repentance through the atonement is provided. This is where our Father in
heaven’s and Jesus Christ’s love is truly manifest.
John 3:16 “For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, (and the pain of
that sacrifice was demonstrated profoundly by Abraham and Isaac) that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”3
Elder D. Todd
Christofferson, a modern Apostle teaches: His is a Father’s pure love—universal
to all yet personal to each. Jesus Christ shares with the Father this same
perfect love.
The prophet Lehi further taught…
26 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that
they are redeemed from the
fall they have become free forever,
knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon,
save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the
commandments which God hath given.
27 Wherefore,
men are free according to the flesh; and all things
are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are
free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the
great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the
captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might
be miserable like unto himself.
The importance
of agency cannot be understated. Without agency, there would be no atonement.
If Christ were forced to suffer for our sins, the atonement
would have no power. It is because he freely chose to take on the sins of the
world that the atonement is effective for those who freely choose to take
advantage of it and repent and follow him.
Elder Christoffersen said: The
greatest example of God’s love for His children is found in the infinite
Atonement of Jesus Christ. Love for God and fellow men is a characteristic of
disciples of Jesus Christ.
We manifest our love for
Heavenly Father by keeping His commandments and serving His children. Our
expressions of love for others may include being kind to them, listening to
them, mourning with them, comforting them, serving them, praying for them,
sharing the gospel with them, and being their friend. Our love for those around
us increases when we remember that we are all children of God—that we are
spirit brothers and sisters. The love that results from this realization has
the power to transcend all boundaries of nation, creed, and color.
Recall the scripture in Luke
10:
25 ¶ And,
behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall
I do to inherit aeternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is
written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy aheart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour
as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou
hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt alive.
29 But he, willing to ajustify himself
(he is a lawyer and he sees that he only must love a narrow group), said unto
Jesus, And who is my bneighbour?
Jesus then told the story of a
fellow Jew who fell among thieves and was beaten and robbed. Both a priest and
a Levite, fellow Jews, passed him by without offering aid. Finally, a
Samaritan, generally despised by the Jews, passed by. He dressed the wounds and
brought him to an Inn.
Christ then asked the lawyer
who of the three, priest, levite, or Samaritan, was the neighbor to the man.
Brother Matt Hawkins of La
Cholla Ward told the following story last testimony meeting…
He was on a business trip in
Louisville, Ky during the recent cold snap that brought ice and snow to region.
He had a hotel room that was a 10-minute walk from his business office so he
decided to walk. On his way he spotted a man in a wheel chair in the middle of
the road while cars were zipping by on every side.
The man was poorly dressed
against the cold and appeared in distress. Bro Hawkins recognized the man
seemed stuck in the road and unable to move. He held out his hand to stop
traffic and placed his business bag in the street to keep it stopped. He
approached the man and the man looked up from his wheelchair at him with
extreme gratitude and longing in his eyes. Brother Hawkins said he imagined it
would be the same look we would have if we met the savior. The man said his
gloveless hands were too cold to grip the wheels on his chair and he could not
move. Bro Hawkins pushed him to the sidewalk and removed his gloves and gave
them to the man. The man thanked him sincerely. Bro Hawkins was this man’s neighbor.
Elder
Christofferson said:
Because
[Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ] love you, They do not want to leave you
“just as you are”, [stuck in the road]. Because They love you, They want you to
have joy and success. Because They love you, They want you to repent because
that is the path to happiness. But it is your choice—They honor your agency.
You must choose to love Them, to serve Them, to keep Their commandments. Then
They can more abundantly bless you as
well as love you.
Their
principal expectation of us is that we also love. “He that loveth not knoweth
not God; for God is love.”24 As John
wrote, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”25
In the classic novel “Uncle
Tom’s Cabin” two individuals try to help a young mischievous slave girl, known
as Topsy, turn to Christ. Born into
slavery, Topsy didn’t know either her mother or father nor when her birthday
was. When Topsy is asked if she knows how she was created, she says “I guess I
just growed”. Topsy often acted out, doing annoying things to get attention. Miss
Ophelia tries to teach her of Christian piety with strictness and punishments and
finally gives up. Then the saintly, yet tuberculosis-stricken daughter in the
house, Eva St. Clair, uses simple affection. Instead of threatening her with
physical punishment, Eva simply hugs Topsy and says, "Poor child, I love
you!" (25.48). Once Topsy realizes that she can be loved, and that someone
believes in her, she begins the process of reform. Harriet Beacher Stowe tells
us that:
Topsy did not become at once a saint; but the
life and death of Eva did work a marked change in her. The callous indifference
was gone; there was now sensibility, hope, desire, and the striving for good –
a strife irregular, interrupted, suspended oft, but yet renewed again.
In my past, we had welcomed
a new baby into our family and also had attained a new home. It turned out that
someone had dropped a rock into the sewer line during construction of the home.
A sewer blockage had developed resulting in a toilet flush causing sewer water
to backup into the bathtub. This was not noticed initially and several flushes
resulted in a fair amount of water in the tub…until the seal around the toilet
failed and all that water came out into the bathroom and surrounding hall. This
event coincided perfectly with the first-time visit of a newly assigned
hometeacher. The dam broke and the doorbell rang one minute later. I answered
and told our hometeacher that we had a bit of a disaster and we’d need to
cancel. This loving young man removed his shoes, rolled up his pants, and he
spent the next 45 minutes bailing and mopping while I concentrated on finding a
plumber. We will always remember him as our best hometeacher for this and
several other reasons.
May I exemplify love for my
neighbor in this way. May I love enough to share my testimony and good works, I
pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
posted by Deseret, Cactus, & Texas @ 3:45 PM
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