to have the love of christ always in our hearts

8/13/2019 To Have the Love of Christ Always In Our Hearts

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In the summer of 1981, one year after I returned from my mission, I had a

very trouble summer. I floated from job to job and from place to place and ended

up wracking up more debt than I could handle. A few hundred dollars owed

turned into thousands, and it came to the point that I could not meet my

obligations. My mother came to the rescue more than once and bailed me out of

difficulty time and time again. When I finally did obtain stable employment and

began paying her back I did so for as long as I could. But it reached the point when

I was divorced from my first wife that I could no longer pay the debt. So Mom

forgave what I still owed her and forgot about it. That was her way. She helped

Barbara and I many times later when we were married.

Her forgiving my debt to her is reminiscent of an instance in the life of our

Savior. In Luke 7 we read:

36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And hewent into the Pharisees house, and sat down to meat.

37 And, behold, a awomanin the city, which was a sinner, when she knew thatJesus sat at meat in the Pharisees house, brought an alabaster bboxof ointment,

38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet withtears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, andaanointedthem with the ointment.

39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself,

saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what mannerof woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee.And he saith, Master, say on.

41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundredapence,and the other fifty.

42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly aforgavethem both. bTellmetherefore, which of them will love him most?

43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he

said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
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44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I

entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washedmy feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath notceased to kiss my feet.

46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feetwith ointment.

47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are aforgiven;for sheloved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are aforgiven.

49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is thisthat aforgivethsins also?

50 And he said to the woman, Thy afaithhath saved thee; go in bpeace.

Just as the woman who Christ forgave much loved the Savior much, so have

I developed a great love for my Mother. And though she passed away over three

years ago, I still carry that love and appreciation in my heart for her. To me she

was a Christ like woman, though she was by no means perfect (she had her

faults), she was an example of the kind of Christ like person I should be.

In John 3: 16-17 we read:

16 For aGodso blovedthe cworld,that he dgavehis eonlybegotten fSon,that

whosoever gbelievethin him should not perish, but have heverlastingilife.

17 For God asentnot his Son into the world to bcondemnthe world; but that theworld through him might be csaved.

God has so great love for us that he allowed his son to suffer, bleed, and die

for our sins. It is only in and through the atonement of Jesus Christ that we can

return to our Father in Heaven. In fact, Christs atonement is the quintessential

act of love. It is only in and through him that we are saved. He loved us with a
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love so perfect that we can scarcely understand its nature and emulate it. But it is

a commandment that we try to do just that.

In Christs time the heart of the law of Moses was to love God with ones

heart, might, mind and strength, and love ones neighbor as himself. This love iscentral to the gospel of Jesus Christ today. In Christs time the Pharisees and

Sadducees were caught up in every jot and title of the law and had forgotten the

weightier matter of the law which is love. This is no ordinary love of which I speak,

but a Christ like love, or charity.

Our expression of love of God is found in John 14:15, which says: If ye love

me keep my commandments. Obedience to the commandments is not only an

act of faith, but also an act of love. Service is one of the expressions of Christ like

love, for as we read in Mosiah 2:17 when we are in the service of our fellow

beings we are only in the service of our God.

In fact, the more service we give the more our love of God grows, as does

the love for our fellow man. Also, the more we obey the commandments and

bring our lives into line with gospel teachings the more our love of God grows.

And our love of our neighbor will also grow with our love of God. The two are

connected.

Now as I said the greatest act of love was the atonement. It was through

the atonement that we have the opportunity to gain eternal life. In fact the work

and glory of God is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all of us, his

children. Given this, doesnt it make sense that the greatest act of our own love

for one another is to help each other gain eternal life. In fact, not only do we

absolutely need the Saviors atonement and loving guidance to gain eternal life,

but we need each others assistance in this most worthy of all missions on earth.

Therefore we have the stake presidents admonition to rescue with love. But to

do this we must focus on the Savior, because it is only in and through him that we

are truly rescued.


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Stephen R. Covey once said, and I really like the way he put it: When we

make deposits of unconditional love, when we live the primary laws of love, we

encourage others to live the primary laws of life.

