I know it's Friday. It's also Valentine's Day. As I thought today about how I just didn't feel like posting a MM this week I realized that I do have something I could post. Last time Valentine's Day was on a Sunday I had a great one, and I happen to have the text of my talk on a Google doc so it is always with me.
I will share some of it with you now. I may share more of it with you later.
Today, as I'm sure you all could guess, we're discussing Love. I'm going to base my thoughts off of Elder Wirthlin's talk in General Conference in 2007, titled "The Great Commandment." He begins his talk by asking what quality defines us as Latter-Day Saints today. At the end of the talk (yes, I'm spoiling the ending) he answered: we are a people who love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and we love our neighbors as ourselves. We know from Matthew 22:35-40 that on those commandments hang the whole law and the prophets. I'll talk a bit about each of those commandments, and also about the nature of love.
Elder Wirthlin said, "True love lasts forever. It is eternally patient and forgiving. It believes, hopes, and endures all things. That is the love our Heavenly Father bears for us.We all yearn to experience love like this. Even when we make mistakes, we hope others will love us in spite of our shortcomings—even if we don’t deserve it.Oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us—even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will."
Brad Wilcox, a BYU professor, said, "God is bound to love us. It is his nature to love perfectly and infinitely. He is bound to love us -- not because we are good, but because He is good. Love is so central to His character that the scriptures actually say, "God is love"."
In return we are commanded to love Him. Elder Wirthlin said, "Spend time with Him. Meditate on His words. Take His yoke upon you. Seek to understand and obey, because “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” When we love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden. Obedience becomes a delight. When we love the Lord, we seek less for things that benefit us and turn our hearts toward things that will bless and uplift others."
1 Corinthians 8:3 states "If any man love God, the same is known of Him." As we begin to know and love God, He recognizes our efforts and we can see more clearly the love He has for us.
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