On the Just and the Unjust

 

To my son,

                Today I want to encourage you to always treat others with respect and love, no matter who they are or how different they may seem from you. In the most recent general conference, President Nelson said this: “I assure you that your standing before God is not determined by the color of your skin. Favor or disfavor with God is dependent upon your devotion to God and His commandments and not the color of your skin…. Today I call upon our members everywhere to lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice. I plead with you to promote respect for all of God’s children.” President Nelson has repeatedly invited us to love all of God’s children and to never treat someone unfairly or unkindly because of their culture or race. I love how the Prophet Joseph Smith described God’s love for all: “While one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard; He views them as His offspring, and without any of those contracted feelings that influence the children of men, causes ‘His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.’ [Matthew 5:45.]” I know that you are great friend to others, even when you meet them for the first time, and I want to encourage you to always show consideration and kindness to each person you interact with—even if that person does not do the same to you. The Savior taught us that we should even love and serve those who, for whatever reason, may not treat us well: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). That can be very hard to do, but I know as we strive to show love even to those who are not kind to us we will be living as the Savior wants us to.

                I want to share a story with you about a great man I knew on my mission. When I was in the MTC, one of my teachers told us about Jean-Michel, a homeless man that she and her companion had met, taught, and ultimately helped become a member of the Church in their ward in France. She spoke highly of him and the great change he had made in his life. I was thrilled to be sent to his city for my first area and to get to know him. He loved missionaries and always brightened our day whenever we saw him. I spent over seven months there and came to love him for his goodness and the service he rendered to us and that ward. His story was a great example to me of why we shouldn’t judge others even when they are different from us—my MTC teacher could have easily passed by and not spoken to him because he was a scary looking homeless man on the street, but instead she and her companion offered him kindness that changed his life. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. After I left the area I found out that he had stopped coming and had returned to the streets. I was told that he had felt judged by some members because of his tattoos and former life, and he had decided he wasn’t worthy and left. I don’t know the whole story and am not trying to pass blame on the members there, but it broke my heart to think that he didn’t feel like he was welcome or good enough after having been in the ward for several years. When I returned to France a year after my mission, I prayed to find him and the Lord answered my prayer—I walked the city and found him on the streets and was at least able to speak to him and express my concern and love for him. Since then I do not know what happened to him, but I hope and pray that he has found his way back wherever he his. His story is a reminder to me that we must always show love and respect towards others, no matter how different they are or how they may have made mistakes in their past. You are a great example of befriending others and showing love to them, and I hope you will always do that!

Love,

Dad