Jesus is the Savior of the World.

1. Love Your Enemies
2. By President Dallin H. Oaks (paragraphs 1-105)
3. First Counselor in the First Presidency
5. Knowing that we are all children of God gives us a vision of the worth of others and the ability to rise above prejudice.
6. The Lord’s teachings are for eternity and for all of God’s children.
7. In this message I will give some examples from the United States, but the principles I teach are applicable everywhere.
8. We live in a time of anger and hatred in political relationships and policies.
9. We felt it this summer when some went beyond peaceful protests and engaged in destructive behavior.
10. We feel it in some current campaigns for public offices.
11. Unfortunately, some of this has even spilled over into political statements and unkind references in our Church meetings.
12. In a democratic government we will always have differences over proposed candidates and policies.
13. However, as followers of Christ we must forgo the anger and hatred with which political choices are debated or denounced in many settings.
14. 
15. Here is one of our Savior’s teachings, probably well known but rarely practiced:
16. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
17. “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 5:43–44).¹
18. For generations, Jews had been taught to hate their enemies, and they were then suffering under the domination and cruelties of Roman occupation.
19. Yet Jesus taught them, “Love your enemies” and “do good to them that … despitefully use you.”
20. 
21. What revolutionary teachings for personal and political relationships!
22. But that is still what our Savior commands.
23. In the Book of Mormon we read,
24. “For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another” (3 Nephi 11:29).
25. Loving our enemies and our adversaries is not easy.
26. “Most of us have not reached that stage of … love and forgiveness,”
27. President Gordon B. Hinckley observed, adding, “It requires a self-discipline almost greater than we are capable of.”² 
28. But it must be essential, for it is part of the Savior’s two great commandments to “love the Lord thy God” and to “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37, 39).
29. And it must be possible, for He also taught, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find” (Matthew 7:7).³
30. How do we keep these divine commandments in a world where we are also subject to the laws of man?
31. Fortunately, we have the Savior’s own example of how to balance His eternal laws with the practicalities of man-made laws.
32. When adversaries sought to trap Him with a question about whether Jews should pay taxes to Rome, He pointed to the image of Caesar on their coins and declared, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s” (Luke 20:25).⁴
33. 
34. So, we are to follow the laws of men (render unto Caesar) to live peacefully under civil authority, and we follow the laws of God toward our eternal destination.
35. But how do we do this—especially how do we learn to love our adversaries and our enemies?
36. The Savior’s teaching not to “contend with anger” is a good first step.
37. The devil is the father of contention, and it is he who tempts men to contend with anger.
38. He promotes enmity and hateful relationships among individuals and within groups.
39. President Thomas S. Monson taught that anger is “Satan’s tool,” for “to be angry is to yield to the influence of Satan.
40. No one can make us angry. It is our choice.”⁵ 
41. Anger is the way to division and enmity.
42. We move toward loving our adversaries when we avoid anger and hostility toward those with whom we disagree.
43. It also helps if we are even willing to learn from them.
44. Among other ways to develop the power to love others is the simple method described in a long-ago musical.
45. When we are trying to understand and relate to people of a different culture, we should try getting to know them.
46. In countless circumstances, strangers’ suspicion or even hostility give way to friendship or even love when personal contacts produce understanding and mutual respect.⁶
47. An even greater help in learning to love our adversaries and our enemies is to seek to understand the power of love.
48. Here are three of many prophetic teachings about this.
49. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “it is a time-honored adage that love begets love. Let us pour forth love—show forth our kindness unto all mankind.”⁷
50. President Howard W. Hunter taught: “The world in which we live would benefit greatly if men and women everywhere would exercise the pure love of Christ, which is kind, meek, and lowly.
51. It is without envy or pride. … It seeks nothing in return. … It has no place for bigotry, hatred, or violence. … It encourages diverse people to live together in Christian love regardless of religious belief, race, nationality, financial standing, education, or culture.”⁸
52. And President Russell M. Nelson has urged us to “expand our circle of love to embrace the whole human family.”⁹
53. An essential part of loving our enemies is to render unto Caesar by keeping the laws of our various countries.
54. Though Jesus’s teachings were revolutionary, He did not teach revolution or lawbreaking. He taught a better way.
55. Modern revelation teaches the same:
56. “Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.
57. “Wherefore, be subject to the powers that be” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:21–22).
