God's Love and Laws

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday afternoon session of the October 2009 conference.

Some of our children were easier to teach than others. One, especially, questioned everything and wanted to know why. Why did we have to obey the restrictive commandments? I often used analogies to explain things. Just as I am older and more experienced than my children, and can see a bigger picture, God is older, more experienced and wiser too. He sees an eternal perspective. His commandments are like our house and family rules, they are to help us be safe, productive, and happy living together.

Elder Oaks talk, Love and Law, reinforced this concept for me.

The love of God does not supersede His laws and His commandments, and the effect of God's laws and commandments does not diminish the purpose and effect of His love. The same should be true of parental love and rules.

One of the things that is hardest for parents is to allow natural consequences to follow the breaking of rules. Too often we extend mercy before the "weight of sin" is felt and we don't allow children to take some time to "come to themselves" and repent. We want to keep the peace, not interrupt or derail our plans. We don't want to get angry!

God's love is so perfect that He lovingly requires us to obey His commandments because He know that only through obedience to His laws can we become perfect, as He is. For this reason, God's anger and His wrath are not a contradiction of His love, but an evidence of His love.

I'm not trying to justify abuse, but there's nothing wrong with letting our children know how disappointed we are, or how unhappy, or upset we are when they deliberately disobey. (I'm not talking about untrained toddlers here. Sometimes we are impatient with a child who just doesn't know any better. We quickly find out where we need to do some teaching and training.)

God's choicest blessings are clearly contingent upon obedience to God's laws and commandments.

I know this to be true better than I know anything else. While I know I have been forgiven of serious sins as a young adult, I also know I have missed out on blessings, and have suffered the consequences of my sins for decades. Maybe God provides miracles for some in removing consequences, but He hasn't for me. I have apologized to my children who also have had to endure the consequences of my choices. 

God does not intervene to forestall the consequences of some persons' choices in order to protect the well-being of other persons--even when they kill, injure, or oppress one another--for this would destroy His plan for eternal progress. He will bless us to endure the consequences of others' choices, but He will not prevent those choices. 

Despite the somber tone of this talk I find it uplifting and hopeful. God's plan is working. And because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ all things will be made right in the end.

Recently I was pondering about our son James and the poor choices he made and how lost he was. Into my mind came his voice saying, "I'm not lost now, Mom." No, he's not lost anymore. The rescue of the Savior extends to all. James is safe from the power of Satan; he is endowed with priesthood power and able to move forward now. God loves all of His children and has provided a way for repentance and mercy through Jesus Christ.

God's love is evident through His laws. Our love should be evident through our obedience. I'm sure that once I make it through this life I will kneel at His feet and thank Him for His laws, and for His mercy in providing a Savior for when I wasn't strong enough or smart enough to obey those laws. 

 

Be Still

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday morning session of the October 2009 conference.

This year my children will be ages 36 to 27. Hardly seems possible! They were raised in a home where we didn't watch broadcast television. We had a TV but used it to watch VHS, then DVD movies. They were homeschooled and didn't get cell phones until they were on their own, earning their own way. (Once a 16 year old son having been told no, he couldn't have his own computer, asked accusingly, "Well, how old were you when you got your own computer?" My answer stunned him into silence, "Forty.") I read to them at bedtime until they were at least twelve. I tried to give them a good foundation of understanding that we all need quiet time to relax and listen. I not sure I did a very good job. All of them seem to be constantly on their phones, or computers, or gaming, or listening to raucous music while doing something else. To my eyes it seem that they never allow for stillness and quiet. 

Sister Vicki F. Matsumori, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency had this to say about it:

If we provide a still and quiet time each day when we are not bombarded by television, computer video games, or personal electronic devices, we allow that still, small voice an opportunity to provide personal revelation and to whisper sweet guidance, reassurance, and comfort to us.

As I listened to that this week I reflected on President Nelson's admonition "But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost." (See Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives)

As missionaries we taught people how to recognize the workings of the Spirit through the many references in the scriptures. I thought I knew everything then; but I'm still learning, even now.

Sister Matsumori said, When we understand the whisperings of the Spirit, we will be able to hear Him teach us "the peaceable things of the kingdom" and "all things what [we] should do." We will recognize answers to our prayers and know how to live the gospel more fully each day. We will be guided and protected. And we can cultivate this gift in our lives as we follow those spiritual promptings. Most importantly, we will feel Him witness to us of the Father and of the Son.

I've tried hard to practice what I preach. Being quiet and still has sure helped me better hear instructional promptings, and to feel the comforting influence of the Savior through my grief and pain.

The Spirit is real and near if we'll just give Him the quiet and stillness He needs to get through to us.

Virtue

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the General Young Women Meeting of the April 2009 conference.

Sister Elaine S. Dalton gave me a big hug when we met at an early morning Young Women Devotional in Omaha, Nebraska. She's a wonderful woman.

During her time as Young Women General President her focus was on the quality of virtue. As I listened to her talk from this session of conference I reflected on how relevant it seems right now; which I have come to realize is a way to recognize eternal truths, they never sound dated or old-fashioned, they sound fresh and current.

I've long said that human nature hasn't changed since Adam and Eve. Technology, fashion, styles, knowledge and many other things have changed, but human beings haven't. Eternal truths apply to us as God's children whether we live today or five thousand years ago; and when we hear them they sound relevant to us and our times.

John Adams, one of America's Founding Fathers, said, "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

I thought of that as I listened to Sister Dalton's talk. We need, as individuals and as a nation, to return to virtue, morality, and righteousness to defeat evil and be ready for the Savior's return. 

This is a critical time. You are being tapped on the shoulder. You are preparing now for that work which will be your finest hour. You are preparing for eternity.