Don’t Miss This Devotional
Love Thy God and Thy Neighbor
From a devotional address given to students at Brigham Young University–Idaho on June 4, 2019. For the full address, visit byui.edu/devotionals.
One of the aspects of our Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation that impresses me the most is the principle of love. Love is the greatest motivator. It is a powerful source of purpose, strength, and endurance as we go through our mortal experience.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ, in effect, summarized the Ten Commandments when someone asked Him:
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
“This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:36–39; emphasis added; see also Mark 12:28–31).
He also told His disciples:
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34; emphasis added).
This divine teaching shows how important it is for us to learn to love God and our neighbor. We may ask ourselves:
How do I do that?
How do I love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, and mind?
How do I love others as myself and as Jesus Christ loves me?
One truth we learn from our questions is that in order to expand our capacity to love, we need to cultivate divine relationships. Our relationship with God and our righteous relationships with others are all divine, and they can help us become what we came to this earth to become. They can help us to be the best self each of us can be and to “[fill] the measure of [our] creation” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:19; see also Doctrine and Covenants 88:25).
So what do we do? How do we cultivate relationships that are divine? Let me suggest five principles that may guide us.
First, Follow the Example of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the perfect example of how to cultivate divine relationships. He has a close relationship with His Father, which is manifest in the way the Savior addresses His Father when He speaks to Him, in the way He respects and honors Him, and in the fact that He always wants to follow His Father’s will. Jesus said, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38).
Jesus Christ also loves each of us, which is manifest in the way He approached those who came close to Him during His ministry on this earth and in the way we can feel His influence in our life when we turn to Him. He showed His love for His Father and for each of us when He offered Himself to be our Savior and when, through His Atonement, He gave all of us access to eternal life.
We all have the potential to love, but to love someone specific, we need to have the desire to get to know him or her and we need to spend time together. Likewise, to love Heavenly Father and the Savior, we need to read the scriptures and the words of the prophets, who testify of Them; we need to pray with real intent; we need to fast; and we need to follow the commandments so our life can be aligned with God’s will.
Second, Repent and Minister
President Russell M. Nelson has said: “Ministering is caring for people in the Lord’s way. ... Ministering is part of our own process of repentance as we turn our hearts to God and His children. And as we do so, those to whom we minister are drawn closer to the Lord in their own efforts to repent.”1
Repenting and ministering go hand in hand with our efforts to fulfill the two greatest commandments: to love God and to love our neighbor as Jesus Christ loves us. When we repent, we get closer to Heavenly Father and the Savior, and our love for Them grows. When we minister, we get closer to our neighbor—which includes our family, our co-servants in the gospel, and even strangers—and our love for them grows. In addition to increasing our love for God when we repent, our love for others grows, and when we minister to others, our love for God grows.
Third, Get Out of Your Shell
As human beings, we tend to build a shell around ourselves. We feel that somehow we need to protect ourselves from harm. It is a natural behavior because we do not want to get hurt—either because we have been hurt in the past or we have seen others get hurt. Although we do need to protect ourselves and we need to discern between good and evil, I wonder if we just go too far—to the point where we prefer to isolate ourselves instead of opening up for friendship and for love.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) said, “Though it may not be reciprocated, ... love is never wasted.”2 This is so true. Every act of kindness has a positive effect, even if we do not see the results right away. Others can feel our good intentions, and even though they may not react the way we expect, in the end, goodness always brings more goodness.
My friends, do not be afraid to show your vulnerabilities. We are all vulnerable, and we need each other so we can overcome the vulnerabilities that we face in this mortal life. Many times, we can be the means through which Heavenly Father answers prayers, and most of the time, our prayers are answered through others.
Give relationships enough time to grow and to give fruit. I feel that many of us “write off” other people after only a few minutes of interacting with them or after we catch them making one single mistake.
Be yourself, treat others like they are already your friends, and the conversation will be more natural. Focus on the other person and not on yourself. Ask follow-up questions, listen with the desire to get to know him or her, and express your feelings and points of view. Show genuine interest, and before you know it, you will have many friends and you will become a better friend.
Fourth, Be Active Participants in Your Priesthood Quorum and Relief Society
There are divine reasons why we, as men and women, are organized in priesthood quorums and Relief Societies in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the kingdom of God, we have work to do—as individuals, as families, and as priesthood quorums and Relief Societies.
Why does it matter that each of us connect ourselves with our quorum or Relief Society? I testify that doing so helps us be part of the most important work there is.
President Nelson has invited us to gather Israel on both sides of the veil. If we are to accomplish “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on earth today,”3 we need to labor together at the individual level; at the family level; as members of the divinely organized priesthood quorums and Relief Societies; interdependently as members of our wards, stakes, and the Church as a whole; and under the direction of priesthood keys.
Fifth, Pray for That Love and Be Patient
Fortunately, we are not alone in this quest to love at a higher level. We are all striving to develop such love, and to acquire it is a lifelong process. We are all learning to love; we are all learning to love better; we are all learning to love our Heavenly Father and our Savior with all our heart, soul, and might; and we are all learning to love others in a holier way.
Despite what the world may say, cultivating relationships is a decision: we decide whom we will put effort into and whom we won’t. We can all use our agency to be more intentional in cultivating our divine relationships with God and our neighbor.
There is not a mold in which we all have to fit. Each of us is different, and each of us has something important to contribute to God’s work. As we keep our covenants with God, we will all write our own story, and if we let Him, the Lord Jesus Christ will hold our hand as we are writing it.