Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear – Dieter F. Uchtdorf (4/2017)

Below is the text from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk from April 2017 General Conference called, “Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear.” Additionally (not part of President Uchtdorf’s words) are bullet points that summarize principles, cautions, and actions from the talk. The bulleted comments are not intended to bring out all principles, cautions and actions from the talk and they represent the thoughts and beliefs of our writers and not President Uchtdorf himself. Although we hope you may learn from our comments and our methods, we also hope that in your study you will follow the guidance from Moroni to know and understand truth for yourself, which in our opinion, includes how truth should be applied in your life and circumstances at this time. That understanding comes through the Holy Ghost. May you feel His guidance and have courage to follow where He leads.

Talk          Other Resources          Footnotes          Summary Sheet

Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

My beloved brothers and sisters, dear friends, what a privilege and joy it is to meet as a worldwide Church united in our faith and love for God and His children.

I am especially grateful for the presence of our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson. President, we will always take to heart your words of direction, counsel, and wisdom. We love you, President Monson, and we always pray for you.

Years ago, when I was serving as stake president in Frankfurt, Germany, a dear but unhappy sister approached me at the end of one of our stake meetings.

“Isn’t it terrible?” she said. “There must have been four or five people sound asleep during your talk!”

I thought for a moment and answered, “I am pretty sure that church sleep is among the healthiest of all sleeps.”

My wonderful wife, Harriet, overheard this casual exchange and later mentioned that it was one of the nicest answers I had ever given.

The Great Awakening

A few hundred years ago in North America, a movement called the “Great Awakening” spread across the countryside. One of its primary objectives was to awaken the people who appeared to be asleep regarding spiritual matters.

Young Joseph Smith was influenced by the things he heard from preachers who were part of this religious awakening. It is one of the reasons he decided to seek earnestly the will of the Lord in private prayer.

These preachers had a dramatic, emotional preaching style, with sermons that were known for their heavy emphasis on the fiery terrors of hell that await the sinner.1 Their speeches didn’t put people to sleep—but they may have caused a few nightmares. Their purpose and pattern seemed to be to frighten people into church.

Fear as Manipulation

Historically, fear has often been used as a means to get people to take action. Parents have used it with their children, employers with employees, and politicians with voters.

Experts in marketing understand the power of fear and often employ it. This is why some advertisements seem to carry the implicit message that if we fail to buy their breakfast cereal or miss out on the newest video game or cell phone, we run the risk of living a miserable life, dying alone and unhappy.

We smile at this and think we would never fall for such manipulation, but we sometimes do. Worse, we sometimes use similar methods to get others to do what we want.

My message has two purposes today: The first is to urge us to contemplate and consider the extent to which we use fear to motivate others—including ourselves. The second is to suggest a better way.

The Problem with Fear

First, let us address the problem with fear. After all, who among us has never been compelled by fear to eat better, wear a seat belt, exercise more, save money, or even repent of sin?

It is true that fear can have a powerful influence over our actions and behavior. But that influence tends to be temporary and shallow. Fear rarely has the power to change our hearts, and it will never transform us into people who love what is right and who want to obey Heavenly Father.

  • Fear is a powerful motivator.
  • Fear as a motivator is temporary and limited.

People who are fearful may say and do the right things, but they do not feel the right things. They often feel helpless and resentful, even angry. Over time these feelings lead to mistrust, defiance, even rebellion.

  • Fear leads to helplessness, resentment, and anger. Then to mistrust, defiance, even rebellion.
  • Fear motivates people to act a certain way, but it may not change their feelings.

Unfortunately, this misguided approach to life and leadership is not limited to the secular world. It grieves me to hear of Church members who exercise unrighteous dominion—whether in their homes, in their Church callings, at work, or in their daily interactions with others.

Often, people may condemn bullying in others, yet they cannot see it in themselves. They demand compliance with their own arbitrary rules, but when others don’t follow these random rules, they chasten them verbally, emotionally, and sometimes even physically.

