Elder Robert F. Orton
Of the Seventy
"Given the purpose of our existence, if we do not love God and neighbor,
whatever else we do will be of little eternal consequence."
The attention of people around the world has been drawn, during the past four
weeks, to the willful, intentional, and destructive acts of terrorism and hatred.
Hatred is the antithesis of love. Lucifer is its chief proponent and perpetrator
and has been since his approach to the plan of salvation was rejected by the
Father. It was he who influenced Judas to deliver Jesus to the chief priests
for 30 pieces of silver. It is he, the enemy of all righteousness and the father
of contention, who, "as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour" (1
Pet. 5:8).
On the other hand, it was that same Jesus whom Judas delivered to the chief
priests who said, "Love your enemies, . . . and pray
for them who despitefully use you and persecute you" (3
Ne. 12:44; see also Matt.
5:44). And it was He who pleaded for the soldiers who crucified Him, saying,
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke
23:34).
I thought for many years that love was an attribute. But it is more. It is
a commandment. In His dialogue with the lawyer, a Pharisee, Jesus said:
"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.
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matt.
22:37–40; see also Gal.
5:14).
President Hinckley has said that "love is like the Polar Star. In a changing
world, it is a constant. It is the very essence of the gospel."
"Without love . . . there is little else to commend
the gospel to us as a way of life" (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley
[1997], 319, 317). The Apostle John said that "God is love" (1
Jn. 4:8). Thus, on Him, as the embodiment of love, hang all the law and
the prophets.
The Apostle Paul taught that faith, which is the first principle of the gospel,
works by love (see Gal.
5:6). What a valuable doctrine to understand! Love is the driving force
behind faith. Just as a fire at home on a cold winter night makes it warm, so
love of God and neighbor gives us faith, with which anything is possible.
Most of us profess to love God. The challenge, I have observed, is loving our
neighbor. The term neighbor includes family, people with whom we work,
those whom we see in geographical proximity to our home and at church, and even
the enemy, though we do not condone what the latter does. If we do not love
all of these, our brothers and sisters, can we truly say that we love God? The
Apostle John declared "that he who loveth God love his brother also, "
and added, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar"
(1
Jn. 4:21, 20). Love of God and neighbor must therefore be inseparably connected.
Our eternal progression leans heavily on the degree to which we love. Webster
defines love as the "unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the good
of another; an affection based on admiration, benevolence or common interests"
(Longman Webster English College Dictionary, overseas edition). And Mormon
treats as synonymous the terms "pure love of Christ" and "charity"
(see Moro.
7:47). We can best demonstrate our love to God by keeping His commandments.
And we can show our love to God and neighbor by charitable acts of service.
Permit me two illustrations. In the Transylvanian Alps of Romania, a man, with
his wife and two children, was baptized into the Church. He became the leader
of his branch; however, due to economic and family pressures, he became inactive
for a time. Upon his return to activity, he reported that as he had stepped
out of the water at the time of his baptism, someone whispered in his ear, "I
love you." No one had ever told him that before. His recollection of that
expression of love, and the loving and charitable acts and expressions of members
of his branch, brought him back.
Several years ago, a young man became involved in the ways of the world. For
a time, his parents had no influence on him. Two high priests who were neighbors
and members of his ward but who had no specific calling to serve him, together
with an uncle and others, put their arms around and befriended him. They nursed
him back into activity and encouraged him to prepare for a mission. They told
him that they loved him and demonstrated that love by their conduct towards
him. This changed the young man's life. It takes an abundance of love and sometimes
it takes a cooperative effort to raise a child.
"No one can assist in this work [unless] he shall be humble and full
of love" (D&C
12:8). "By love serve one another" (Gal.
5:13). Just as service is a natural consequence of love, so is love a natural
consequence of service. Husbands, serve your wives. Wives, serve your husbands.
Husbands and wives, serve your children. And to all we say, serve God and neighbor.
As we do so, we will come to love the object of our devotion and thus be obedient
to the first and great commandment of love.
Following His Resurrection in Jerusalem, Jesus appeared to the Nephites in
the Americas. After teaching about baptism, He warned against anger and contention,
saying, "And there shall be no disputations among you. . . . For
verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not
of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth
up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another" (3
Ne. 11:22, 29).
Brothers and sisters, if we are obedient to the commandment of love, there
will be no disputations, contention, nor hatred between nor among us. We will
not speak ill of one another but will treat each other with kindness and respect,
realizing that each of us is a child of God. There will be no Nephites, Lamanites,
nor other "ites" among us, and every man, woman, and child will deal
justly one with another.
Early one morning in Bucharest, as I jogged through Cismigiu Park, I observed
an old tree which was struggling to give new branches—to give new life.
The symbol of life is to give. We give so much to family and friends and to
community and Church that at times we, as the old tree, may think that life
is too difficult—that constantly giving is a burden too heavy to bear.
We may think that it would be easier to give up and to do only that which the
natural man does. But we should not and will not quit. Why? Because we must
continue to give, just like Christ and the old tree gave. As we give just a
little bit, let us think of Him who gave His life that we might live.
Jesus, near the end of His mortal life, revisited the doctrine of love when
He instructed His adherents that as He had loved them, so they also should love
one another. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye
have love one to another" (John
13:35).
I conclude that, given the purpose of our existence, if we do not love God
and neighbor, whatever else we do will be of little eternal consequence.
I testify of the divinity of Christ and the reality of His mission to bring
to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. That we might love as He loved
and continues to love, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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