This week's article comes from a devotional address given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland at Brigham Young University on 15 February 2000. The talk is entitled, "How Do I Love Thee."
Elder Holland teaches how we can and should apply the Christlike attribute of charity in all our relationships and especially in our marriages and courtships. He talks about love, trust, understanding, patience, hope, endurance, faith, care, selflessness, and other Christlike qualities that help us develop not simply tolerable relationships but great relationships; relationships that will last into the eternities.
I love this talk. It is applicable on so many levels because each of us has many different relationships in various stages that can all be improved. We can all stand a little taller; President Gordon B. Hinckley, fifteenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said of our day:
It is a season to reach out with kindness and love to those in distress and to those who are wandering in darkness and pain. It is a time to be considerate and good, decent and courteous toward one another in all of our relationships. In other words, to become more Christlike. (“This Is the Work of the Master,” Ensign, May 1995, 69)
My two favorite quotes from this talk are:
The solutions to life's problems are always gospel solutions. Not only are answers found in Christ, but so is the power, the gift, the bestowal, the miracle of giving and receiving those answers.
No one ought have to face such trials alone. We can endure almost anything if we have someone at our side who truly loves us, who is easing the burden and lightening the load.
Elder Holland is an apostle of the Lord. His words are the Lord's words, and the Savior's words comfort, uplift, edify, and inspire. Our Heavenly Father loves us and would that we loved our spouses, families, and neighbors with the same perfect love.
Jeremy
No comments:
Post a Comment