If you have ever heard someone speak about their near-death experience, one of things many people mention is the amazing love they felt from God on the other side. It completely fills them in a way they never want to leave, and when they return to earth, they lose the fear of death.
God wants us to feel that love all the time everywhere we are, so it’s no surprise that as transformational as love is, that it would be the supreme commandment.
Matt. 22:37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38. This is the first and great commandment.
39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
It shouldn’t be hard to see that if we love God as perfectly as we can, it would be implied that we would love all of his creations, including others and ourselves. We would never harm one of God’s children, but we would succor them in their times of need, mourn with them, serve them, etc… We would do it simply because of our love for God.
However, the second commandment is explicit. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Love is a foundational quality, a natural inclination toward kindness and affection for others.
D&C 59:5. Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him.
Elder Howard W. Hunter said:
“He loves the Lord with all his heart who is ready to give up, do, or suffer anything in order to please and glorify him.
He loves God with all his soul & who is ready to give up life for his sake and to be deprived of the comforts of the world to glorify him.
He loves God with all his strength who exerts all the powers of his body and soul in the service of God.
He loves God with all his mind who applies himself only to know God and his will, who sees God in all things and acknowledges him in all ways” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1965, 58; or Improvement Era, June 1965, 512).
Said differently, loving God is key to loving others.
So how do we increase in love?
- Love of God grows through obedience, holiness, prayer, and the Holy Ghost.
| Scripture | How to Be Filled with Love of God | Why It Works |
| John 14:15, 21, 23 – “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” | Obey God’s commandments | Obedience aligns us with Him; His Spirit deepens our love for Him. |
| Moroni 7:48 – “Pray… that ye may be filled with this love… bestowed upon all who are true followers of His Son.” | Pray to be filled with the pure love of Christ | Sincere prayer opens the heart to God’s own love. |
| D&C 88:68 – “Sanctify yourselves… and the veil shall be taken away, and your hearts shall be full.” | Seek holiness and sanctification | Holiness draws us nearer to God’s presence and love. |
| Matthew 22:37 – “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” | Wholehearted devotion | Centering life on God produces love for Him above all. |
| Romans 5:5 – “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” | Receive the Holy Ghost | The Spirit directly fills us with God’s love for Him and for others. |
- Love for others grows through service, forgiveness, bridling passions, and blessing enemies.
| Scripture | How to Be Filled with Love for Others | Why It Works |
| Alma 38:12 – “Bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.” | Exercise self-control | Removes selfish impulses so love for others can flourish. |
| Mosiah 18:9 – “Bear one another’s burdens… mourn with those that mourn.” | Covenant to serve | Service awakens empathy and compassion, deepening love. |
| Matthew 5:43–44 – “Love your enemies… bless them.” | Bless and pray for enemies | Breaks down resentment, enlarges capacity for universal love. |
| D&C 64:9–10 – “Forgive all men.” | Forgive others | Forgiveness removes bitterness, making room for love. |
| D&C 121:41–42 – Persuasion, gentleness, love unfeigned. | Lead with kindness, not compulsion | Builds patient, respectful love toward others. |
| D&C 88:123 – “Love one another; cease to be covetous.” | Let go of envy, share freely | Generosity replaces comparison with love and unity. |
| 1 Peter 4:8 – “Charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” | Choose charity over judgment | Forgives faults, sustaining love even in weakness. |
- Love for self grows through virtue, self-forgiveness, gratitude, humility, and recognizing God’s love.
| Scripture | How to Be Filled with Love for Self | Why It Works |
| D&C 121:45–46 – “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts… then shall thy confidence wax strong… thy bowels be full of charity.” | Keep thoughts virtuous and clean | Purity removes shame and restores healthy self-love grounded in God. |
| D&C 64:9–10 – “Of you it is required to forgive all men.” | Forgive yourself as well as others | Self-forgiveness clears guilt and allows inner love to return. |
| Mosiah 2:19–20 – King Benjamin: acknowledge dependence on God | Practice gratitude | Gratitude dispels pride and self-loathing, replacing them with humility and peace. |
| Matthew 22:39 – “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” | Recognize balanced self-worth | Healthy self-love is the measure for loving others rightly. |
If love is the command, charity is the perfect, divine extension of that love because it is to love as God does. Charity is a much more comprehensive set of attributes that is based on a perfect love for God.
Charity, we are told, is to be sought with all the energy of heart that we may be filled with that love.
What does it look like to pray with ALL the energy of your heart?
I recall the film “How Rare a Possession” and the segment that told the story of Parley P. Pratt. When he was handed a copy of the Book of Mormon from someone, he sat on their porch reading it all day and night. As he was offered dinner, he kindly turned it down as the narration (I believe from his autobiography) said, “eating was a burden, I had no desire for food.” Time shifted and it was dark outside and we heard, “sleep was a burden when the night came, for I preferred reading to sleep.”
This is a great example of an elevated desire.
The scriptures also speak many times of someone praying, but not just saying they were praying, but they did “cry unto the Lord.”
Are our desires so powerful and our prayers so sincere that we sometimes cry for deliverance or beg God to take away our sins and change our hearts so we have no more desire to sin?
Prayers for charity must attain a high level of sincerity. God doesn’t bestow this gift or any gift lightly or quickly. He wants to see how serious we are. Will we act on the promptings we receive in the beginning? If so, he will expand the gift within us. If not, he isn’t going to bestow a gift we will bury and then be condemned for burying. Gifts are to let God’s light shine from us as we hold up his light. Burying a gift is simply putting out the light of God.
When we hold the love of God within our hearts, and then act in love toward others, doing so for the glory of God, he will fill our hearts with greater love.
“A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.” Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 174
When we examine what charity encompasses, why would we not desire this gift with all our hearts?
- Suffereth long
- Kind
- Envieth not
- Vaunteth not itself
- Not puffed up
- Doth not behave itself unseemly
- Seeketh not her own
- Not easily provoked
- Thinketh no evil
- Rejoiceth not in iniquity
- Rejoiceth in the truth
- Beareth all things
- Believeth all things
- Hopeth all things
- Endureth all things
Have you ever heard someone say they were praying for patience and the Lord gave them trials? Well, if you want a gift of being long suffering, you may have to suffer long while you develop charity to see that situation through God’s eyes. Not puffed up? You may experience some humiliation if you can’t humble yourself. It is the natural extension of seeking such a gift. You want to think no evil? It takes practice to eliminate it.
When seeking a gift that has the potential to bring some pretty sore trials, it may be beneficial to ask God to let you learn and expand in that gift in gentle ways. You may also want to pray that you can have the wisdom to learn from the experiences of others. No need to take the hard route if it can be avoided, right?
Praising God for every experience will keep our attitudes in the right frame of mind as we experience Godly growth, and I believe will help us to magnify the gift faster.
With each effort made to hold higher ground in our minds, the Lord changes us through the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ to shift our capacities higher. Our natural carnal natures fall gradually away bit by bit, and our Godly desires increase, until we attain the stature of the fulness of Christ (Eph. 4:13).
How important is the gift of charity?
Moroni wrote:
Ether 12:34 “And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.”
If we have to be like God to dwell where he dwells, we’d better seek this gift which is also the primary requirement for exaltation. There may be more people exalted that didn’t go through the ordinances of salvation in life, but instead mastered charity and became like God in their thoughts, words, and deeds.
