Love Loves Love

With Valentines Day approaching, I felt that I needed to spend this post speaking about the greatest attribute of all: love.

The Savior was the absolute embodiment of love and charity. One verse that speaks of such attributes can be found in Luke 6:35

35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Again, I will: 1) explain what this verse means to me, 2) explain the principle in this passage, and 3) apply it to our own lives.

I have been having some difficulty lately with those who I feel are not exhibiting Christlike attributes, and so this verse is very relevant to me today. Loving those who treat you well is not always an easy task, and so loving your enemies can be even more difficult. I have always leaned on the knowledge that I am a child of God, and so this verse also impacts me because it implies that through our love we can fully be His children.

The principle in this passage is that of charity. We must treat everyone with love and kindness, without the hope that they will reciprocate these feelings, and we must do so continually. Here is a principle of delayed consequences for our actions. We may not experience immediate rewards for our kindness, but in Heaven we will have such blessings. God is merciful and so we must display mercy.

How do we apply this to our own lives? We must take a look at to whom we show or feel unkind feelings. Once you can identify those who may be seen as "enemies," think of how you can serve them. Service is the gateway to true Christlike charity. In addition, to incorporate this principle in our lives you can pray for your enemies daily, until you do not view them as enemies anymore.

"Love Loves Love"- this refers to the different definitions of Love. Christ is love, Charity is love, and love is love. Therefore, "Love Loves Love" can be seen as "Christ Loves Charity."

PS. I need to put a plug in for a new app and computer program that my professor has been working on. I have been looking forward to this for the past three years, and so I am so excited that it has finally become available! Find more information here: http://nt.byu.edu/