The Lord has said that “when we … exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, … the heavens withdraw themselves [and] the Spirit of the Lord is grieved.”2

  • The Holy Ghost withdraws if we excise control over another person “in any degree of unrighteousness”

There may be moments when we are tempted to justify our actions by believing that the end justifies the means. We might even think that to be controlling, manipulative, and harsh will be for the good of others. Not so, for the Lord has made it clear that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance.”3

  • When using fear to control others the ends DO NOT justify the means. (Fear may get quick results, but not positive end results.)
  • The Lord’s way is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

A Better Way

The more I come to know my Heavenly Father, the more I see how He inspires and leads His children. He is not angry, vengeful, or retaliatory.4 His very purpose—His work and His glory—is to mentor us, exalt us, and lead us to His fulness.5

  • God inspires and leads.
  • Anger, vengeance, and retaliation are not God’s way.
  • God’s intention is to mentor and lead us to be the best we can be. (His desire is for lasting change and he uses perfect methods. So if we want lasting change in ourselves or others, use His methods.)
  • God wants us to have all that He has.

God described Himself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”6

  • God is merciful, gracious, longsuffering, full of goodness and truth.

Our Father in Heaven’s love for us, His children, surpasses by far our ability to comprehend.7

  • God loves us. This is part of His motivation for how He associates with us. (It may be insightful to ponder how God’s love and desire for us to be the best we can is the driving force behind all aspects of the gospel, the organization of the church, and each commandment He has given us.)

Does this mean that God condones or overlooks behaviors that run contrary to His commands? No, definitely not!

  • Love does not mean accepting or overlooking negative behavior.

But He wants to change more than just our behaviors. He wants to change our very natures. He wants to change our hearts.

  • There is more involved in improvement and change than changing behavior alone.

He wants us to reach out and take firm hold of the iron rod, confront our fears, and bravely step forward and upward along the strait and narrow path. He wants this for us because He loves us and because this is the way to happiness.

  • Our behavior doesn’t change God’s love for us or His desire for us to be our best self.
  • God shows us the way to happiness.
  • Faithfully following God’s teachings, overcoming fears, and courageously living the gospel is the way to happiness. 

So, how does God motivate His children to follow Him in our day?

He sent His Son!

God sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to show us the right way.

God motivates through persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, and love unfeigned.8 God is on our side. He loves us, and when we stumble, He wants us to rise up, try again, and become stronger.

He is our mentor.

He is our great and cherished hope.

He desires to stimulate us with faith.

He trusts us to learn from our missteps and make correct choices.

This is the better way!9

  • Jesus Christ is our example and mentor.
  • We can have hope through Christ.
  • God wants us to learn from our mistakes.

What of the Evils of the World?

One of the ways Satan wants us to manipulate others is by dwelling upon and even exaggerating the evil in the world.

  • Focusing on the negative is a fear motivator.

Certainly our world has always been, and will continue to be, imperfect. Far too many innocent people suffer because of circumstances of nature as well as from man’s inhumanity. The corruption and wickedness in our day are unique and alarming.

But in spite of all this, I wouldn’t trade living in this time with any other time in the history of the world. We are blessed beyond measure to live in a day of unparalleled prosperity, enlightenment, and advantage. Most of all, we are blessed to have the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which gives us a unique perspective on the world’s dangers and shows us how to either avoid these dangers or deal with them.

When I think of these blessings, I want to fall to my knees and offer praises to our Heavenly Father for His never-ending love for all of His children.

  • You can see bad and you can see good depending what you look for.
  • The gospel gives us a unique perspective of the challenges of life and how to handle them. (President Uchtdorf talked about this in another talk about the Plan of Happiness. See our study group posts about that talk.)
  • Give thanks to God for His love.

I don’t believe God wants His children to be fearful or dwell on the evils of the world. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”10

He has given us an abundance of reasons to rejoice. We just need to find and to recognize them. The Lord often reminds us to “be not afraid,” to “be of good cheer,”11 and to “fear not, little flock.”12

  • Fear is not of God.
  • God wants us to focus on the good.

The Lord Will Fight Our Battles

jesus sheep

Brothers and sisters, we are the Lord’s “little flock.” We are the Saints of the latter days. Inherent in our name is the commitment to look forward to the Savior’s return and prepare ourselves and the world to receive Him. Therefore, let us serve God and love our fellowmen. Let us do this with a natural confidence, with humility, never looking down on any other religion or group of people. Brothers and sisters, we are charged with studying the word of God and heeding the voice of the Spirit, that we may “know the signs of the times, and the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.”13

  • We should have hope in the fact the Savior will come to earth again. We should prepare ourselves, and the world, for that day.
  • What is “natural confidence?”