58. And our article of faith, written by the Prophet Joseph Smith after the early Saints had suffered severe persecution from Missouri officials, declares, “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law” (Articles of Faith 1:12).
59. This does not mean that we agree with all that is done with the force of law.
60. It means that we obey the current law and use peaceful means to change it.
61. It also means that we peacefully accept the results of elections.
62. We will not participate in the violence threatened by those disappointed with the outcome.¹⁰
63.  In a democratic society we always have the opportunity and the duty to persist peacefully until the next election.
64. The Savior’s teaching to love our enemies is based on the reality that all mortals are beloved children of God.
65. That eternal principle and some basic principles of law were tested in the recent protests in many American cities.
66. 
67. At one extreme, some seem to have forgotten that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
68. That is the authorized way to raise public awareness and to focus on injustices in the content or administration of the laws.
69. And there have been injustices.
70. In public actions and in our personal attitudes, we have had racism and related grievances.
71. In a persuasive personal essay, the Reverend Theresa A. Dear of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has reminded us that “racism thrives on hatred, oppression, collusion, passivity, indifference and silence.”¹¹ 
72. As citizens and as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we must do better to help root out racism.
73. 
74. At the other extreme, a minority of participants and supporters of these protests and the illegal acts that followed them seem to have forgotten that the protests protected by the Constitution are peaceful protests.
75. Protesters have no right to destroy, deface, or steal property or to undermine the government’s legitimate police powers.
76. The Constitution and laws contain no invitation to revolution or anarchy.
77. All of us—police, protesters, supporters, and spectators—should understand the limits of our rights and the importance of our duties to stay within the boundaries of existing law.
78. Abraham Lincoln was right when he said, “There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.”¹² 
79. Redress of grievances by mobs is redress by illegal means.
80. That is anarchy, a condition that has no effective governance and no formal police, which undermines rather than protects individual rights.
81. One reason the recent protests in the United States were shocking to so many was that the hostilities and illegalities felt among different ethnicities in other nations should not be felt in the United States.
82. This country should be better in eliminating racism not only against Black Americans, who were most visible in the recent protests, but also against Latinos, Asians, and other groups. This nation’s history of racism is not a happy one, and we must do better.
83. 
84. 
85. The United States was founded by immigrants of different nationalities and different ethnicities.
86. Its unifying purpose was not to establish a particular religion or to perpetuate any of the diverse cultures or tribal loyalties of the old countries.
87. Our founding generation sought to be unified by a new constitution and laws.
88. That is not to say that our unifying documents or the then-current understanding of their meanings were perfect.
89. The history of the first two centuries of the United States showed the need for many refinements, such as voting rights for women and, particularly, the abolition of slavery, including laws to ensure that those who had been enslaved would have all the conditions of freedom.
90. Two Yale University scholars recently reminded us:
91. “For all its flaws, the United States is uniquely equipped to unite a diverse and divided society. …
92. “… Its citizens don’t have to choose between a national identity and multiculturalism.
93. Americans can have both.
94. But the key is constitutional patriotism.
95. We have to remain united by and through the Constitution, regardless of our ideological disagreements.”¹³
96. Many years ago, a British foreign secretary gave this great counsel in a debate in the House of Commons: “We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies. 
97. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and these interests it is our duty to follow.”¹⁴
98. That is a good secular reason for following “eternal and perpetual” interests in political matters.
99. In addition, the doctrine of the Lord’s Church teaches us another eternal interest to guide us: the teachings of our Savior, who inspired the Constitution of the United States and the basic laws of many of our countries.
100. Loyalty to established law instead of temporary “allies” is the best way to love our adversaries and our enemies as we seek unity in diversity.
101. Knowing that we are all children of God gives us a divine vision of the worth of all others and the will and ability to rise above prejudice and racism.
102. As I have lived for many years in different places in this nation, the Lord has taught me that it is possible to obey and seek to improve our nation’s laws and also to love our adversaries and our enemies.
103. While not easy, it is possible with the help of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
104. He gave this command to love, and He promises His help as we seek to obey it. I testify that we are loved and will be helped by our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
105. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Richard W. Linford, editor, member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Hits: 192

1. Do Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with God
2. By Elder Dale G. Renlund
3. Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
4. To do justly means acting honorably.
5. We act honorably with God by walking humbly with Him.
6. We act honorably with others by loving mercy.
7. As followers of Jesus Christ, and as Latter-day Saints, we strive—and are encouraged to strive—to do better and be better.1 
8. Perhaps you have wondered, as I have, “Am I doing enough?”
9. “What else should I be doing?”
