Do Good and Love God, Part 6

Another of the best things we should focus on is serving God. One of the saddest experiences I had as a full-time missionary occurred in the MTC. While there we manned the call lines for people who called in requesting a copy of the Book of Mormon, Bible, or church video. One man with whom I spoke told me that he felt like he had spent much of his life serving God but didn't feel like he received anything for it. He told me he was going to stop serving God and instead wait for God to serve him. That brief conversation has remained with me over the years. At the time I had no good response to the man's statement. Over the years I've thought about my experience with that man and spent time learning about the importance of serving God.

We are commanded to serve God: "And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water" (Exodus 23:25). When we are baptized as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we covenant with God to serve Him. Further, being baptized is one way we show God by our actions that we will serve Him: "[The people of Limhi] were desirous to be baptized as a witness and a testimony that they were willing to serve God with all their hearts" (Mosiah 21:35). Those who serve God with all their might are sanctified: "And we know also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength" (D&C 20:31).

When we cease serving God we turn away and serve other gods, as is stated repeatedly throughout the Old Testament: "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them" (Deut. 11:16). We do not stop serving gods, we just stop serving the True and Living God. "When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you" (Josh. 23:16). Ceasing to serve God is a sign of wickedness. It is not pleasing to the Lord. Why does God want us to serve Him though? Through our service to Him, He is able to fulfill His purposes. What are those purposes? "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). He wants us to serve Him so that He can sanctify us and help us return to live with Him. Serving God helps us become more like Him.

Link to part 5 of this essay.

Do Good and Love God, Part 5

What is it about Isaiah's prophecies that are so powerful? Most of his prophecies focus on Jesus Christ, especially Jesus as our Messiah and Redeemer. On the Atonement - the Savior's propitiation for our sins - Isaiah wrote, "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: ye we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Be he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:3-7). How much clearer could Isaiah be about Jesus' role as Redeemer and as our Savior?

Isaiah also wrote much about the temple and temple-related doctrines. "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths" (Isaiah 2:2-3). Isaiah wanted the people and all of us to know that the Savior, living pure, and the temple should be central in our lives. The Savior's Atonement should be particularly central. Those are some of the "best" things we should focus on.

Link to part 4 of of this essay.

Do Good and Love God, Part 4

Jacob, brother of Nephi, again taught the importance of Isaiah (at his brother's suggestion), "I will read you the words of Isaiah.... And I speak unto you for your sakes, that ye may learn and glorify the name of your God" (2 Ne. 6:4). From the prophecies of Isaiah we learn the name of our God but more importantly we learn to glorify His name. What is the name of our God? Jehovah, who was born into this world in a humble manger. Jesus Christ is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of the Old Testament. He is our Savior and Redeemer. He is the Son of the Eternal Father. While Jesus and Heavenly Father are distinct personages, They are one in purpose and one in power. "The members of the Godhead are infinitely more one than separate, they just happen to be separate beings" (Robert L. Millet, 1998, heard in class at BYU).

Jacob continued, "And now, the words which I shall read are they which Isaiah spake concerning all the house of Israel; wherefore, they may be likened unto you, for ye are of the house of Israel" (2 Nephi 6:5). We too, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are of the house of Israel and can liken the words of Isaiah to ourselves. Nephi loved Isaiah's words, "I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken is words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him.... Whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men." (2 Nephi 11:2,8). There are many more references to the words of Isaiah being great (see 2 Ne. 25:1; 2 Ne. 25:4-7). The Savior, after His resurrection, commanded the people of Nephi to read and study Isaiah's words.

Jesus taught, "Ye remember that I spake unto you, and said that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled - behold they are written, ye have them before you, therefore search them" (3 Ne. 20:11). Again he commanded, "And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah" (3 Ne. 23:1). We must not only search Isaiah's words but also search them diligently.

Link to part 3 of this essay.

Do Good and Love God, Part 3

So, in the end, the innate goodness of humankind is really not separate from God; however, I believe people can be good without being directly inspired by God. My point is that there are things that people do or there are events that happen that are good or bad but this does not mean that God caused them or is responsible for them. Why is this important to understand? Because there are good things, as I wrote before, but just because something is good does not mean it is something we should expend a lot of energy and effort on; we should focus most of our efforts on the better and best - things that are inspired directly by God; things that lead us to do good continually and serve and love God.

