See Jesus

In his recent general conference talk, Elder Robert M. Daines spoke about being “face-blind,” a real medical condition in which people are unable to recognize faces. He used this to speak about the fact that some of us are spiritually that way, meaning that we are not able to see God for who He really is. Elder Daines suggested, “You may struggle to see God as a loving Father. You may look heavenward and see not the face of love and mercy but a thicket of rules through which you must wend your way. Perhaps you believe God rules in His heavens, speaks through His prophets, and loves your sister, but you secretly wonder whether He loves you. Perhaps you have felt the iron rod in your hand but not yet felt your Savior’s love to which it leads.” He told of how he himself once felt this way: “I was spiritually face-blind. I thought my life was about following rules and measuring up to abstract standards. I knew God loved you perfectly but didn’t feel it myself. I’m afraid I thought more about getting into heaven than being with my Heavenly Father.” While commandments from the Lord are important—Christ has asked us to follow them—a strict adherence to them is not the ultimate goal. Rather, keeping the commandments are a means to help us show our love for God and feel His. The Savior taught, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10). In our dispensation He said something similar: “If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness” (Doctrine and Covenants 95:12). We keep the commandments in order to abide in His love and draw near to Him; perfect obedience in and of itself is not the end goal.

                I remember a friend describing his experience as a missionary in the southern United States talking with a certain group of Christians who focused on the grace of the Savior. As he related it to me, they suggested to him that keeping commandments were not necessary for salvation. He then asked why they would try to keep the Savior’s commandments, and they responded, “Because we love Him.” He realized that was a very good reason. We of course do believe that keeping commandments are an essential part of our journey back to our Father in Heaven—"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven”—but we certainly could use more of their attitude as it relates to keeping commandments (Matthew 7:21). We should do it out of love for the Savior first and foremost, and our emphasis on keeping the letter of the law should not be so great that we cause others to miss the bigger picture of why the Savior has given us commandments in the first place. Yesterday my daughter asked me about a particular commandment and if we would go to hell if we did not keep it. The question itself has led me to wonder if I have properly helped my children to see and feel and seek the love of their Father in Heaven. As I have tried to help them keep the rules and do what is right, I’m not sure that I have helped them as much to come to love God and desire to be with Him. As Elder Daines taught, we should seek to help all say in their own way, “We would like to see Jesus.”