God Loves You

And it came to pass that Amalickiah commanded that his armies should march forth and see what had happened to the king; and when they had come to the spot, and found the king lying in his gore, Amalickiah pretended to be wroth, and said: Whosoever loved the king, let him go forth, and pursue his servants that they may be slain.

- Alma 47:27

The Lamanites had a warped view of what love meant. As noted in the above scripture, Amalickiah used this warped definition of love to inspire hatred and murder in order to cover his own sins.

Although the basis of Christianity is love, the definition of Christian love has been warped many times throughout history. The Crusades (meant to spread Christianity) were a series of religiously-sanctioned military campaigns waged by much of Latin Christian Europe over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291. With some Christians acting in a spirit of hatred, while attempting to declare a message of love, is it any wonder that other world religions choose to avoid Christianity? Bear in mind that such a misunderstanding of love is not limited to the Lamanites or medieval Europe. Mankind has always struggled with the concept of "the pure love of Christ" (Moroni 7:47). You can see such poor examples in some of our political leaders, the hallways of your school, even - sadly - in our church meetings.

However, regardless of any meanspiritedness in those around you, the message of God is that He loves you. You may have been hurt by those around you. Sometimes even by loved ones. However, you should never doubt that God loves you. Everything He does it driven by love.

Now, you may counter, the scriptures are full of instances in which God is referred to as an angry God. However, the prophet Lehi clarified this idea, as he spoke with his sons, Laman and Lemuel, after they had received chastisement from their brother, Nephi:

"And ye have murmured because he hath been plain unto you. Ye say that he hath used sharpness; ye say that he hath been angry with you; but behold, his sharpness was the sharpness of the power of the word of God, which was in him; and that which ye call anger was the truth, according to that which is in God, which he could not restrain, manifesting boldly concerning your iniquities" (2 Nephi 1:26).

In reality, God is sad, not mad, when you don't do what he says. God has clearly stated, "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). God has also taught that the salvation of souls brings great joy (see D&C 18: 15-16). If saving us brings God joy, then the opposite of that - losing us - causes Him sorrow, not anger - even if we take it to be anger.

Essentially, when God speaks in a straight-forward manner, it is for our salvation. The righteous see it this way (which is how the message is generally intended). However, "the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center" (1 Nephi 16:2). Instead of seeking to thank God for His guidance, the wicked "kick against the pricks" (D&C 121:38; see also Acts 26:14)

God gave us commandments to enable us to return to him. For example, if you want to put together a pre-fabricated piece of furniture from the store, you follow the directions. There is only one specific way to build that chair. If we want the chair, we should follow the directions. If we don't really want the chair, then we don't have to follow the directions. Likewise, if we want to be saved, there is a set of directions to do just that (which God calls "commandments"). We don't have to follow the directions - God never has and never will force someone to keep the commandments. Thus, if we want to receive exaltation, we have to follow the directions. If we don't really care what we get, then it doesn't really matter what we do. However, I can assure you that there will be sorrow on your part if you don't choose to keep the commandments - not because God will punish you, but because you will realize (in the afterlife) what you missed out on by not following the directions.

I once read the blog of a woman who insisted that a god who loved us would not hold us responsible for keeping all the commandments. While that is partly true (thanks to Christ's atonement), we still have to follow the directions to repent (i.e. - change our behavior).

The Lord is anxious to bless his children. He is merely waiting for you to step forward and ask for the blessing. How do we ask? By keeping his commandments. As an example, review the law of tithing. God has given us everything. As a test, He asks that we return ten percent to Him. In return, He offers us even more. As the Lord says, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." (Malachi 3:10). When we give a little to the Lord, He pours out blessings on us, so much so that there is not "room enough to receive it." The Lords wants to bless you. So let Him. Keep His commandments and you will be blessed.

Everything God does is out of love. Excommunication even is a loving act (as the person is released from the covenants they made, making them less accountable). And, the atonement allows them to return to their former, spiritual self. Elder M. Russell Ballard describes such disciplinary actions as a chance to start over. He illustrates the concept in the following story:

When members need to have certain blessings withheld, the Lord's object is to teach as well as to discipline. So probation, disfellowshipment, and excommunication, when they become necessary, are ideally accompanied by eventual reinstatement and restoration of blessings.

I remember as a child occasionally coming unkempt to the dinner table. My mother wisely sent me to clean up and then return. My parents would have been pained if I had taken offense and had run off—and I would have been foolish to do so. In the same way, the servants of the Lord occasionally find that they must, in loving concern, send some of Heavenly Father’s children out the door so they can return clean once again. The Lord does not want us to "miss supper." In fact, he has a great feast prepared for those who return clean and pure through the door. He is greatly saddened when anyone decides they prefer to be unclean and miss the meal, or when they find an excuse to take offense, or when they run away. He is pleased to extend the chance to start over.

I've known a few rebellious people who disregard the commandments and are influenced by the evil one or by other rebellious people to transgress God’s laws. I've seen their distress and pain. I've also seen their joy when, humbled and fully repentant, they have returned to the Church and have had all their blessings restored.

Even death is a loving act. We may not understand the reasons for untimely deaths, but God is still there for us, providing his love. Nephi taught, "the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance" (1 Nephi 1:20). You are among those who the Lord "hath chosen." No matter what trials you may face, the Lord will always be there to support you, through his tender mercies, even in ways you may not expect (for additional insight regarding this concept, see David A. Bednar, "The Tender Mercies of the Lord").

