If Ye Have Love One To Another

To my son,

Today I listened to a devotional talk by a BYU professor Eric D. Huntsman. He spoke about some of the very difficult challenges that many people face as members of the Church. As you will understand more and more as you get older, there are countless people in the world who face very difficult challenges that are unfamiliar to you. Professor Huntsman’s plea to us was to seek to love all of God’s children no matter what their struggles and sins, their differences and difficulties. Professor Huntsman encouraged us in these words, “Only by learning to follow the Lord’s example of testifying to, compassionately mourning with, and persistently loving people in a variety of circumstances can we effectively minister to the one. As aspiring Christians but still imperfect Saints, we may not always understand the struggles of others or know how to help. But we can always love them, creating safe spaces where others—and often we ourselves—can struggle with the hard sayings in life.” You will be surrounded in life by those who do not live the same standards as you and who come from very different backgrounds as you. I hope, though, that you will love them no matter who they are and be a friend and support to all those around you. Professor Huntsman continued, “Without diluting the doctrine or compromising the standards of the gospel, we must open our hearts wider, reach out farther, and love more fully. By so doing, we can create more space for love, testimony, mourning, and agency. We can then find not only peace but even joy in the midst of the struggle.” Remember that the litmus test to determine if you are a true disciple of Jesus Christ was given by Him in these words: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35). To follow Him, we must love our fellow men. 

As you start a new school year, I encourage you to strive to show kindness and compassion to all of those around you, especially those who do not seem to fit in well. As you seek to reach out to others who may seem strange or secluded, you will be following the example of our Savior who sought to bless those who were the outcasts and the marginalized. Elder Holland told a poignant story about one who in his high school class had felt rejected by her classmates. When they were planning their 20th year reunion for their high school class, she wrote this letter: “Congratulations to all of us for having survived long enough to have a 20-year class reunion. I hope everyone has a wonderful time. But don’t reserve a place for me. I have, in fact, spent most of those 20 years trying to forget the painful moments of our school days together. Now that I am nearly over those feelings of loneliness and shattered self-esteem, I cannot bring myself to see all of the class and run the risk of remembering all of that again. Have a good time and forgive me. It is my problem, not yours.” He then commented, “She was terribly wrong about one thing—it was our problem, and we knew it. I have wept for her—my friend—and other friends like her in our youth for whom I and a lot of others obviously were not masters of ‘the healer’s art.’ We simply were not the Savior’s agents or disciples that he intended a group of young people to be. I cannot help but wonder what I might have done to watch out a little more for the ones not included, to make sure the gesture of a friendly word or a listening ear or a little low-cost casual talk and shared time might have reached far enough to include those hanging on the outer edge of the social circle, and in some cases barely hanging on at all.” I know that you are one who can make a difference in the lives of others by how you treat them and the love that you can show for them. Be on the lookout for those who need a friend and then seek to be that person who will sit with the lonely at lunch or play with the isolated wanderer at recess. You have taken upon you the name of Jesus Christ, and as you seek to “go about doing good” like He did you will feel His love for you and for others (Acts 10:38). 

Love, 

Dad