We are, therefore, not ignorant of the challenges of the world, nor are we unaware of the difficulties of our times. But this does not mean that we should burden ourselves or others with constant fear. Rather than dwelling on the immensity of our challenges, would it not be better to focus on the infinite greatness, goodness, and absolute power of our God, trusting Him and preparing with a joyful heart for the return of Jesus the Christ?

  • Knowing or being aware of something is different than fear. (We don’t have to be ignorant to avoid fear. In fact, this isn’t about avoiding fear. It is about facing it and moving forward past it.)
  • Focus on the goodness of God.
  • Actively prepare for the 2nd coming.

As His covenant people, we need not be paralyzed by fear because bad things might happen. Instead, we can move forward with faith, courage, determination, and trust in God as we approach the challenges and opportunities ahead.14

  • Fear paralyzes people.
  • Approach opportunities and challenges with faith, courage and determination. (If we are in patterns of fear we may not know how to approach opportunities with anything but fear. Look to courageous heroes, modern day or ancient. Think through what they might do if they were approaching the situation that you are.)

We do not walk the path of discipleship alone. “The Lord thy God … doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”15

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”16

In the face of fear, let us find our courage, muster our faith, and have confidence in the promise that “no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.”17

Do we live in a time of peril and turmoil? Of course we do.

God Himself has said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”18

Can we exercise the faith to believe and to act accordingly? Can we live up to our commitments and sacred covenants? Can we keep the commandments of God even in challenging circumstances? Of course we can!

We can because God has promised, “All things shall work together for your good, if [you] walk uprightly.”19 Therefore, let us set aside our fears and live instead with joy, humility, hope, and a bold confidence that the Lord is with us.

  • We are not alone. God is on our side.
  • Have courage, faith and confidence because God can overcome all.
  • We can be successful.

Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear

My beloved friends, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if we ever find ourselves living in fear or anxiety, or if we ever find that our own words, attitudes, or actions are causing fear in others, I pray with all the strength of my soul that we may become liberated from this fear by the divinely appointed antidote to fear: the pure love of Christ, for “perfect love casteth out fear.”20

  • We do not need to be afraid. There is another way. (Think of movies or stories where someone has been poisoned and they, along with their friends and allies, frantically search for the antidote. Fear is a poison of sorts and we’ve just been told that there is an antidote. It will probably take some time and effort to get and apply the antidote. But we know it’s there. Find it! As if your life depended on it.)

Christ’s perfect love overcomes temptations to harm, coerce, bully, or oppress.

Christ’s perfect love allows us to walk with humility, dignity, and a bold confidence as followers of our beloved Savior. Christ’s perfect love gives us the confidence to press through our fears and place our complete trust in the power and goodness of our Heavenly Father and of His Son, Jesus Christ.

In our homes, in our places of business, in our Church callings, in our hearts, let us replace fear with Christ’s perfect love. Christ’s love will replace fear with faith!

  • Love overcomes harm, coercion, bullying and oppression. (This is something to really think about. This doesn’t necessarily mean that to get out of an oppressive situation we need to love our oppressor enough so they’ll change. That often isn’t the right answer. But love can still help us in that situation. We can know that God loves us. We can love ourselves and know we’re worth fighting for. And then Christ’s perfect love can help us heal and move forward. Love can also help us overcome our desire to mistreat someone else.)
  • Through Christ’s love we can have humility, dignity, bold confidence, and faith.
  • Christ’s love is how we replace fear with faith.

His love will enable us to recognize, trust, and have faith in our Heavenly Father’s goodness, His divine plan, His gospel, and His commandments.21 Loving God and our fellowmen will turn our obedience to God’s commandments into a blessing rather than a burden. Christ’s love will help us become a little kinder, more forgiving, more caring, and more dedicated to His work.

  • Christ’s love helps us understand God, His plan for us and other key points of the gospel.
  • Love changes our perspective.

As we fill our hearts with the love of Christ, we will awaken with a renewed spiritual freshness and we will walk joyfully, confidently, awake, and alive in the light and glory of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.

