You may or may not understand the confusion many friends of other faiths have about who Mormons worship. We worship God the Father (Heavenly Father, John 4:23) and God the Son (Jesus Christ, 2 Nephi 25:26, 29.) The Bible clearly delineates between the two in numerous places, far too numerous to list them all: (Mark 14:36, John 14:6-13, John 14:23-24).

jesus christ mormonWhat I would like to speak of today is the deep compassion our Heavenly Father has for us.

Heavenly Father, as the father of our spirits, nurtured us in our spirit form until we had reached the level of knowledge which then required us to progress to the next stage of our eternal existence, mortality. Through the Creation, to the Garden of Eden, to the Fall, to the Atonement and Resurrection, to the Restoration, He has lovingly watched over us.

How His father’s heart must have broken as He watched His Only Begotten Son, even Jesus the Christ, suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. Tears must have streamed down His face as blood seeped from His Son’s pores. His heart must have been torn asunder when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” as He hung, brutally nailed to a cross. I cannot imagine the pain in the Father as the Son suffered so.

What I can imagine, moreso, what I know, is the tremendous love our Father in Heaven has for each of us that He would allow the sacrifice of His Son for the redemption of mankind. How much He must love us that He always answers our prayers, no matter the sin we have committed. How deeply and irrevocably He loves us . . . and now one might ask how can we tap into that love? In the acts of the followers of Jesus Christ, for in knowing Jesus Christ we know our Heavenly Father, we find a semblance of the love He must feel for us. Therefore, in knowing His disciples we come to know the Father and the Son.

The story is told of a 14-year-old boy who had come to Nauvoo in search of his brother who lived near there. The young boy had arrived in winter with no money and no friends. When he inquired about his brother, the boy was taken to a large house that looked like a hotel. There he met a man who said, “Come in, son, we’ll take care of you.”

The boy accepted and was brought into the house, where he was fed, warmed, and was given a bed to sleep in.

The next day it was bitter cold, but in spite of that, the boy prepared himself to walk the eight miles to where his brother was staying.

When the man of the house saw this, he told the young boy to stay for a while. He said there would be a team coming soon and that he could ride back with them.

When the boy protested, saying that he had no money, the man told him not to worry about that, that they would take care of him.

Later the boy learned that the man of the house was none other than Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. This boy remembered this act of charity for the rest of his life. (Mark L. McConkie, Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith (2003), 57)

Here we find the prophet, Joseph Smith, exemplifying the very quality that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have asked of us:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

“This is the first and great commandment.

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

If we long to feel more fully of the compassion and love our Father in Heaven has for us, we must follow in the footsteps of His Son, Jesus Christ, the Promised Messiah, even the Anointed One. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles tells us, “Love is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the pathway of discipleship. It comforts, counsels, cures, and consoles. It leads us through valleys of darkness and through the veil of death. In the end love leads us to the glory and grandeur of eternal life.” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Great Commandment,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 28–31)

I promise you the love your Father in Heaven feels for you is beyond your comprehension. He knows you, He cares for you, He loves you as only a Father can love a child. Know that He has laid out the path for your eternal salvation and His Son, Jesus Christ, came to this earth and showed us every step of the way. There is not one of us on this earth who needs to be lost . . . He has found you . . . will you come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ? Will you believe?

About Candace

Copyright © 2024 LDS Blogs. All Rights Reserved.
This website is not owned by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. The views expressed by individual users are the responsibility of those users and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. For the official Church websites, please visit churchofjesuschrist.org or comeuntochrist.org.