I love you and I don't want you to go

These words struck me as I imagined Jesus saying them to me.

"Take my words, read 'em every day, keep 'em close by, don't you let 'em fade away,
So you'll remember what I forgot to say, write this down.
Oh I love you and I don't want you to go"


Then I thought of this,

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. (Isaiah 49:16)

And this,

Knowing Christ’s character, I believe that if anyone is going to be begging on that occasion, it would probably be Jesus begging the unrepentant sinner, “Please, choose to stay. Please, use my Atonement—not just to be cleansed but to be changed so that you want to stay.” ("His Grace Is Sufficient", Brad Wilcox, 12 Jul 2011)

According to Their Needs and Wants

We must be careful be generous with the means the Lord has given us. Here are some passages that speak to me.

And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just— (D&C 82:17)

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they did walk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants. (Mosiah 18:29)

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Wherefore, let my servant Edward Partridge, and those whom he has chosen, in whom I am well pleased, appoint unto this people their portions, every man equal according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs. (D&C 51:3)

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What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts. (Isaiah 3:15)

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Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. (Jacob 2:17)

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And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. (Mosiah 4:16)

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I also love this quote

The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ would take the slums out of people, and then they would take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature. ("Born of God", Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign Jul 1989)

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Love Wins

A post from one of my friends who is a bishop.

It's 2am. I have to get up at 5:30am. I sit in my chair after laying in bed, unable to sleep. For several days I've been concerned about a sister in our ward. She hasn't been to church the past couple of days. She didn't go to work today. I helped her get her job. I fear she is on the verge of losing her job and her testimony. I've been to see her, bearing chocolate, but still, I have concerns. I have another sister who recently returned from a mission but now finds herself so busy she can't find time to go to church. You'd think a return missionary would know how important church attendance is! These are two. What can I do more to help these individuals? Why am I not more spiritually attuned so I would be able to know what to say and do? There are serval others that I am concerned about, also, so I sit here awake, worrying, I was thinking about whether the Savior is worried about us! I know that He is. The worries and concerns of a bishop are minuscule and finite. The Savior's love is infinite and so is His concern. Please know I love each of you. When you hurt, I hurt. My heart weeps for you. Please let me help you. And, remember, the Savior's love. He is infinitely greater. He knows you better than I. Rely on Him!

This was my reply

Love wins it always does. God knew this. It is why we have agency. There is no love without agency. We have to choose it. Regardless of our thirst for fairness. We must give it up. Because Jesus paid the price for it. We must be willing to forgive and be forgiven. It bury deep those things that destroy us and those we love.  

Jesus brings hope because his love is perfect. It fills every hole. Heals every hurt.
Alma the younger could not bear to exist until he remembered what his father had taught him about Jesus.  

Charity is the pure love of Christ and it never fails. It crosses mountains and eons. It convinces humans to open their heart after the spirit brings it to the threshold. It brings new birth, new life. Through it we are born again.  

So whatever the question is, love is the answer. The love of God.

Love is the Answer

My son wrote a touching letter last week. Love is the answer. It really does not matter what the question is, love is usually the answer whether we answer in words or service or prayer.

Love is the reason why I trusted my parents when they taught me about Jesus. So that I would be willing to test his words in my life and develop my own testimony independent from them.

Love was the answer in my darkest hours. The love of God I felt when I prayed. The love of my wife and family. It was a reflection of the love of God.

God wants to mold us like clay. If we allow him to, he will shape us into what we cannot yet imagine. But the analogy is lacking. We are not objects to be acted upon. We are agents to act for ourselves. If we are willing, we will partner with God to forge our own path with Him. A path of service and love and ministering. Full of meaning and joy.

We just have to be willing to work hand in hand with our Father.

Kindness Brings Miracles

It was my son's turn to prepare the lesson for our home teaching visit. I looked up stories from General Conference and found this video.

It brought to mind my own experiences with kindness. I know in my life that love; the kind that causes hearts to want to peek out from their fox holes...  Love changed me. Not only the love of my parents. It was the love of my father and mother in law. The love of my wife, that caused me to wake up to what I might lose without them. Love that they wanted me with them, in this life and the next.

Love caused my heart to come out of its barricade. To be vulnerable. To allow the Lord to change it. Elder Bednar told us that the Spirit can bring the truth unto but not into our hearts. The Lord respects our moral agency so much, that he will never violate the will of a soul. We must choose to follow Him.

Yesterday my son serving a mission expressed this lesson like this, "I've really learned a lot up here, probably one of the biggest would be that all we need to do for those who stray is not to pressure them but to just love them."

Love wins.

Charity Never Faileth

Charity, the pure love of Christ, exceeds almost all else.

1 Corinthians 13
 1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Watch Over them with Tenderness

I have a friend who has a 16 year old son who is an atheist. Here is some of the things I thought of to help them.

I am not sure what Moroni did to "[prepare] the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God"
(Alma 47:7) As I consider it, I think of this quote from Joseph Smith,

Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind. (Joseph Smith, Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, p. 59, History of the Church, 5:23–24.)

Moroni said, "Charity never faileth". So we must all pray with all the energy of our hearts that we may be filled with this love. Pray for your son. Serve him. Ask the Lord, in what ways you might be able to touch his heart, or that others might be placed in his path so his heart might be touched. I like this modern casting of Charity never faileth, "Love Wins!"

I know the deepest and longest lasting effects in my life have come from when those close to me loved me, forgave me and served me.