I testify, with the Apostle John, “There is no fear in [Christ’s] love.”22 Brothers and sisters, dear friends, God knows you perfectly. He loves you perfectly. He knows what your future holds. He wants you to “be not afraid, only believe”23 and “abide in his [perfect] love.”24 This is my prayer and blessing in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Other Resources (not from President Uchtdorf’s talk):

  • Why It Will All Work Out – blog post from lds.org listing ways to overcome fear
  • Our study group posts about God’s Plan based on a talk from President Uchtdorf helps us see how our knowledge of The Plan gives us a unique perspective about life.
  • Our study group posts about God’s Love based on talks from Elder Christofferson and President Monson.
  • Are You a Secret Agent? – do you know your mission and your special skills? Don’t let fear keep us hiding these things from the world and from ourselves.
  • Amazing Things Song – a song about the power of faith. It’s fitting for our discussion about overcoming fear because we’ve been told that faith is the opposite of fear. I love all the amazing examples of faith in the song. If such great things could happen to all those people because they had some faith, then I know that great things will come my way as I build my faith.

  • Video of a Duck Family Jumping Off a Bridge – I’m sure that many of us can relate to those little ducklings who are standing at the edge of the bridge, vulnerable, nervous, and perhaps even fearful. From their perspective there are quite a few problems with the situation and a big choice to make. But the mama duck was there telling them to push forward, to trust her, that it would be ok. That is the direction, comfort and guidance that is available through Jesus Christ and his teachings. One by one each of those little ducks took a leap of faith. And the more we come to know and trust Christ we can too.

Quotes-MarianneW-BeGreat-plain

Footnotes (from President Uchtdorf’s talk):

  1. George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards are two prominent examples of this kind of preacher.

  2. Doctrine and Covenants 121:37.

  3. Galatians 5:22–23.

  4. On one occasion, the Savior wanted to enter a village of the Samaritans, but the people rejected Jesus and would not receive Him into their village. Two of His disciples were deeply offended by this and asked, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Jesus answered with this caution: “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (see Luke 9:51–56, New King James Version [1982]).

  5. See Moses 1:39; see also Ephesians 3:19.

  6. Exodus 34:6.

  7. See Ephesians 3:19.

  8. See Doctrine and Covenants 121:41. Surely if God expects us, His mortal children, to behave this way toward each other, He—a perfect being possessed of every virtue—would be the model for such behavior.

  9. The premortal Council in Heaven is an excellent case study that demonstrates the character of God. There our Heavenly Father presented His plan for our eternal progression. Key elements of that plan included agency, obedience, and salvation through the Atonement of Christ. Lucifer, however, proposed a different approach. He guaranteed that all would obey—none would be lost. The only way to accomplish this would be through tyranny and force. But our loving Heavenly Father would not permit such a plan. He valued the agency of His children. He knew that we must make mistakes along the way if we are to truly learn. And that is why He provided a Savior, whose eternal sacrifice could cleanse us of sin and permit our entry back into the kingdom of God.

    When our Father in Heaven saw that many of His beloved children were seduced by Lucifer, did He force them to follow His plan? Did He intimidate or threaten those who were making such a terrible choice? No. Our all-powerful God could surely have stopped this rebellion. He could have forced His will upon the dissenters and made them comply. But instead, He allowed His children to choose for themselves.

  10. 2 Timothy 1:7.

  11. See, for example, Joshua 1:9; Isaiah 41:13; Luke 12:32; John 16:33; 1 Peter 3:14; Doctrine and Covenants 6:36; 50:41; 61:36; 78:18.

  12. Luke 12:32.

  13. Doctrine and Covenants 68:11.

  14. Moses’s counsel to the people of his day still applies: “Do not be afraid. … See the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today” (Exodus 14:13, New King James Version).

  15. Deuteronomy 31:6.

  16. Exodus 14:14, New King James Version.

  17. Isaiah 54:17.

  18. John 16:33.

  19. Doctrine and Covenants 90:24; see also 2 Corinthians 2:14; Doctrine and Covenants 105:14.

  20. 1 John 4:18.

  21. Let us remember that the Savior came not “into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17). In fact, “he doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him” (2 Nephi 26:24).

  22. 1 John 4:18; see also 1 John 4:16.

  23. Mark 5:36.

  24. John 15:10.

to view or print click pop-out icon in upper right corner
Loader Loading...
EAD Logo Taking too long?

