The Universal Love of God

In the most recent general conference Elder Christofferson spoke about the love of God. He said this: “Because God’s love is all-embracing, some speak of it as ‘unconditional,’ and in their minds they may project that thought to mean that God’s blessings are ‘unconditional’ and that salvation is ‘unconditional.’ They are not. Some are wont to say, ‘The Savior loves me just as I am,’ and that is certainly true. But He cannot take any of us into His kingdom just as we are, ‘for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence.’ Our sins must first be resolved.” Indeed, we often hear the statement that God’s love is unconditional, but that is not what the scriptures teach. President Nelson put it this way many years ago: “While divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring, and universal, it cannot correctly be characterized as unconditional. The word does not appear in the scriptures. On the other hand, many verses affirm that the higher levels of love the Father and the Son feel for each of us—and certain divine blessings stemming from that love—are conditional.” Certainly the Lord loves all of us universally and perfectly and will always have love for us despite our sins and imperfections. But this fact should not stop us from seeking those “higher levels of love” that God feels for those “who will have him to be their God” (1 Nephi 17:40).   

               We see evidence of the conditional nature of these higher levels of His love in His statement about Hyrum Smith: “And again, verily I say unto you, blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord.” In other words, He expressed a type of love for Hyrum that was not felt for everyone; it was based upon Hyrum’s goodness and integrity. In the same revelation the Lord made a similar statement about George Miller: “Verily I say unto you, my servant George Miller is without guile; he may be trusted because of the integrity of his heart; and for the love which he has to my testimony I, the Lord, love him.” Another statement about His love was given regarding Isaac Galland: “Let my servant Isaac Galland put stock into that house; for I, the Lord, love him for the work he hath done, and will forgive all his sins” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:15,20,78). Again there was some kind of love the Lord expressed that was based upon an individual’s actions. The Savior summarized this principle this way in mortality: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). To partake in the fulness of His love, we must seek to keep His commandments and do those things He requires of us.

             These scriptures, though, should not discourage us when we have sinned or fallen short of keeping those commandments. Of course God still loves us even when we sin, for His very nature is to love: “God is love.” And the atonement of Jesus Christ, universal and infinite for us all is the greatest evidence of that: “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). That great act of love, though, was not given to have us remain in our sins and weaknesses. Elder Christofferson explained, “Because They love you, They do not want to leave you ‘just as you are.’ Because They love you, They want you to have joy and success. Because They love you, They want you to repent because that is the path to happiness. But it is your choice—They honor your agency. You must choose to love Them, to serve Them, to keep Their commandments. Then They can more abundantly bless you as well as love you.” Our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ love us each deeply, and if we want to feel most abundantly that love in our lives we must seek to love them, striving to do Their will and keep Their commandments with all our heart.