Specialists in mercy

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Afternoon Session of the October 1981 Conference.

It seems obvious that there has to be some kind of balance in teaching justice and mercy. At various points in my life I've worried about teaching one or the other too strongly with my children—either emphasizing justice and consequences so much that they feel overwhelmed and like they will never be able to repent, or emphasizing mercy so much that they don't take repentance seriously. And of course, you never know if your children even hear the message you're trying to get across, or some other interpretation from their own minds.

But even so, somehow I always come back to my testimony of repentance and mercy. I think if I HAVE to err on the side of one or the other—for me, the choice has to be mercy. It's too important and has been too meaningful to me for me to risk my children not understanding how God's arms are always open to receive us, no matter what wrongs we've done. That has probably been the most important doctrine I've learned so far in my journey to know Jesus Christ.

So I loved Elder Marion D. Hanks' talk in this conference, called "My Specialty is Mercy." Here are some excerpts:

I am sure that everyone within sound of my voice today is in favor of mercy. But mercy merely as a principle, impersonal mercy, is no more useful or virtuous than impersonal faith or impersonal repentance or impersonal love… 

I was listening with deep interest as [a friend told his] “before and after” story. The “before” involved his life as a nominal but nonpracticing Christian employed in a stressful occupation with rough associates and with a tendency to follow the crowd in all their bad habits. He was not attentive to his wife and children, was worried about his family, suffered from an unhappy conscience, and had developed a serious physical ailment. 

Then two young men came to his door. They represented the Lord, they said, with a message of eternal truth for him and his family: the gospel of Jesus Christ is restored to the earth, the church of Jesus Christ reestablished; every individual and every family are important to God and through his plan can find purpose and meaning; families are meant to be together forever; and there is a way to know for oneself the truth of these things, they said, for the Holy Spirit will confirm the knowledge for those who sincerely seek.
He listened and believed. Immediately he put aside bad habits. His wife and children responded also. Their lives changed. They studied and prayed and worshiped, joined the Church, and lived in the light of the Spirit. His work improved, and soon new opportunities and trust and renewed reputation for dependability resulted. 

At the conclusion of his story came a ringing declaration of faith, without self-consciousness, without bluster, without guile. “I am like the Lord in one thing,” he said; “my specialty is mercy.” 

My specialty is mercy! 

One cannot live long with the scriptures without recognizing that God our Father and his holy Son have specialties also. 

The specialty of the Father is mercy. 

[And] there is [always another] one who understands, who sympathizes. He was misunderstood, rejected, knew supreme loneliness, was poor and had not a place to lay his head, suffered anguish and conflict of mind. 

He understands. 

He can give pardon and bring peace. 

The specialty of the Savior is mercy. 

And he requires that we be specialists in mercy.

I love this. What would I do without this comforting knowledge?


Other posts in this series:

• Vermin Follow the Harvest by G
• The Greatness of Women-Revisited by Jan Tolman