Reload Reload document
| Open Open in new tab

 Photo Source: Jesus Sheep


God’s Love

[God’s Love Post #1]

“[God] is the perfect embodiment of love, and we rely heavily on the constancy and universal reach of that love. As President Thomas S. Monson has expressed: ‘God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.’” This statement from Elder D. Todd Christofferson caught my attention when I read his talk again recently. This says to me that God will never change his love for us no matter what we do.

Later Elder Christofferson said, “God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever, but what it means for each of us depends on how we respond to His love.” So the choice is ours. What will His love look like in our life? We will spend the next two weeks exploring what What President Thomas S. Monson and Elder Christofferson have to say about God’s love in their talks from last conference.

The Perfect Path to Happiness by President Thomas S. Monson

Abide in My Love By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

[God’s Love Post #2]

above all never lose faith in your father in heaven
When speaking about how to describe and speak of God’s love Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “ the descriptor unconditional appears nowhere in scripture. Rather, His love is described in scripture as ‘great and wonderful love’ (D&C 138:3), ‘perfect love’(1 John 4:18: Moroni 8:16), ‘redeeming love’ (Alma 5:26),’ and ‘everlasting love’ (Jeremiah 31:3). These are better terms because the word unconditional can convey mistaken impressions about divine love, such as, God tolerates and excuses anything we do because His love is unconditional, or God makes no demands upon us because His love is unconditional, or all are saved in the heavenly kingdom of God because His love is unconditional.”

In this statement, he lists five terms used to describe God’s love for His children – four are from the scriptures and one has come into use over time. He describes some of the concerns about using the word unconditional when referring to Heavenly Father’s love. But in saying what unconditional love doesn’t mean, he tells you that He loves you even when He can’t accept what you are doing. That suggests that somehow He can separate you from your behavior – you aren’t defined by what you do. So even in times when you may feel that, because of what you have or haven’t done, He can’t love you, please remember that He does.

As I spent time thinking about the four terms Elder Christofferson selected from the scriptures, I wondered why those words were used. I will talk about each of them over the next few days.

[God’s Love Post #3] – Redeeming Love

There is a verse in hymn 188, “Thy Will, O Lord, Be Done”, that reads,
“When in the wondrous realms above
Our Savior had been called upon
To save our world of sin by love,
He said, ‘Thy will, O Lord, be done.’”

The Savior described His atonement like this, “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink–’.”

Can you even begin to imagine the depth of love it would take for Him to go through that ordeal?

That same love is available directly to us today – and it can be part of our life if we pay the price.

President Thomas S. Monson has given us some insights into what our part is. He said, “Essential to the plan [of happiness] is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His atoning sacrifice, all would be lost. It is not enough, however, merely to believe in Him and His mission. We need to work and learn, search and pray,repent and improve. We need to know God’s laws and live them. We need to receive His saving ordinances. Only by so doing will we obtain true, eternal happiness.”

President Monson identified the challenge. Are you up for it?

Why We Need a Savior Video

[God’s Love Post #4] – Redeeming Love

meme-uchtdorf-grace-path-upward-1446859-mobile

Jesus said: “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”

What is the phrase., “ continue in my love?” Is it a request, a command, a statement of possibility, a promise?

He then continues with, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” Notice that the Savior is speaking from personal experience here just like He does when He is helping you and me through the challenges of our life.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson expands on these statements by Jesus. He said, “To ‘continue in’ or ‘abide in’ the Savior’s love means to receive His grace and be perfected by it. To receive His grace, we must have faith in Jesus Christ and keep His commandments, including repenting of our sins,being baptized for the remission of sins, receiving the Holy Ghost, and continuing in the path of obedience.”

This shows that His redeeming love is always present, but, in many ways, how it affects us is our choice. This all may seem overwhelming, but remember that what God requires is possible. If we are on the path and progressing, we will make it. It is satan that wants us to believe otherwise.

[God’s Love Post #5] – Perfect love

fear-not-i-am-with-thee-1252853-gallery

Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “Beyond rendering the penitent person guiltless and spotless with the promise of being ‘lifted up at the last day,’ there is a second vital aspect of abiding in the love of God. Abiding in His love will enable us to realize our full potential, to become even as He is. As President Dieter F. Uchtdorf stated: ‘The grace of God does not merely restore us to our previous innocent state. … His aim is much higher: He wants His sons and daughters to become like Him.’”