10. or “How can I, as a flawed person, qualify to ‘dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness’?”2
11. The Old Testament prophet Micah asked the question this way:
12. “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord,
13. and bow myself before the high God?”3 
14. Micah satirically wondered whether even exorbitant offerings might be enough to compensate for sin, saying:
15. “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten [thousand] … rivers of oil?
16. shall I give my firstborn for … the sin of my soul?”4
17. The answer is no.
18. Good deeds are not sufficient.
19. Salvation is not earned.5 
20. Not even the vast sacrifices Micah knew were impossible can redeem the smallest sin.
21. Left to our own devices, the prospect of returning to live in God’s presence is hopeless.6
22. Without the blessings that come from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, we can never do enough or be enough by ourselves.
23. The good news, though, is that because of and through Jesus Christ we can become enough.7 
24. All people will be saved from physical death by the grace of God, through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.8 
25. And if we turn our hearts to God, salvation from spiritual death is available to all “through the Atonement of [Jesus] Christ … by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”9 
26. We can be redeemed from sin to stand clean and pure before God.
27. As Micah explained, “[God] hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”10
28. Micah’s direction on turning our hearts to God and qualifying for salvation contains three interconnected elements.
29. To do justly means acting honorably with God and with other people.
30. We act honorably with God by walking humbly with Him.
31. We act honorably with others by loving mercy.
32. To do justly is therefore a practical application of the first and second great commandments, to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind … [and to] love thy neighbour as thyself.”11
33. To do justly and walk humbly with God is to intentionally withdraw our hand from iniquity, walk in His statutes, and remain authentically faithful.12 
34. A just person turns away from sin and toward God, makes covenants with Him, and keeps those covenants.
35. A just person chooses to obey the commandments of God, repents when falling short, and keeps on trying.
36. When the resurrected Christ visited the Nephites, He explained that the law of Moses had been replaced by a higher law.
37. He instructed them not to “offer up … sacrifices and … burnt offerings” any longer but to offer “a broken heart and a contrite spirit.”
38. He also promised, “And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.”13 
39. When we receive and use the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism, we can enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost
40. and be taught all things that we should do,14 
41. including how to walk humbly with God.
42. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for sin and salvation from spiritual death are available to all who have such a broken heart and contrite spirit.15 
43. A broken heart and contrite spirit prompt us to joyfully repent and try to become more like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
44. As we do so, we receive the Savior’s cleansing, healing, and strengthening power.
45. We not only do justly and walk humbly with God;
46. we also learn to love mercy the way that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do.
47. God delights in mercy and does not begrudge its use.
48. In Micah’s words to Jehovah, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, … will have compassion upon us,” and will “cast all … sins into the depths of the sea.”16 
49. To love mercy as God does is inseparably connected to dealing justly with others and not mistreating them.
50. The importance of not mistreating others is highlighted in an anecdote about Hillel the Elder, a Jewish scholar who lived in the first century before Christ.
51. One of Hillel’s students was exasperated by the complexity of the Torah—the five books of Moses with their 613 commandments and associated rabbinic writings.
52. The student challenged Hillel to explain the Torah using only the time that Hillel could stand on one foot.
53. Hillel may not have had great balance but accepted the challenge.
54. He quoted from Leviticus, saying,
55. “Thou shalt not avenge,
56. nor bear any grudge
57. against the children of thy people,
58. but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”17 
59. Hillel then concluded:
60. “That which is hateful unto you, do not do to your neighbor.
61. This is the whole of the Torah; the rest is commentary.
62. Go forth and study.”18
63. Always dealing honorably with others is part of loving mercy.
64. Consider a conversation I overheard decades ago in the emergency department of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.
65. A patient, Mr. Jackson, was a courteous, pleasant man who was well known to the hospital staff.
66. He had previously been hospitalized multiple times for the treatment of alcohol-related diseases.
67. On this occasion, Mr. Jackson returned to the hospital for symptoms that would be diagnosed as inflammation of the pancreas caused by alcohol consumption.
68. Toward the end of his shift, Dr. Cohen, a hardworking and admired physician, evaluated Mr. Jackson and determined that hospitalization was warranted.
