God is Love

"He that loveth not knowth not God; for God is love."

- 1 John 4:8

The world today has so many definitions of love. On the end farthest from Christianity, it is confused with sexuality. In the middle, it is too often confused with Advocacy, meaning "public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy." There are those who argue, if you love people who are poor, hurt, or oppressed, then you should show public support for causes that would benefit them. There's usually good intentions behind that kind of love, but it falls short of Christlike love. Too easily public support becomes little more than professing your love or support. Or as John might say, loving in word but not in action (1 John 3:18). In worse cases, it can lead to policy changes that chip away at moral standards—when it means supporting behavior that is not in line with God's law— and it can confuse our understanding of love. When policies are changed to please popular opinion, then God's moral standards are "esteemed as naught," and society looses focus on what Christlike love looks like (1 Nephi 19:7). For those of us who want to love our neighbors in the best ways possible, let's remember what Christ taught about love.

God is Our Loving Heavenly Father

To help us better learn to love, God asked us first to love Him (Mark 12:30). He commanded the children of Israel to have "no other gods before me," and He shows mercy unto those that love Him and keep His commandments (Exodus 20:3,6). Only He knows what we need to do to return to His presence. When we love God, it means we do what he has asked us to do, which in turn brings blessings that help us feel the love of God in our lives. His perfect love is vital for us as we go through this mortal life far away from our heavenly parents. It lifts us out of the darkness and despair that Satan goes about sowing in the hearts of humankind. When Christ dwells in our hearts, we are "rooted and grounded in love" (Ephesians 3:17).

To love our neighbors, then, we should first love God, which we can't really do unless we know God. So we must live by His word in faith. Christ taught that "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself" (John 7:17). Loving and learning about God—His will and His laws—means keeping his doctrine and obeying his commandments.

As we continually practice our love of God, we become better disciples and more worthy of His love. We begin to count our blessings, not our failures and faults because we increasingly see manifestations of God's love in our lives. Then we begin to love our neighbors as Jesus loved us, loving with a perfect love. This kind of love is not what the movies show or what the popular opinion says, rather it's a love accompanied with faith, hope, and charity. Charity is the essence of love because it is love in action, not merely word.

Charity is the Pure Love of Christ

There are many good ways to show charity, but I don't believe that more government programs are the solution. The government can't give, unless it first takes—and it always takes a cut of that money before it even gives. These programs are especially bad if they remove from us the sense of responsibility to personally care of our poor (those within our reach). When you and I show love and charity to one another, there's no middle man to take a wage for themselves. What's more, it's voluntary charity which "greatly enlarges the soul without hypocrisy" (D&C 121:42).

Our love should go to directly to our neighbors without government intervention or compulsion. "God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). Whether it's in the form of monetary donations, service, or kind words, as we care for one another as Christ would, then we bring souls unto Him—the source of all love and happiness. After all, He is whose love we need the most.

Moroni summed it up nicely:

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

....if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth, wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

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."

- Moroni 7:45-47

God is Love

No matter what the world teaches love looks like, I know that true love comes through a loving God as we love Him and obey His commandments. When we love our neighbors as ourselves (wanting nothing but the best), then we wish for them to feel the same love that God blesses our lives with. God is Love. Turn to Him first, then you will more fully love yourself and your neighbors. Then you won't need to say that you love someone because those you serve will already know it.


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