This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the October 2007 Conference.
Elder Wirthlin gave such a good talk on Christlike love! He helped me realize something new about it. He said:
The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of transformation. It takes us as men and women of the earth and refines us into men and women for the eternities.
I have been aware of and appreciated this function of the gospel already—it's one of the things I most hope for, that I can keep progressing long enough to have this great transformation. But then Elder Wirthlin says this:
The means of this refinement is our Christlike love. There is no pain it cannot soften, no bitterness it cannot remove, no hatred it cannot alter. …The most cherished and sacred moments of our lives are those filled with the spirit of love. The greater the measure of our love, the greater is our joy. In the end, the development of such love is the true measure of success in life.When we love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden. Obedience becomes a delight. When we love the Lord, we seek less for things that benefit us and turn our hearts toward things that will bless and uplift others.As our love for the Lord deepens, our minds and hearts become purified. We experience a “mighty change in … our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”
I never really thought about what it is that effects the transformation from Natural Man into Saint. But it makes so much sense that it's charity or pure love! It makes sense because everything starts with God's love—the Plan of Happiness, our existence here on earth, the gospel of Jesus Christ. "We love Him because He first loved us." Feeling God's love is the start of everything good. And once we feel it, like I wrote about here, it sets off a positive chain reaction of wanting to share love with others—feeling it more ourselves as we do—and seeking to share it even more!
Elder Wirthlin continues:
Because the Savior laid down His life for us, we have a brightness of hope, a confidence and security that when we pass from this worldly existence, we will live again with Him. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be cleansed of sin and stand as partakers of the gift of our Almighty Father. Then we will know the glory that God “hath prepared for them that love him.”This is the transforming power of charity.
Knowing that charity has such transformative power—when felt, when sought, when shared—makes me want to seek it even more. I want to feel and benefit from its transforming power!
Other posts in this series:
Payments and Dividends—by Rozy
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