What can I seek in this life that will be more fulfilling than to reach my potential? That God will enable us to be our best seems to me to be an expression of His perfect love.

The journey to become what we can be, does not follow an easy path. It has many obstacles along the way that often seem impassable. But the perfect love of God who, through His Son Jesus Christ, has overcome the world,.will help help us overcome those things that seem to block our way.

One of the of the barriers we seem to have is fear. It affects many of the things we try to do so we can grow. It can be fear of the unknown future, fear of failure, fear of not being accepted or fear of almost anything else. Fear often will not let us do things we need to do so we can reach our potential. But perfect love can help. Both 1 John 4:18 and Moroni 8:16 tell us that perfect love casts out fear. That doesn’t mean we won’t have concerns about what we need to do, but it does mean that, with God’s help, we can face the problems we have and make it through them. I know God will do His part if we do ours. I remember sitting on a commuter train about one year ago and making the decision that I was going to face my fear and do something I needed to do. That decision started an amazing journey.

[God’s Love Post #6] – Perfect love

quote-meme-holland-1223876-wallpaper

Yesterday’s post was about God’s perfect love which provides the way for us to achieve our full potential. “To abide in God’s love in this sense means to submit fully to His will. It means to accept His correction when needed, …”1

As I stopped to ponder these two phrase many thoughts have come to my mind to help me expand my understanding. I have listed a few.
– I remember many years ago wondering what I would miss in this life if I chose to do only those things that were God’s will. I came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t miss anything that was important, so I decided to do that. I found that, even though making the decision was necessary, it was the easy part. Actually doing it is a lifetime journey.
– When you choose to “submit fully to [God’s] will” it does not make you perfect or remove you from all pain and sorrow. It does, however, let you come “unto Christ, and be perfected in him…”2
– C. S. Lewis often used the metaphor that God is a sculptor working on us as a piece of granite. The adversity we face is like the blow of a hammer on a chisel knocking away the excess stone and exposing us in our full potential. It is painful but necessary.
– King Benjamin said a person must be, “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”3 if he wants to get rid of the “natural man” within him.

It is His perfect love that can show us the way, support us through the journey with hope and joy, then deliver us in our most complete form into His presence. The journey begins with a decision. I hope you will decide to take the next step to bring this love more fully into your life?

References:
1- Elder D. Todd Christofferson said. “To abide in God’s love in this sense means to submit fully to His will. It means to accept His correction when needed, ‘for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.’ It means to love and serve one another as Jesus has loved and served us. It means to learn ‘to abide the law of a celestial kingdom’ so that we can ‘abide a celestial glory.’”

2- Moroni 10:32

3- Mosiah 3:19

[God’s Love Post #7] – Great and Wonderful love

what I am looking for

Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke of Helen Keller’s life, who at the age of 19 months became deaf and blind, as “something of a parable suggesting how divine love can transform a willing soul.” Helen was very difficult to be around , but one event changed her whole story. While her teacher, Anne Sullivan, was trying to teach Helen words, she wrote the word “water” on Helen’s hand and then put her hand under a water faucet. Helen described the experience this way, “That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! … Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house[,] every object … I touched seemed to quiver with life.”

I love the imagery of her statement “that living word awakened my soul.” As you think of that statement and visualize what it means, what do you see? One of the things that I see is the love of my Heavenly Father awakening my soul so that everything around me becomes alive. Something I can use to bless my life and the life of others. His love is amazing!

Elder Christofferson followed up the story with these words, “Even so, we may be quite content with what we have done in our lives and that we simply are what we are, while our Savior comprehends a glorious potential that we perceive only ‘through a glass,darkly.’ Each of us can experience the ecstasy of divine potential unfolding within us, much like the joy Helen Keller felt when words came to life, giving light to her soul and setting it free.”

What will your soul be like when the love of God sets it free? Will it be worth the price you have to pay and the effort you have to exert to allow it to happen? Are you willing to do what is necessary so your soul can be free? These posts about God’s love have and will continue to give you ideas on a way to start – no matter where you are now. Will you join me on the path to feeling His love more deeply?

[God’s Love Post #8] – Redeeming love

Trust in God

In reference to the relationship that Helen Keller had with her teacher Anne Sullivan, Elder D. Todd Christofferson said this, “Similarly, as we come to trust rather than resist our divine Teacher, He can work with us to enlighten and lift us to a new reality.”