What are some of these best things in life? In the Doctrine and Covenants we are commanded to "teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom" (D&C 88:77). The doctrine of the kingdom is certainly one of the best things. Related to this verse is the following from the Doctrine and Covenants, "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith" (D&C 88:118). What are some of the other "best" things we can do? Teach one another words of wisdom, seek out the best books (particularly the words of wisdom in those books), seek learning but particularly learning by study and faith. Those are all some of the "best" things we can, or rather, we must focus on.

The scriptures are included within the category of the "best books" but that category is not exclusive to scriptures. There are many other non-scriptural books that can be included in the "best books." However, there are no books that are better than the scriptures. One of the books that we should particularly focus on is the book of Isaiah. Isaiah is the most-quoted prophet in the scriptures. His prophecies are particularly prevalent in the Book of Mormon. Nephi talked about the importance of Isaiah, "And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning" (1 Nephi 19:23). Isaiah is a powerful source of knowledge about the Savior.

Link to part 2 of this essay.

Do Good and Love God, Part 2

Those things that are best in our lives are the things that lead us to do good, love God, and serve Him. This does not mean that we have no time for things that might simply be good, but we do not have time to do every good thing; we need to prioritize and put the best first, as Elder Oaks said. There are many good works of art - books, music, paintings, sculptures, and so forth - that are worthwhile to read and listen to and view. There are many good activities but if they do not lead us to do good continually by serving God and loving Him, they are not directly inspired by God. Should we avoid doing and partaking of these things? No, but we should be wise consumers. "O be wise. What can I say more?" as the great teacher Jacob stated (Jacob 6:12).

Quoting Elder Oaks again: "Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, or reading books or magazines. Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information. But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. Some things are better, and others are best. When the Lord told us to seek learning, He said, 'Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom' (D&C 88:118; emphasis added)" (Source).

One thing I think is important about goodness being somewhat independent of the direct inspiration of God (i.e., not all that is merely good is directly inspired by God), is that it supports the notion of the innate goodness of humankind. I believe that people are inherently good. Whenever I look at a baby, I see that goodness and innocence. There is no sin or depravity. God created man - Adam and Eve - and saw that they were good. Adam and Eve made a brave choice in choosing to enter the mortal and dark and dreary world; they transgressed but they repented of that transgression and the Savior's Atonement freed all humankind from the blame of that transgression. As Joseph Smith wrote in the Wentworth Letter, "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression" (Articles of Faith 2).

Mankind is in a fallen state but we are not fallen creatures. We all have a spark of divinity within us. Further, all humans are given the light of Christ to provide guidance. We all know, even if it is only deep down, what is right and wrong, in part because we've been given this light to guide us. It isn't until we willfully rebel against the light and force it out of our lives through sin and other wrong choices, that we become evil and depraved - not before. We are not born blind because of any sins of our parents, we blind ourselves by our disobedience (see John 9:2-3).

Link to part 1 of this essay.

Do Good and Love God, Part 1

"But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God" (Moroni 7:13).

We can learn a lot from this interesting scripture. We learn that which of God invites and entices us to do good continually. In other words, that which of God does not just invite us to do good; it invites us to do good all the time. Another important lesson from this verse is that God does not force us - He invites us and even entices us (for example, with the promise of eternal life) because that is sometimes what it takes to motivate us. Being enticed to do good provides us with hope; hope and faith are inseparably connected. Another thing that this part of the verse teaches us is that there are things that invite us to do good that are not necessarily "of God", or rather, there are good things that are not necessarily inspired of God. The second sentence in this verse teaches us more about the conditions of inspiration.

"Every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God" (Moroni 7:13). This is a conjunctive statement. That means that all of the separate conditions or clauses of the sentence are required to support the conclusion. That which is inspired of God invites us to do good and love God and serve Him. It requires all three - do good, love, and serve. Why is this important to understand?

This means that there are things that invite us to do good that are not necessarily directly inspired of God, as I mentioned earlier. I don't want to minimize any good thing but that which is good does not necessarily equal that which is best. As Elder Oaks stated in General Conference in October 2007, "We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives" (Source).

