Don't Miss the Real Point

It is possible to be very busy trying to do all the right things and, yet, to miss the real point of what we are in mortality to do. We can read the scriptures, diligently, every day. We can attend our meetings every week, without fail. We can be excellent and reliable in our callings. We can participate in the temple on a very regular basis. And, yet, we can still not feel the joy of the Gospel. We may even feel sad and discouraged that we are not doing more of what we tell ourselves we must do.

Remember the question to Jesus about the greatest commandment? His answer, recorded in Matthew 22, is:

  37 ... Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
  38 This is the first and great commandment.
  39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
  40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

It is easy to get caught up in all the things that we tend to treat as if they were a "law" to us. When it comes right down to it, though, all of the things that we do should be for the purpose of coming to love God and others better.

Consider scripture study. Speaking of the words given through His prophet, the Lord tell us in D&C 18:

  34 These words are not of men nor of man, but of me; wherefore, you shall testify they are of me and not of man;
  35 For it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you, and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power you could not have them;
  36 Wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words.

The Lord has assured us that we can hear His voice and come to know Him as we search the scriptures and receive inspiration and revelation through the power of the Holy Ghost.

In addition, we come to know the Lord through the temple. Shortly after the dedication of the Kirtland temple, the Lord appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and said, in D&C 110:

  7 For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.

We have these wonderful assurances that we can come to know God through the scriptures and the temple. When we come to know Him, we realize how deeply He loves us. And, "We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4: 19)

When we come to know God we inevitably feel His love for us. His love transforms us and teaches us how to love others. This is the process by which we become possessed of Charity. Recall Moroni 7:

  47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Notice the grammar. Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is not clear whether charity is Christ's love for us, our love for Christ, or our Christ-like love for others. In fact, though, it may be all three. We come to know Christ through prayer, scripture study, temple worship, serving others, etc. When we come to know Him, we feel his pure love. We feel our sins forgiven and our hearts changed through the power of the atonement. Then we are possessed of that aspect of charity that is His pure love for us. Then we love Him because He first loved us. And, we are possessed of the aspect of charity that is our pure love for Christ. Finally, I believe that an essential consequence of genuinely coming to know God is that we love others in a more pure manner. Thus, we learn to be possessed of that aspect of charity that is the Christ-like love for others.

What a shame it would be to be busy doing good things but to miss the point. The point is to know God and to be transformed by His love. Then, we have peace and can love others in a manner that will bring them to Christ. We don't have to do everything that is on everyones list of good things to do. All we need to do is know and love God and love His children. At the end of the day ask yourself, "Have I shared the pure love of Christ with somebody today." If you have, then sleep well in His peace.