Love the Essence of the Gospel
By President Thomas S. Monson and taught by Amy Harrison
Amy Harrison started her lesson out by
asking all of the sisters what they would do if they were told they only had
one week to live. How would they spend that week? Some of the ladies responses
were:
“Eat anything and everything they
wanted”.
“Cherish your husband and children”.
“Tell everyone they know that they love
them especially family”.
“Write letters to their children for
them to open on baptism, getting the priesthood, graduation, marriage, first
child”.
“Take my family to the mountains to
show them the beautiful earth that our Heavenly Father created for us”.
“Record my testimony for my loved ones”.
“Clean junk drawers”.
“Try to fulfill as much of my patriarchal
blessing as I can”.
President Monson stated;
“We cannot truly love God if we do not love our fellow travelers on this
mortal journey. Likewise, we cannot fully love our fellowmen if we do not love God, the Father of us all. The Apostle John tells us,
“This commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother
also.”3 We are all spirit children of our
Heavenly Father and, as such, are brothers and sisters. As we keep this truth
in mind, loving all of God’s children will become easier.
Actually,
love is the very essence of the gospel, and Jesus Christ is our Exemplar. His life was a legacy
of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved. At
the end the angry mob took His life. And yet there rings from Golgotha’s hill
the words: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”—a crowning
expression in mortality of compassion and love.
There
are many attributes which are manifestations of love, such as kindness,
patience, selflessness, understanding, and forgiveness. In all our associations, these and
other such attributes will help make evident the love in our hearts.
Usually
our love will be shown in our day-to-day interactions one with another. All
important will be our ability to recognize someone’s need and then to respond.
I have always cherished the sentiment expressed in the short poem”:
“I
have wept in the night
For
the shortness of sight
That
to somebody’s need made me blind;
But
I never have yet
Felt
a tinge of regret
For being a little too kind”.
President
Monson further stated; “Brothers and sisters, some of our
greatest opportunities to demonstrate our love will be within the walls of our
own homes. Love should be the very heart of family life, and yet sometimes it
is not. There can be too much impatience, too much arguing, too many fights, and
too many tears. Lamented President Gordon B. Hinckley: “Why is it that the
[ones] we love [most] become so frequently the targets of our harsh words? Why
is it that [we] sometimes speak as if with daggers that cut to the quick?”9 The answers to these questions may be
different for each of us, and yet the bottom line is that the reasons do not
matter. If we would keep the commandment to love one another, we must treat
each other with kindness and respect. “
Amy
then asked the sisters to share some acts of kindness that they might have
received recently. The sisters shared these comments:” Birthday parties and
having friends and family travel long distances to attend”; “Receiving
chocolate strawberries from visiting teachers”. The lord is asking us to take
time and help our fellow men.
We discussed how sometimes fear gets in the
way very often, and we need to take the promptings we receive and act upon
them.
In
closing, President Kimball stated; “Every day of our lives we are given
opportunities to show love and kindness to those around us. Said President
Spencer W. Kimball: “We must remember that those mortals we meet in
parking lots, offices, elevators, and elsewhere are that portion of mankind God
has given us to love and to serve. It will do us little good to speak of the
general brotherhood of mankind if we cannot regard those who are all around us
as our brothers and sisters”.