And trust in the Lord. There is no need to despair when we have faith in the Lord's timeline. To me that may be one of the keys of "charity never faileth". The Lord is patient with us. He will reach out as often as we reach out to him. Your son will be blessed by your faithfulness, if you will pour out your soul to God for him.

I love the symbolism of this painting by Michelangelo. Adam is pretty casual in the way he reaches to God. God is stretching as far as he can to reach him.

One Message to Share

The missionaries came over and had us write one message we would want to share with the world. Here are the messages we wrote. It was a lot of fun.

Richard: "Love Wins"
Lorenzo: "Salvation"
Victor: "Through Christ our burdens are made light"
Tim: "Live Worthy"
Sam: "God Loves"
Sara: "Act Through Love"
Josh: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself"
Steph: "Love the Lord. Love one another."
Daniel: "The Book of Mormon is True"
Laney: "You can believe in the Lamb of God"
Zanna: "Jesus loves everyone. Jesus is nice and kind"
Nathan: "Believe"
Andrew: "Families are Forever"
Elder Fackrell: "Believe in Christ"

What if Love Were Our Only Motive?

This is a great talk that my bishop has referred to a few times. He tells several stories of pure love.
- A home teacher that sent a card every month for over 20 years. The receiver knew who to go to when his wife of 30 years passed away.
- A student that took an assignment that would receive no credit. He told them that as missionaries, they would challenged to meet many new people every day. They were assigned to meet as many new people they could, not just say hello but have a conversation. One student talked to 72 new people in a week. When asked how he did it, he said that he had to wait in several lines that week. He asked the one next to him in line if they would hold his spot. He then would go down the line and talk to as many people as were willing. He said that he met some people he thought would become life-long friends.

As he was finishing, he described the difference between the two plans before the earth was created.  I had not thought of them in these terms before.

Every act of the Savior on earth was done out of love. Even in the great premortal council His offer to the Father was motivated by love for others, while the adversary’s was motivated by selfishness. The Savior’s mission was to give us life by allowing us to choose to love the Lord and follow Him. (See Moses 4:1–3.) The adversary’s goal was to take away our agency and thereby make it impossible for us to love, because it is impossible to love unless we choose to love. Love must come from within. It cannot be forced upon us. So for purposes of his own selfish aims, the adversary would have made it impossible for us to keep the first two commandments. He would have made us into nothing. ("What if Love Were Our Only Motive?", Russell T. Osguthorpe, BYU Devotional, Mar 8, 2011)

My life has been changed by love. It has been the only meaningful positive influence in my life. Perhaps because it is one thing that cannot be forced. Only given. My wife and many others have influenced me for good. I hope to do so for many others. I hope to retain the gifts given to me by God through the loving children I have had the privilege to have in my life.

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Here is a link to the part of the talks that goes with this quote.

What if all the words we spoke were motivated by love?
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Every act of the Savior on earth was done out of love. Even in the great premortal council His offer to the Father was motivated by love for others, while the adversary’s was motivated by selfishness. The Savior’s mission was to give us life by allowing us to choose to love the Lord and follow Him. (See Moses 4:1–3.) The adversary’s goal was to take away our agency and thereby make it impossible for us to love, because it is impossible to love unless we choose to love. Love must come from within. It cannot be forced upon us. So for purposes of his own selfish aims, the adversary would have made it impossible for us to keep the first two commandments. He would have made us into nothing

Responding to Heresy and Apostasy

A great post on Responding to Heresy and Apostasy.  I think it perfectly captures what I think the spirit of President Uchtdorf's Saturday address.

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

One of my earliest memories is my mother singing this song to me as she rocked me to sleep. My older sister told me that she would sing it to their children but used each of their names instead of Bonnie. My wife and I have done so with our children too. A few nights ago as I was putting one of my children to bed I asked her if she knew why I sing this song to her.

Years ago as I was singing this song something came to my mind. An image of my child over the ocean and over the sea.  I recognized that I only have so much influence over my child. That their agency, their will, is so paramount that even God would not breech it. Our moral choice is really the only thing we have that is truly our own.  It is the only thing we can give to God. It is granted to us by God and He will never, ever force it from us. It is the root of love. That we are willing to give our heart, might, mind and strength to what we will.

So as I think of my children, over the ocean and over the sea. What I ask the Lord through this song is that He bring them back to me. Or that through His grace, the gospel of peace might be brought unto but not into the hearts of my children. And that through one and many cases the most sacred of moments, that my children will open their hearts and give space for the word of God in their lives. That they will recognize the value of the word and nurture it in their lives. That they will begin to see the word growing in them. Changing their nature from a fallen one to a spiritual one. That it opens a world of gratitude, and love and service throughout a lifetime.

That through their lives they might become the sons and daughters of God. Born again as children of Christ. He being the Father of their new lives. That they give their whole soul as an offering to God and be sealed to him and to each other for ever and ever.

My prayer continues that I might keep myself in remembrance of the covenants that I have made. Of the change of heart I have experienced. That I might preserve this change of heart. This tree of life in my soul that brings me hope and life and light. That I might continue to bind myself to God and to those who love Him. That I might continue in service and love as my wife and children and parents and on and on from generations long ago to generations to come. Joined in a link that connects all the sons of Adam and Eve. Joining all who will Come unto Him. That our hearts will forever be turned towards God and each other.

This is my prayer. This is what my heart yearns for as I sing this song to my children. As I heard it from my mother.