Just as we misinterpret God's "anger," it is also worth noting that God is not a "jealous" God (seeExodus 34:14) - at least not in the sense that we usually think of the term, "jealous." God is simply trying to get you to follow his path to salvation rather than the path offered by Satan's false gods. His path is the only path to salvation. It would cause Him great sorrow to see His children fall away (see, for example, Luke 18:24). Hence, God is described as "jealous" in that He would have as many of us follow Him as are willing to do so.

Our Heavenly Father knows our divine potential better than we ourselves know it. All of his actions are geared toward helping ourselves realize our potential. As Lehi told his sons, just before his death, "I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls" (2 Nephi 2:30). Since our Heavenly Father is perfect (see Matthew 5:48), imagine how much more he desires the everlasting welfare of our souls.

Search the scriptures, Examine any act of God and you will find that His actions were done in the best interest of His children - even though we may not recognize it at first. Sometimes the event is too recent and hits to close to home for us to be able to look at it objectively and see what God meant for us to learn from it. Nevertheless, if we will turn to God, we will eventually learn how the experience was meant to bring us closer to Him.

The crowning evidence of our Heavenly Father's love for us, was shown through the atonement of 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" (John 3:16). God loves us all - otherwise He would not have allowed Christ to suffer as he did.

John 3:16 is one of the best scriptures for utilizing Nephi's suggestion to "liken all scriptures" unto ourselves (see 1 Nephi 19:23). Note the different tone the scripture takes when we read it this way: "For God so loved me, that he gave his only begotten Son, that if I believeth in him Ishould not perish, but have everlasting life." This is a powerful verse. Jesus is not simply speaking of saving humankind as a whole, he is speaking of saving each of us individually.

While God is a just God, He is not seeking out every opportunity He can to find our flaws and condemn us for them. On the contrary, Joseph Smith noted, "While one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard; He views them as His offspring, and without any of those contracted feelings that influence the children of men."

As evidence, examine the story of the sons of Mosiah. Ammon clearly explains that, in their rebellious days, "Behold, we went forth even in wrath, with mighty threatenings to destroy [God's] church" (Alma 26:18). I cannot say for sure how you might react if someone was going around destroying what you owned, but I would be rather upset. I would want revenge in some way. For this reason, perhaps, did Ammon say, "Oh then, why did he not consign us to an awful destruction, yea, why did he not let the sword of his justice fall upon us, and doom us to eternal despair? Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought. (Alma 26:19-20). Alas, God does not act in a rash manner, as man does. As Ammon explains, "Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls" (Alma 26:20). God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows of our divine potential. With this knowledge, He acts in such a way as to bring about "the salvation of our souls." Not just the souls of people in the scriptures, but yours as well.

Yet, Sometimes, we still may feel that our sins cannot be forgiven. For those who feel this way, Elder Richard G. Scott taught,

Now if you are one who cannot forgive yourself for serious past transgressions - even when a judge in Israel has assured that you have properly repented - if you feel compelled to continually condemn yourself and suffer by frequently recalling the details of past errors, I plead with all of my soul that you ponder this statement of the Savior:

"He who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.

"By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins - ... he will confess them and forsake them" (D&C 58: 42-43).

To continue to suffer when there has been proper repentance is not prompted by the Savior but the master of deceit, whose goal is to bind and enslave you. Satan will press you to continue to relive the details of past mistakes, knowing that such thoughts make forgiveness seem unattainable. In this way Satan attempts to tie strings to the mind and body so that he can manipulate you like a puppet.

God loves us. If we feel otherwise, those feelings are not coming from God. "For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray" (2 Nephi 32:8). Just as Satan will teach us not to pray, in order to drive us further from our Heavenly Father, he will likewise teach us that God is a harsh God, incapable of showing mercy and love. This, of course, is a lie. God is unchanged over time (see 1 Nephi 10:18). In John 13:34, Jesus taught, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another." However, this was not a new commandment (although it may have been forgotten over time). As early as the days of Moses, God was instructing us, "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Leviticus 19:18) and not only our neighbour, "but the stranger that dwelleth with you... thou shalt love him as thyself" (Leviticus 19:34). God has always taught the principle of love - do not ever let Satan lead you to believe otherwise.

Joseph Smith explained, "God does not look on sin with allowance, but when men have sinned, there must be allowance made for them.... The nearer we get to our heavenly Father, the more we are disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls; we feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders, and cast their sins behind our backs."

When we have the Spirit of God within us, we feel a greater desire to forgive others. I have experienced this feeling a number of times in my life. While I could easily have taken offense in these situations, I have felt a desire to let it go. Anger, hate, and other worthless feelings go away as we have the Spirit with us. So why would we assume God, from whom those feelings come, would not also be prone to forgive us? He is perfect in His love. Thus, He will forgive all who wish to take advantage of the offered atonement.

You will find greater joy in living the commandments of your loving Heavenly Father than you ever will by heeding the deceptions of Satan. Satan may try to persuade you that you cannot be loved because of whatever sins you may have committed. However, God will always welcome you with open arms when you turn to Him.

Goals for this week:

• If there is some sin in your life that you've attempted to repent of, forgive yourself - God already has. If there is a sin you have yet to repent of, do so now, knowing that God is full of forgiveness.
  
• Read your scriptures daily. Pray often. You may currently feel that God does not love you. The best way to resolve this concern is to learn more of Him. As you do, you will learn of His infinite capacity to love.