Impressions of Conference

I recently finished listening to all the talks from General Conference again (other than the Priesthood Session but I've started re-reading those). I am struck by how wonderful all the talks are. Conference is always good but sometimes there are some talks that aren't quite so interesting or full of impact. That might just reveal something about myself though. However, this Conference was amazing. Every talk was worth listening to again and again. Normally I listen to all the talks again once, then just listen to the talks by the apostles again (or maybe a particularly good talk by one of the Seventy or general officers). However, I really want to listen to every talk again. I already started.

The other thing I was struck by is how much Elder Holland's talk about the Savior touched so many people. All I heard from other church members after Conference were things like, "What did you think of Elder Holland's talk?" or "Wasn't Elder Holland's talk amazing?" It was; it is. It's an instant classic. Elder Holland has always been one of my favorite speakers; there are a few of his talks I've listened to and re-read many times. I love his talk As Doves to Our Windows he gave in April 2000. I also really enjoy his talk Broken Things to Mend. A talk I particularly love is his talk An High Priest of Good Things To Come, which he gave in October 1999. I think I've listened to that talk at least 10 times, maybe 20. While his talks are frequently encouraging to those who suffer or who are sad or who feel lost, that talk is particularly comforting. In it he tells the story of a young father setting across the country with his young family to attend school. I'll reprint the story here.

"Forgive me for a personal conclusion, which does not represent the terrible burdens so many of you carry but it is meant to be encouraging. Thirty years ago last month, a little family set out to cross the United States to attend graduate school--no money, an old car, every earthly possession they owned packed into less than half the space of the smallest U-Haul trailer available. Bidding their apprehensive parents farewell, they drove exactly 34 miles up the highway, at which point their beleaguered car erupted.

"Pulling off the freeway onto a frontage road, the young father surveyed the steam, matched it with his own, then left his trusting wife and two innocent children--the youngest just three months old--to wait in the car while he walked the three miles or so to the southern Utah metropolis of Kanarraville, population then, I suppose, 65. Some water was secured at the edge of town, and a very kind citizen offered a drive back to the stranded family. The car was attended to and slowly--very slowly--driven back to St. George for inspection--U-Haul trailer and all.

"After more than two hours of checking and rechecking, no immediate problem could be detected, so once again the journey was begun. In exactly the same amount of elapsed time at exactly the same location on that highway with exactly the same pyrotechnics from under the hood, the car exploded again. It could not have been 15 feet from the earlier collapse, probably not 5 feet from it! Obviously the most precise laws of automotive physics were at work.

"Now feeling more foolish than angry, the chagrined young father once more left his trusting loved ones and started the long walk for help once again. This time the man providing the water said, 'Either you or that fellow who looks just like you ought to get a new radiator for that car.' For the second time a kind neighbor offered a lift back to the same automobile and its anxious little occupants. He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry at the plight of this young family.

"'How far have you come?' he said. 'Thirty-four miles,' I answered. 'How much farther do you have to go?' 'Twenty-six hundred miles,' I said. 'Well, you might make that trip, and your wife and those two little kiddies might make that trip, but none of you are going to make it in that car.' He proved to be prophetic on all counts.

"Just two weeks ago this weekend, I drove by that exact spot where the freeway turnoff leads to a frontage road, just three miles or so west of Kanarraville, Utah. That same beautiful and loyal wife, my dearest friend and greatest supporter for all these years, was curled up asleep in the seat beside me. The two children in the story, and the little brother who later joined them, have long since grown up and served missions, married perfectly, and are now raising children of their own. The automobile we were driving this time was modest but very pleasant and very safe. In fact, except for me and my lovely Pat situated so peacefully at my side, nothing of that moment two weeks ago was even remotely like the distressing circumstances of three decades earlier.

"Yet in my mind's eye, for just an instant, I thought perhaps I saw on that side road an old car with a devoted young wife and two little children making the best of a bad situation there. Just ahead of them I imagined that I saw a young fellow walking toward Kanarraville, with plenty of distance still ahead of him. His shoulders seemed to be slumping a little, the weight of a young father's fear evident in his pace. In the scriptural phrase his hands did seem to hang down.' In that imaginary instant, I couldn't help calling out to him: 'Don't give up, boy. Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead--a lot of it--30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.'"

As with any of his talks, as wonderful as they are to read, they are even better when listened to. Here is the link to the audio of that talk (I believe it requires Windows Media Player or something that can play the format).