You Know How Much God Loves Creation Just Think How Much More He Must Love You
Brothers and sisters, exercise yous know how completely God, our Heavenly Father, loves you lot? Have you felt His love deep in your soul?
When you lot know and understand how completely you are loved as a child of God, it changes everything. It changes the way you feel nearly yourself when you make mistakes. It changes how y'all feel when hard things happen. Information technology changes your view of God's commandments. It changes your view of others and of your capacity to make a difference.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: "The start great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that's the first nifty commandment. But the start great truth of all eternity is that God loves u.s. with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength."1
How tin each of us know deep in our souls that slap-up truth of eternity?
The prophet Nephi was shown in a vision the well-nigh powerful evidence of God'southward beloved. Upon viewing the tree of life, Nephi asked to know the estimation thereof. In reply, an angel showed Nephi a city, a mother, and a baby. As Nephi looked upon the city of Nazareth and the righteous mother Mary, property the infant Jesus in her arms, the affections declared, "Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!"2
At that sacred moment, Nephi understood that in the nascency of the Savior, God was showing forth His pure and complete love. God's love, Nephi testified, "sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men."3
We can motion-picture show the love of God as light emanating from the tree of life, shedding itself abroad over all the globe into the hearts of the children of men. God'south lite and love permeate all His creations.iv
Sometimes we mistakenly recollect that nosotros can feel God'south beloved only after nosotros have followed the iron rod and partaken of the fruit. God's dear, yet, not just is received past those who come to the tree but is the very power that motivates united states to seek that tree.
"Wherefore, it is the virtually desirable above all things," Nephi taught, and the angel exclaimed, "Yea, and the most joyous to the soul."5
Xx years ago, a beloved family fellow member stepped away from the Church. He had many unanswered questions. His married woman, a catechumen, stayed true to her religion. They worked difficult to preserve their matrimony in the differences that arose.
Last year he wrote downwards three questions most the Church that were difficult for him to reconcile and sent them to two couples who had been his friends for several years. He invited them to reverberate on those questions and come to dinner to share their thoughts.
Following this visit with friends, he went to his room and started working on a project. The evening chat and the love shown to him by his friends came to the forefront of his mind. He later wrote that he was compelled to end his work. He said: "A bright low-cal filled my soul. … I was familiar with this deep feeling of enlightenment, only in this case information technology continued to abound stronger than e'er before and lasted for several minutes. I sat quietly with the feeling, which I came to empathize as a manifestation of the beloved of God for me. … I felt a spiritual impression that told me I could render to church building and limited this love of God in what I do there."
He then wondered nigh his questions. The feeling he received was that God honored his questions and that not having clear answers should non end him from moving forrad.vi He should share God's love with all while he continued to contemplate. As he acted on that impression, he felt a kinship with Joseph Smith, who remarked after his Starting time Vision, "My soul was filled with love, and for many days I could rejoice with slap-up joy."7
Remarkably, a few brusk months later, this family unit fellow member received the same calling he had held 20 years before. The first time he held the calling, he performed his responsibilities every bit a dutiful member of the Church. Now the question for him became not "How can I fulfill this calling?" but "How tin can I show God's love through my service?" With this new approach, he felt joy, meaning, and purpose in all aspects of his calling.
Sisters and brothers, how can we receive the transforming power of God's love? The prophet Mormon invites u.s. to "pray 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 followers of his Son, Jesus Christ."8 Mormon is inviting us not only to pray that we may be filled with His love for others but to pray that nosotros may know of God'southward pure beloved for ourselves.9
Equally nosotros receive His dear, we notice greater joy in striving to love and serve as He did, condign "true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ."ten
God's love is not found in the circumstances of our lives just in His presence in our lives. We know of His love when we receive strength beyond our own and when His Spirit brings peace, comfort, and direction. At times information technology may be difficult to experience His love. We can pray to have our optics opened to run into His hand in our lives and to see His dear in the dazzler of His creations.
Equally we ponder the Savior's life and His infinite cede, we begin to understand His love for us. We reverently sing the words of Eliza R. Snowfall: "His precious claret he freely spilt; His life he freely gave."xi Jesus's humility in suffering for the states distills upon our souls, opening our hearts to seek forgiveness at His hand and filling us with a desire to live as He did.12
President Russell M. Nelson wrote, "The more committed nosotros become to patterning our lives after His, the purer and more than divine our love becomes."13
Our son related: "When I was 11, my friends and I decided to hide from our instructor and skip the first half of our Principal class. When we finally arrived, to our surprise, the teacher greeted us warmly. He then offered a heartfelt prayer during which he expressed sincere gratitude to the Lord that we had decided to come to class that 24-hour interval of our own free volition. I cannot think what the lesson was nearly or fifty-fifty our teacher's name, but now, some 30 years later, I am still touched by the pure love he showed me that solar day."
5 years ago, I observed an example of divine dearest while attention Primary in Russian federation. I saw a faithful sister kneel in front of 2 children and testify to them that even if they were the simply ones living on globe, Jesus would have suffered and died just for them.
I show that our Lord and Savior did indeed die for each and every one of us. It was an expression of His infinite beloved for us and for His Begetter.
"I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives! … He lives to bless [us] with his love."14
May we open our hearts to receive the pure love that God has for u.s.a. and then shed along His beloved in all nosotros do and are. In the sacred proper name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Source: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/24porter?lang=eng
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