“The fruit of keeping covenants is the companionship of the Holy Ghost and an increase in the power to love.”
–Elder Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, Nov. 1996, 32
Tag Archives: love
Salvation Is A Family Affair (Eyring)
President Ezra Taft Benson taught:
"In an eternal sense, salvation is a family affair. ...
"Above all else, children need to know and feel they are loved, wanted, and appreciated. They need to be assured of that often. Obviously, this is a role parents should fill, and most often the mother can do it best."10
But another crucial source for that feeling of being loved is love from other children in the family. Consistent care of brothers and sisters for each other will come only with persistent effort by parents and the help of God. You know that is true from experience in your own families. And it is confirmed each time you read of the family conflicts faced by righteous Lehi and his wife, Sariah, in the Book of Mormon record.
The successes they won provide a guide for us. They taught the gospel of Jesus Christ so well and so persistently that children and even some descendants over generations had hearts softened toward God and toward each other. For instance, Nephi and others wrote and reached out to family members who had been their enemies. The Spirit at times softened the hearts of thousands and replaced hatred with love.
One way for you to reproduce the successes of Father Lehi is by the way you lead family prayers and family time, such as family home evenings. Give children opportunities to pray, when they can pray, for each other in the circle who need blessings. Discern quickly the beginnings of discord and recognize acts of unselfish service, especially to each other. When they pray for each other and serve each other, hearts will be softened and turned to each other and to their parents.
- Henry B. Eyring, “Families Under Covenant“, April 2012 General Conference.
Serve With Love (Oaks)
I know that God expects us to work to purify our hearts and our thoughts so that we may serve one another for the highest and best reason, the pure love of Christ. - Dallin H. Oaks, “Why Do We Serve?” New Era, March 1988
God’s Love (Cook)
"In all their afflictions he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence saved them, and in his love, and in his pity, he redeemed them, and bore them, and carried them all the days of old" (D&C 133:52-53).
It seems evident that the Lord is afflicted each time we are afflicted, that he will send angels to help us, and that in his love he helps us daily, whether we know it or not. How our hearts ought to be drawn out in gratitude for the grace of the Father and the Son! - Gene R. Cook, “The Grace of the Lord,” New Era, December 1988
Joy in Temple Work (Hunter)
I have learned that those who engage in family history research and then perform the temple ordinance work for those whose names they have found will know the additional joy of receiving both halves of the blessing.
Furthermore, the dead are anxiously waiting for the Latter-day Saints to search out their names and then go into the temples to officiate in their behalf, that they may be liberated from their prison house in the spirit world. All of us should find joy in this magnificent labor of love. - Howard W. Hunter, “A Temple-Motivated People,” Ensign, February 1995
Opposing Forces (Eyring)
As has always been true, there is an opposing power. It is the power of sin, and it is visibly accelerating. I will not try to bring examples to your minds. The media and what you see in the lives of those around you present you with tragedy enough. And even in your experience, you surely must sense the ominous increase of toleration and even encouragement of the powers of sin to corrupt and torment.
The Master not only foresees perfectly the growing power of the opposing forces but also knows what it is like to be mortal. He knows what it is like to have the cares of life press upon us. He knows that we are to eat bread by the sweat of our brows and of the cares, concerns, and even sorrows that come from the command to bring children to the earth. And He knows that the trials we face and our human powers to deal with them ebb and flow. - Henry B. Eyring, “Remembering Him Always,” Liahona, December 2005
Instruments of God’s Love
God loves every one of his children--of that we are absolutely assured, we know it in our hearts--but God needs instruments of his love. He needs those who can carry his love and make it meaningful and personal in the lives of others. The shepherd's search for the lost sheep was a mission of grace and so was the joyful journey of the forgiving father when he ran to meet the penitent prodigal who had come to himself and had, with trepidation, started home. - Marion D. Hanks, “Gifts You Can’t Wrap,” New Era, December 1972
Spiritual Rebirth
And yet each person today also has an invitation to "come unto Christ" (Moro. 10:32), to become His sons and daughters through a spiritual rebirth. In a different way, we may feel the print of the nails in His hands and feet and thrust our hand into His side by experiencing the cleansing and refining power of the Atonement. The Savior knows each of us intimately through His experience in the garden and on the cross. Alma states that He took upon Himself our pains, afflictions, temptations, sicknesses, and infirmities, that He might know how to succor us (see Alma 7:11-12). Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has pointed out that the word succor in old French means literally "to run to." He suggested that "even as [Christ] calls us to come to him ... , he is unfailingly running to help us." - Merrill J. Bateman, “Becoming a Disciple of Christ,” Ensign, April 2006
Being Patient With The Lord – Scott
Even if you exercise your strongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, God will respond with what in His eternal plan is best for you. He loves you to a depth and completeness you cannot conceive of in your mortal state. Indeed, were you to know His entire plan, you would never ask for that which is contrary to it even though your feelings tempt you to do so. Sincere faith gives understanding and strength to accept the will of our Heavenly Father when it differs from our own. We can accept His will with peace and assurance, confident that His infinite wisdom surpasses our own ability to comprehend fully His plan as it unfolds a piece at a time. - Richard G. Scott, “The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing,” Ensign (CR), May 2003, p.75
He Ransomed Us
We were in bondage, through Adam’s transgression. He and his posterity after him became subject to death. Death had dominion over us, and if that had continued, hell would have had dominion over us. What did Christ do? He ransomed us. He restored us. He brought us back through his atonement, through the shedding of his blood. He paid the price, as Paul says. He rescued us from captivity and bondage. That is what ransomed means. He liberated us from death. He paid the price that death required; and we, through his redemption, were recovered by the payment of the shedding of his blood. - Joseph Fielding Smith, “Doctrines of Salvation,” 3 vols., edited by Bruce R. McConkie, 1:124