My dear young friends, Aloha.
I am grateful to be here with Sister Andersen and I love her and she is the best part of my life.
We are honored to speak to you today at this beautiful university. We love being in Hawaii and feeling the aloha spirit that reflects the love and compassion that mirrors the gospel of Jesus Christ. We work with our missionaries to ensure that we don’t confuse the beautiful aloha spirit with the somewhat related, but counterfeit version of what we might call the “hang loose” spirit of casualness. I believe casualness is the enemy of dignity, and casual relationships are always shallow. As disciples of Christ, and particularly as missionaries, we seek to invite others to come unto Christ, and help our friends establish an eternally deep relationship with God that is anything but casual. We are grateful for the respect and dignity that we have observed on this campus and commend you for not aping the world in the light-mindedness that seems so prevalent.
Today, I wish to explore with you a foundational understanding of the character and nature of God. Elder Dale G. Renlund said the following:
“We get a glimpse into our Heavenly Father’s character as we recognize the immense compassion He has for sinners and appreciate the distinction He makes between sin and those who sin. This glimpse helps us have a more ‘correct [understanding of] [H]is character, perfections, and attributes’ and is foundational to exercising faith in Him and in His Son, Jesus Christ. The Savior’s compassion in the face of our imperfections draws us toward Him and motivates us in our repeated struggles to repent and emulate Him. As we become more like Him, we learn to treat others as He does, regardless of any outward characteristic or behavior.” [1]
In John 17:3, the Savior says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” [2]
This implies that coming to know God, including the nature of God, is crucial to obtaining eternal life.
Joseph Smith also taught, “if men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.” [3]
I believe that the beautiful, powerful truths of the Restoration include a unique, correct understanding that God is our loving Heavenly Father, that we are literally His spirit children, with the capacity within us to become like Him, that He is perfectly merciful as well as completely just, and, as Elder Patrick Kearon so memorably put it, “is in relentless pursuit of you.” [4]
But, one might ask, what about the jealous God of vengeance, who punishes the wicked in mighty wrath, that is spoken of in the Old Testament, New Testament, and yes, the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants? Well, I think that if you look at those scriptural passages, and if you replace words such as “vengeance” or “punishment” with “consequences” it actually makes more sense as far as what we have come to understand clearly about the nature of God. As I have read the scriptures in this way, I have found that in most cases where God is “punishing” or “cursing” or taking out “vengeance” on people, the record clearly indicates that prophets (usually the same ones talking about that punishment, vengeance, wrath, etc.) gave very clear instructions to those same people on how to avoid the terrible results that are then described as vengeance or punishment or cursing. If you repeatedly warn someone of how to avoid tragedy and misery, and then that person rejects your repeated warnings and goes ahead and does exactly what you warned them against, or fails to do what you repeatedly pled with them to do, is it fair to say that you punished them or took out vengeance on them? Of course not. And yet, that is what happens in the scriptures.
I acknowledge that prophets throughout history have used this language, which they term God’s punishment, but I think “consequences of poor choices in direct rejection of God’s warnings” would be a more accurate description, and through careful reading, I think it is clear that God loved those people and lovingly and repeatedly provided the exact knowledge they needed to live happy lives, free of the destruction and sorrow that later afflicts them.
Another key attribute of God that we must understand to have perfect Brother faith in Him is absolute justice. God does give us promised blessings—without fail—but He cannot bless us with blessings for which we do not qualify and still remain just. His mercy is endless, but His mercy is rooted in justice. If God were not just, He would not be merciful. In the end, giving each of us exactly what we desire and merit is just as well as merciful, because we will all be content with our eternal judgment. God’s judgment will be just, and each person will acknowledge the perfect justice of the judgment, as well as the merciful nature of the judgment, since we will be where we truly desire to be, and with people whom we desire to be like and associate with.
This correct understanding of God as revealed through the Restoration is critical to our willingness and ability to put our complete faith and trust in God and His revealed word through prophets, both ancient and modern. God is unchangeable, and the way He is described today by our prophets, while very different from the language of olden times, can still be squared with scriptures, especially as we understand that each prophet writes in their own time, with their cultural background, with language suited to motivate their audience to greater adherence to God’s commandments and resulting happiness.
I submit that our understanding of God’s nature is aided by the following scriptures:
In Doctrine and Covenants 76:5 it says, “...I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.” [5]
Or how about Doctrine and Covenants 41:1, “Hearken and hear, O ye my people, saith the Lord and your God, ye whom I delight to bless with the greatest of all blessings, ye that hear me…” [6]
Well Brothers and Sisters, it appears that God delights to bless us. It is what makes Him happy.
Let’s acknowledge that the remainder of Doctrine and Covenants 41:1 is an excellent example of the warning of curses. The verse continues, “...and ye that hear me not will I curse, that have professed my name, with the heaviest of all cursings.” [7] Again, note that it is only a curse if we refuse to listen or heed or follow what God has told us to do, which, I think we’ve established is not really a curse as we would use the term today, but rather a simple fulfillment of a promised consequence for failure to do as clearly directed—in this case “hear God”.
