"If Ye Love Me"

I recently had an experience where my companion, myself, and a local member were teaching a man about God, and how He teaches us the Gospel so that we can be happy. As were teaching, however, I felt that I was the one learning. It was a really cool experience. We all love our families. It's a basic. And there are many ways that we show our love for them, especially for our parents. Our parents love us unconditionally, and only want the best for us. Sometimes we don't always see it that way, and we feel like they are limiting or restricting us. Still being fairly young, I can say that I know the feeling. But one of the greatest ways that we show our parents that we love them, is when we are faced with the hardships and trials of this life, those situations where we just have no clue what to do, and we turn to them, and ask them for their help and guidance. It shows the love and trust that we have for them, and that we value their thoughts and opinions. But then comes the true test of love: do we actually do it. Our parents are wiser than us; they have more experience. And if we really love them, we even make sacrifices to show that love and accept their counsel. And when we do, the relationship that we have with that parent grows, because we have, in a sense, shared that experience together. And more often than not, the advice our parents give is good advice.

So let's put that into a different setting. God is our Heavenly Father, the Father of our spirits. Like our earthly parents, He wants to bless us. He wants us to be happy. And he wants us to be successful. He also wants us to be safe from dangers, both physical and spiritual. His love for us is infinite and unconditional. He asks that we, in turn, love him. It is "the first and great commandment" (Matthew 22:36-40). We can show our love for God in the same way that we show love for our earthly parents. In the chaos that is this life, we can turn to our Heavenly Father in humble and heartfelt prayer and seek His guidance. Then the true test of our love: do we do what He directs. Because God is a perfect being, we can have full and complete trust in Him. We can follow His counsel with a perfect knowledge that doing so will be for our own spiritual well-being, and that it will bring blessings. His counsel, in one way or another, always has been, and always will be to live the Gospel; or in other words to live what His Son taught. In His earthly ministry, the Savior clearly taught, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Living the Gospel, which includes the obedience to the commandments, is the way that we show our love for God and for the Savior. It shows the trust that we have that God's ways are better than man's (Isaiah 55:8-9). And when we do choose to obey, we are blessed, and we draw closer to God. We see that His direction will truly lead us to happiness (See John 7:17), and we are better able to more completely trust Him in the future.


I know that sometimes it's really hard to be humble enough to accept the counsel that God has for us. It is not always what we want to do. But I know that doing the will of God instead of our own, especially when we do not want to, is how we grow the most. It follows the divine example of our Savior, who's timeless words were: "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). I have seen so many blessings from trying to follow the example of Jesus Christ and keep the commandments. More than anything, I have found happiness and peace. When we trust in God and live the Gospel, we are able to free ourselves from the guilt, shame and burden of past mistakes. I love my God, and I love my Savior. I am imperfect, but every day I am trying to trust more fully in them, and do the things that they would have me do. I know that God live, that Jesus Christ is His Son, and that through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel, all mankind may be saved (See Articles of Faith 1:3).