“Because We Love Him,” New Era, Dec. 2019, 18–19.
Because We Love Him
Christmas is a great time to show our love for the Savior.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
Illustration from Getty Images
It’s Christmastime. Time for presents, tasty treats, beautiful trees, and family. Then there’s the music, the decorations, and the break from school. It’s a great time of year!
Of course, the most important things we think about during Christmas are the Nativity, the birth of the Savior, and the great gift He is to us. Jesus Christ really is the reason for the season. He is the Son of God and came into the world to save us. He suffered so that He could “succor [us] according to [our] infirmities” (Alma 7:11–13). Because of Him, all of us can be forgiven of our sins and will be resurrected one day with a perfect body (see Alma 11:40–43).
No matter how hard life gets, no matter how much pain or sorrow we feel, no matter how much we struggle at school or with friends or family, we can always draw strength from the Savior and His grace.
Those are some really great reasons to love the Savior and our Heavenly Father!
But that’s not all He has done for us. Jesus’s Atonement also makes it possible for us to return to live with our Heavenly Father and with our families one day. If we choose to follow the path He set for us, we can receive exaltation. That’s pretty amazing, and it’s the reason for our faith and hope (see Moroni 7:41).
That’s also what this year’s youth theme has been all about. God loves us, for “God is love” (1 John 4:8). So He sent His Son and told us how we can show our love for Him: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
If Ye Love Me, Keep My Commandments
The first part of this year’s youth theme was focused on strengthening your love for Heavenly Father and the Savior. Now that the year is drawing to a close, it’s a good time to think about how that went. As you strengthened your love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, you likely felt Their love for you! And if you did, what did you feel prompted to do?
If you didn’t follow promptings as much as you’d like to have done, don’t be too hard on yourself—there’s always room for improvement. Christmastime is a great time to think about our love for God and how we can keep His commandments and feel His love for us.
If you haven’t felt that feeling before, or haven’t for a long time, don’t lose hope. There’s a great way to start feeling the peace and love of God in your life: by keeping His commandments.
When you do that with an eye of faith, sooner or later you’ll see and feel the results. As Jesus taught, “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). If you do it, you’ll know it and feel it by the power of the Holy Ghost.
The ancient Apostle John also wrote, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:2–3).
So if you want to increase your love for God—or feel His love for you more strongly—keep His commandments. Then you’ll feel His love, you’ll love Him more, and you’ll want to keep His commandments more. You have to pay attention to the Spirit, but if you do, you’ll feel that love. It’s an awesome cycle.
Go and Do
Loving God and keeping His commandments relates to next year’s youth theme, too. It’s “go and do,” from 1 Nephi 3:7. When Nephi’s father asked his sons to return to Jerusalem for the brass plates, Laman and Lemuel didn’t want to go. But Nephi had already prayed and received an answer from God that caused him to believe his father’s words (see 1 Nephi 2:16).
So when Lehi asked Nephi to go back for the plates, Nephi was ready. He declared, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded” (1 Nephi 3:7). He was ready to go and do because he knew. And because he was obedient, the Lord blessed him.
Christmas is a fantastic season to be like Nephi and go and do. And how better to show your love for God than serving others at Christmas? Your family, your friends and neighbors, the members of your ward or branch. They all would benefit from a little Christmas cheer. And that will help you live next year’s youth theme, too.
Once you’ve decided how you’ll “go and do” and serve others this Christmas, share your experiences with us. We’d love to know. You can email us at newera@ChurchofJesusChrist.org, or share them on the youth Instagram account (@ChurchofJesusChrist_youth).