The deposits of love that we need to make are those that help others focuson the Savior in order to gain eternal life. We can do this in many ways. We can

pray for them. We can fast and pray for their welfare. We can bear our

testimonies to them. We can encourage them to read the scriptures and live the

commandments. We can set a good example for them by living the gospel

ourselves and by being more Christ like. Kindness is essential to opening hearts of

others. Service is a good way to get past barriers some people build up. It doesnt

have to be a big thing, since in human relations, the little things are the big things.

Growing up in my child home of Gunnison, Utah, Christmas was a sparse

affair to say the least. We generally received one toy, some candy, and an orange

placed at our place at the table (no stockings), and a few articles of much needed

clothing. It I received something special, I generally bought it for myself, like the

Kodak camera I purchased with my paper route money when I was thirteen. So

when I met and started dating Barbara Ann Gale, I had no concept how lavish a

Christmas could be.

I met my wife Barbara in August of 1988. She was my oldest daughters

kindergarten teacher. We became friends and had our first date on Halloween of

that year. We started dating and were soon officially a couple.

The first Christmas we dated she gave me a big stuffed bear that had a

straw hat on top of its head (a country style bear), together with some treats. I

gave her the world and told her to find her place in it. Truth be told, it was not the

world but a lighted globe of the world. I attached this note: Its not every day a

guy gives a girl the world. Its up to you to find your place in it. She decided her

place was by my side. It took me over a year to decide the same thing.

I cant remember what we gave each other the second Christmas. Barbara

had a bun in the oven and we were busy deciding our future together.


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The third Christmas we were dirt poor. I was a starving student studying to

get my MBA at the University of Utah and I had no job or any prospects in the

foreseeable future. Barbara wanted to be a stay at home Mom, and did not relish

going back into the workforce after the birth of our son, Alexander. By the next

April, I would have secured a part time job at First Security Bank. Still, at this

moment in our marriage, during the Christmas of 1990, we had nothing.

We begged a lot , borrowed a little, and had Christmas provided for our

little family of three through Sub for Santa. Food stamps and the Food Bank

provided the needed sustenance. Though she hated it, Barbara was good at

procuring food for our family through charity.

After this destitute Christmas, Barbara told me she would never celebrate

Christmas in such a poor manner. And we never did again.

Barbara made a special effort to make Christmas and every holiday special.

She is a very compassionate, caring woman with many Christ-like qualities I

admire.

Its no wonder then that our second daughter Erika has tried each year to

provide a nice Christmas for our five grand children. But this past year, due to

some financial difficulties, she wasnt going to be able to do so. In fact, she wasntgoing to be able to provide any toys for her kids at all. We were all distraught over

this. She called Sub for Santa, but they were already booked with requests and

wouldnt be able to help. She turned to Barbara and I, but we didnt have money

to do anything more than provide a few articles of clothing for each child, as we

do each year. Unless a miracle occurred, there would be no toys under the tree

this year.

Barbara happened to mention the plight of our daughter to some people at

her work at Granite School District. She was so upset that she confided in her

friends at the Department of Education Equity where she is an administrative

assistant. Needless to say, an anonymous benefactor left several hundred dollars

at Barbaras work station. No note was left, just two crisp hundred dollar bills. It

was as if it had appeared out of thin air. The miracle we looked for had happened.


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With this money Barbara was able to provide our grandchildren a much nicer

Christmas than they would have had otherwise. Thank the Lord for the

anonymous people of the world.

We dont need to provide hundreds of dollars to be true followers of JesusChrist. To do so requires no money at all. There are so many other ways we can

do this. All that is needed is a kind word, a simple act of kindness, an

understanding heart, an open ear, all can open hearts and minds to the truths of

the gospel and help heal broken hearts. And lets remember to live not the gold

rule, but the platinum rule, which is to do unto others as they and our Savior

would have us do unto them. To do this we need an open, understanding heart

that is willing to listen with unconditional love.

The Savior set the example, we need to follow it. My mother set the

example for me of how to be compassionate and giving to others. My wife sets

that example for me every day. Let us all be an example of Christ like love to one

another. As true followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, let us show Christ

like love to one another, is my prayer in His name, Amen.

to have the love of christ always in our hearts

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