There are three phases in his statement that really intrigued me when I read the talk. When I stopped to think* about them, I decided they were worth looking at in some detail.

1 – “trust rather than resist” – My assumption is that you believe in Jesus Christ – that He is your Savior, that He is your example of how to live and that He loves you. But do you really believe that He can and will help you accomplish those things you want to do that are good? Do you trust Him? Last night, as my wife and I were reading about the 2060 warriors of Helaman who had all received many wounds in battle but had all lived, we came across an explanation of why they were preserved. Helaman said, “their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually.” As I read that verse of scripture and thought about this concept of trust,** it enlarged my understanding of how powerful trusting God is. It is our choice whether we trust or resist God. What will it be?

2 – “He can work with us” – Because of the principle of agency, the Lord is not able to do things for you or me if we do not open the door to Him. The word can in this phrase means that we have given Him permission to work with us because of our trust. I imply from this statement that I cannot and God will not lift me alone.

3 – “enlighten and lift us to a new reality” – The only limit on what this phrase is saying seems to be our trust in our divine Teacher. That indicates that anyone can be elevated to a new place. That new place is not always in new surroundings, but it always includes our spiritual, mental or emotional condition.

So trust in Jesus Christ becomes another tool to help us more deeply immerse ourselves in God’s love. Have you written a list of those tools we have discovered so far? If you haven’t, will you?

*Stop and think is an effective learning tool. This is often used when something catches your attention while listening or reading.

** Connecting ideas is another effective learning tool. One reason it works well is because the mind stores information by connecting it to associated memories.

[God’s Love Post #9] – Everlasting love

The last phrase that Elder D. Todd Christofferson selected from the scriptures to describe God’s love is everlasting love. Think about what that says. It means that you and I will still be able to enjoy His love after we leave this life, but the depth to which we can experience it then largely depends on choices we make now.

Elder Christofferson said that, “the intent of Christ’s suffering – the ultimate manifestation of His love—was ‘to bring about the bowels of mercy, which over powereth justice*, …’” What an amazing concept. While I am learning to meet the demands of justice (which means living life perfectly), because of mercy I can still move towards living with God (which means feeling the full effect of His love) after this life. And so can you.

Only Christ was able to meet the requirements of justice in mortal life. So the question is, will you trust the Savior and follow the path of mercy without resistance?

*This is another statement where I had to use the “Stop and think” learning tool. Simply put, I learned that I don’t have to beat myself up because I can’t currently keep all of the laws of God, because if I continually qualify to receive the mercy provided by Christ, which is something you and I can do, eventually I will live those laws completely. And I will only have to pay the price of repentance for my failures.

Beautiful, Beautiful ~ Francesca Battistelli Song

[God’s Love Post #10] – Everlasting Love

In an article I read the other day, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf told of watching some archers practice their sport. Then he made this observation, “I don’t think you can develop a reputation for being an accomplished archer by shooting at an empty wall and then drawing targets around the arrows. You have to learn the art of finding the target and hitting the bull’s-eye. Shooting first and drawing the target afterward may seem a little absurd, but sometimes we ourselves mirror that very behavior in other circumstances of life.”

I had planned on writing about this statement by Elder Dallin H. Oaks that was quoted by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become.” Then I decided I needed to use both of them because they were related. I could get the connection, but I felt that they were.

Last night as I began to write, I skimmed through President Uchtdorf’s article one more time, and found the piece that I needed to connect the two statements. After quoting the scripture where Christ said that the two great commandment are to love God and love other people, he said, “Please note the last sentence: ‘On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ The Savior not only showed us the target, but He also identified the bull’s-eye.”

The focus of life should be love for God and love for others. When you and I act based on that love, we will become a person filled with love. As we love God and others we will feel God’s everlasting love in our life and see it work in the lives of others. With the passing of time, these experiences will cause our love to become everlasting as well.

If I paint my target around work, or sports, or anything else, we will
miss out on many important opportunities.

I hope you will take away at least two things from this post: 1:- By loving God and others, our own own life will get better; 2 – I wrote in this post the process I went through in preparing it. There are study skills involved – connecting related ideas to create new understanding, pondering, follow the feelings from the Spirit, and reading things again to see if there is something that was missed.

I Feel My Savior’s Love Video