The Greatest Expression of God’s Love

By President M. Russell Ballard

Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

From an April 1988 general conference address.

God expresses His love for us by providing the guidance we need to progress and reach our potential. He who knows most about us, our potential, and our eternal possibilities has given us divine counsel and commandments in His instruction manuals—the holy scriptures. When we understand and follow these instructions, our lives have purpose and meaning. We learn that our Maker loves us and desires our happiness. In an incomparable manifestation of this divine love for us, He sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16–17).

Jesus was born into mortality. He led a perfect life and, in so doing, marked the path for us to follow. He taught His disciples: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

We may begin to understand the depths of Christ’s love for us when we consider that He was willing to atone and suffer the pain for our sins, “which suffering caused [him], even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18).

This Easter, let us give special thanks to God for the Atonement and Resurrection of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. For in Him, by Him, and through Him, this temporary mortal condition can be made into a permanent, perfect existence, for which words cannot express our joy.

All the marvels of nature are glimpses of His divine power and expressions of His love. Yet the greatest of all miracles awaits us. It will occur when, by His power, we will come forth from death and the grave to a new world that will not pass away, where, if we are worthy, we will be with Him and our Father in Heaven forever and ever.

M. Russell Ballard

Worked for his father’s car dealership in the early 1950s and was the top salesperson.
Born on October 8, 1928, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Attended the University of Utah.
Served a full-time mission to England.
Served as mission president in the Canada Toronto Mission from 1974 to 1977.
Met his wife, Barbara Bowen, at the University of Utah “Hello Day Dance.”
Grandfather: Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Grandfather: Elder Hyrum Mack Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Married Barbara Bowen in the Salt Lake Temple on August 28, 1951.
Has 7 children 43 grandchildren, 91 great-grandchildren.
Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostle on October 6, 1985.
Set apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on January 14, 2018.
Keeps an Oreo cookie encased on his desk as a reminder of a boy who had just made a long journey to a refugee camp, received a package of cookies, and offered the first one to President Ballard.
After the October 1980 general conference, he wrote more than 600 letters of encouragement to members who were struggling with their testimonies.