69. Dr. Cohen assigned Dr. Jones, the physician next up in rotation, to admit Mr. Jackson and oversee his treatment.
70. Dr. Jones had attended a prestigious medical school and was just beginning her postgraduate studies.
71. This grueling training was often associated with sleep deprivation, which likely contributed to Dr. Jones’s negative response.
72. Confronted with her fifth admission of the night, she complained loudly to Dr. Cohen.
73. She felt it was unfair that she would have to spend many hours caring for Mr. Jackson, because his predicament was, after all, self-inflicted.
74. Dr. Cohen’s emphatic response was spoken in almost a whisper.
75. He said, “Dr. Jones, you became a physician to care for people and work to heal them.
76. You didn’t become a physician to judge them.
77. If you don’t understand the difference, you have no right to train at this institution.”
78. Following this correction, Dr. Jones diligently cared for Mr. Jackson during the hospitalization.
79. Mr. Jackson has since died.
80. Both Dr. Jones and Dr. Cohen have had stellar careers.
81. But at a critical moment in her training, Dr. Jones needed to be reminded to do justly, to love mercy, and to care for Mr. Jackson without being judgmental.19
82. Over the years, I have benefited from that reminder.
83. Loving mercy means that we do not just love the mercy God extends to us; we delight that God extends the same mercy to others.
84. And we follow His example. “All are alike unto God,”20 and we all need spiritual treatment to be helped and healed.
85. The Lord has said, “Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another,
86. or one man shall not think himself above another.”21
87. Jesus Christ exemplified what it means to do justly and to love mercy.
88. He freely associated with sinners,
89. treating them honorably
90. and with respect.
91. He taught the joy of keeping God’s commandments
92. and sought to lift
93. rather than condemn
94. those who struggled.
95. He did denounce those who faulted Him for ministering to people they deemed unworthy.22 
96. Such self-righteousness offended Him and still does.23
97. To be Christlike, a person does justly, behaving honorably with both God and other people.
98. A just person is civil in words and action and recognizes that differences in outlook or belief do not preclude genuine kindness and friendship.
99. Individuals who do justly “will not have a mind to injure one another,
100. but to live peaceably”24 one with another.
101. To be Christlike, a person loves mercy.
102. People who love mercy are not judgmental;
103. they manifest compassion for others,
104. especially for those who are less fortunate;
105. they are gracious,
106. kind,
107. and honorable.
108. These individuals treat everyone
109. with love
110. and understanding,
111. regardless of characteristics such as
112. race,
113. gender,
114. religious affiliation,
115. sexual orientation,
116. socioeconomic status,
117. and tribal,
118. clan,
119. or national differences.
120. These are superseded by Christlike love.
121. To be Christlike, a person chooses God,25 
122. walks humbly with Him,
123. seeks to please Him,
124. and keeps covenants with Him.
125. Individuals who walk humbly with God
126. remember what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have done for them.
127. Am I doing enough?
128. What else should I be doing?
129. The action we take in response to these questions is central to our happiness in this life and in the eternities.
130. The Savior does not want us to take salvation for granted.
131. Even after we have made sacred covenants,
132. there is a possibility that we may “fall from grace and depart from the living God.”
133. So we should “take heed and pray always” to avoid falling “into temptation.”26
134. But at the same time, our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do not want us to be paralyzed
135. by continual uncertainty during our mortal journey,
136. wondering whether we have done enough to be saved and exalted.
137. They surely do not want us to be tormented
138. by mistakes from which we have repented,
139. thinking of them as wounds that never heal,27 
140. or to be excessively apprehensive that we might stumble again.
141. We can assess our own progress.
142. We can know “that the course of life [that we are] pursuing is according to God’s will”28 
143. when we do justly,
144. love mercy,
145. and walk humbly with our God.
146. We assimilate the attributes of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ into our character,
147. and we love one another.
148. When you do these things,
149. you will follow the covenant path
150. and qualify to “dwell with God
151. in a state of never-ending happiness.”29 
152. Your souls will be infused with the glory of God
153. and with the light of everlasting life.30 
154. You will be filled with incomprehensible joy.31 
155. I testify that God lives
156. and that Jesus is the Christ,
157. our Savior
158. and Redeemer,
159. and He lovingly
160. and joyfully
161. extends His mercy to all.
162. Don’t you love it?
163. In the name of Jesus Christ,
164. amen.

Hits: 137