A friend posted a U-Tube link that I'll repost with this blog. The speaker on the video clip asks each of us to examine ourselves and see if how we treat others properly reflects Jesus' second great commandment to love one another. He emphasized that the doctrines of the Church are even given in love and our understanding of our purpose here on earth.
As I listened to this, I pondered several things. God is love and He loves us. Everything that we do as a Church and individually should be done in love. I've considered how the commandments and doctrines are given as safety measures to help us navigate through life and return to Heavenly Father. Today, however, it struck me anew that every principle and doctrine is given in love. This simple truth lit up my soul this morning as I listened to this video clip.
I also thought how differently we would be treated by others if they were trying to extend God's love to us. If we always acted in love toward others, what changes would we need to make? How would our parenting change to manifest love in all that we do? How would the manner in which we work and even play change? I see a greater vision of what we need to be working toward as I come to understand this principle of love being the motivating force behind every doctrine.
In gathering precious truths this morning, I drew another conclusion. To give the entire story, though, I need to start with our family bowling night. We love Quarter Mania Bowling on Scott AFB. We pay an entry fee, and then a quarter to rent shoes and for each game we bowl. We also eat way to many french fries because they are also only a quarter.... We bowl for several hours, which has ended the evening with my arm hurting. At the very end of the last night of bowling before this week, Ed pointed out that I should be releasing the ball with my thumb pointed up...
I had been bowling incorrectly for weeks.... I remembered what a bowling coach had taught me many years before when I bowled on a youth league at the Cannon AFB, NM, bowling alley. She said to reach out and shake hands with the guy in the middle. She must have also added the exception that my thumb should be up. I had forgotten an important part of her lesson. I had been turning the ball and throwing the bowling ball awkwardly down the lane for weeks without realizing my error.
In pondering the several lessons this video clip brought to my mind, I realized that the gospel is very simple and basic - much like my bowling coach's instructions. We have opportunities to teach and learn the very same simple gospel truths over and over again. However, I only had my memory to fall back on and it was faulty. We don't have to rely on our memory. We can continually keep the truths before our minds by attending our Sunday meetings, studying the scriptures, praying always, and all the very basic steps of our faith. We can keep adjusting our vision, too, to align more closely with heaven, too.
Did my change in how I was bowling make a difference when we bowled last night? Decidedly so! Not only did my arm feel great through all the games of bowling, but I bowled some of my best games of my life. In recent years, I've come to see repentance as a gift given by a Heavenly Father. With my improved vision of the love aspect of this and all principles, I am grateful that we have the opportunity to continue checking our behavior, our vision, our understanding of gospel truths. When we find a seemingly small error (much like my turning my hand as I bowled), we can quickly repent and align ourselves on that straight and narrow path that will lead us back to Heavenly Father.
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