Another hard lesson we learn in life as well as from the scriptures, is that poor choices have consequences. We may repent of sins, but God doesn’t remove the natural consequences of sin. That’s why it is always better to avoid sin than to sin and then repent. God, in His mercy, always warns us with clarity how to avoid those consequences and even how to mitigate them if it is too late to avoid them. When Joseph Smith failed to follow God’s counsel and lost the 116 pages, God taught him to not fear man and forgave him, but the 116 pages were still gone. That’s a pretty big mistake on Joseph’s part, and we’re suffering the consequences of that mistake to this day. Joseph was forgiven. The sin was gone, but the consequences remained. We can learn from that experience. We mustn’t blame God for the forfeiture of blessings nor for the natural consequences of refusing to follow his loving guidance as given to us by prophets.
I would like to add another thought to this point. One of my favorite scriptures is Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21, which reads:
“There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” [8]
The unstated corollary to this scripture is that if we fail to obey the law upon which the blessing is predicated, we forfeit that blessing. It is clearly implied, if not clearly stated.
Another favorite scripture is Mosiah 2:41: “And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.” [9]
What about those who don’t keep the commandments of God? While God surely still loves them, King Benjamin’s unstated implication is that God will not bless them in all things in the same way because they have not qualified for the promised blessings. It would not be just.
For those of us that have been taught and truly understand the promised blessings for obedience to God’s laws, we would likely feel great anguish upon realizing that we had forfeited those blessings through our willful rejection of God’s warnings. This realization of what we have given up by our poor choices might even be described as the pains of hell that are spoken of.
I believe this is what Peter had in mind in 2 Peter 2:20-21: “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.” [10]
Another concept I believe is that God’s choicest blessings are, to a large extent, not even comprehended by those who never receive them, which is just one more evidence to me of God’s endless mercy to His children. I have thought often how empty my life would be without my eternal companion, or without each one of our eight children or their spouses, or our 30 (soon to be 32) beautiful grandchildren. The thought of losing even one of them fills me with dread. However, somebody who has never experienced the joy of marriage or children or grandchildren, doesn’t feel the same anguish at not having those blessings that I might feel if I were to lose those blessings, because I’ve tasted of the goodness of those blessings.
A couple of years ago, we had all eight of our children and their spouses together in the Houston Texas Temple for the first and only time, due to people living in far-flung places and busy lives. As we stood in a circle in the celestial room, with tears in our eyes, my joy was reminiscent of Lehi’s description of partaking of the fruit of the tree of life – “I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted”[11] and “it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy.” [12] Oh, how I long to feel that joy again in this life as well as the next.
Like Lehi, I naturally desire that others might partake of that same fruit and feel what I felt–starting with our family and continuing with others. However, until I had actually felt that, I couldn’t have imagined it. We will all get exactly what we most desire, and we will be content with it, because that is what we have sought.
I would submit to you, my young friends, that it is worth the time and our greatest efforts to work to qualify for all the richest blessings that God has in store for us. Don’t short-change yourself by choosing an easier path. The greatest blessings are reserved for those that are willing to work through hard challenges and do hard things. If we shy away from work, we limit God’s ability to bless us. As Sister Andersen beautifully explained, work is a key part of God’s plan and is a blessing, as well as being a prerequisite to all the greatest blessings God desires to give us.
So, if we come to truly understand that God is merciful and just, then we can read the scriptures with that enlightened, more optimistic understanding, which eliminates doubts and concerns. I testify that the more we come to understand our Savior and His gospel, the more we see how perfect the gospel is and how much happiness it brings to literally every single person it touches. We see that as missionaries, the gospel blesses every person it touches.
One final point with regard to clearly understanding the nature of God and our place in the universe. In the house of the Lord, we are given many wonderful blessings and promises, in each of the ordinances–the initiatory, the endowment, and the sealing. There is one particular blessing that we are seemingly given twice–that of clarity–clarity of thinking and clarity of vision. It appears that God wants us to see and think clearly. As baptized and confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we also have the beautiful promise of the Spirit always being with us. We know from Jacob 4:13, that the Spirit “…speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls.” [13]
My dear young friends, as you go throughout your lives, I invite you to reflect on the merciful and just nature of God and what that means for you. Seek to understand this doctrine. We have the privilege and the blessing of understanding clearly God’s nature and character, and seeing clearly our own place as His literal spirit sons and daughters, with divine potential. Let us claim the promised blessings to see God as He really is, and let us see through the fog and deception of the adversary and claim our place as joint-heirs with Christ, bound to Him through sacred covenants, joyfully sharing the good news of His gospel.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
NOTES:
[1] Dale G. Renlund, “Our Good Shepherd,” Ensign or Liahona, April 2017, 29
[2] John 17:3
[3] Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 40
[4] Patrick Kearon, “God’s Intent Is to Bring You Home,” Ensign or Liahona, April 2024, 87
[5] Doctrine and Covenants 76:5
[6] Doctrine and Covenants 41:1
[7] Doctrine and Covenants 41:1
[8] Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21
[9] Mosiah 2:41
[10] 2 Peter 2:20-21
[11] 1 Nephi 8:11
[12] 1 Nephi 8:12
[13] Jacob 4:13