Last updated on July 7th, 2024 at 09:18 pm
General Conference Applied
S3 E11 – Sunday, June 30, 2024 | “Bridging the Two Great Commandments” by Elder Gary E. Stevenson; April 2024 General Conference
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Introduction
Doctrine: Commandments: “Commandments are the laws and requirements that God gives to mankind. When we keep the commandments, we manifest our love for the Lord and receive blessings from Him (see Leviticus 26:3–12; John 14:15; Mosiah 2:41). We are commanded to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to have Christlike love for others (see Matthew 22:36–39; John 13:34–35).”
Principle: Charity: “Even when we give to those in need, unless we feel compassion for them we do not have charity (see 1 John 3:16–17). The Apostle Paul taught that when we have charity we are filled with good feelings for all people. We are patient and kind. We are not boastful or proud, selfish or rude. When we have charity we do not remember or rejoice in the evil others have done. Neither do we do good things just because it is to our advantage. Instead, we share the joy of those who live by truth. When we have charity we are loyal, we believe the best of others, and we are kind to them. The scriptures teach that ‘charity never faileth.’ (See 1 Corinthians 13:4–8.)
“The Savior was our example of how to feel toward and treat others. He despised wickedness, but He loved sinners in spite of their sins. He had compassion for children, the elderly, the poor, and the needy. He had such great love that He could beg our Heavenly Father to forgive the soldiers who drove the nails into His hands and feet (see Luke 23:34). He taught us that if we do not forgive others, our Father in Heaven will not forgive us (see Matthew 18:33–35). He said: ‘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. … For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?’ (Matthew 5:44, 46). We must learn to feel toward others as Jesus did.”
Christlike Attribute: Charity and Love: “The prophet Mormon taught, ‘Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love’ (Moroni 7:48). As you pray to have charity fill your heart, you will taste of God’s love. Your love for people will increase, and you will come to feel a sincere concern for their eternal happiness. You will see them as children of God with the potential of becoming like Him, and you will labor in their behalf.
“As you pray for the gift of charity, you will be less inclined to dwell on negative feelings such as anger or envy. You will become less likely to judge or criticize others. You will have more desire to try to understand them and their points of view. You will become more patient and try to help people when they are struggling or discouraged. (See Moroni 7:45.)”
Bridges
- “When traveling, we have little time for sightseeing. However, when possible, I spend a few moments in a particular passion. I have an interest in architecture and design and a special fascination with bridges. Suspension bridges amaze me. Whether it’s the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo, the Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong, the Tower Bridge in London, or others I have seen, I marvel at the engineering genius built within these complicated structures. Bridges take us places we otherwise would not be able to go. …
“Recently, a conference assignment took me to California, where I once again crossed the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, regarded as an engineering wonder of the world. This monumental structure intertwines beautiful form, functional purpose, and masterful engineering. It is a classic suspension bridge with bookend towers, supported by massive piers. The colossal, majestic weight-bearing twin towers soaring above the ocean were the first elements to be constructed. Together they shoulder the load of the sweeping main suspension cables and the vertical suspender cables, which cradle the roadway below. The extraordinary stabilizing capacity—the power of the tower—is the magic behind the engineering of the bridge.
“Early construction images of the bridge bear testimony of this engineering principle. Each bridge element finds weight-bearing support from the symmetrical towers, both interdependently connected one to another.
“When the bridge is complete, with its two powerful towers firmly in place and piers anchored in a foundation of bedrock, it is an image of strength and beauty.” -Elder Stevenson
The Two Great Commandments
- “Today I invite you to look at this stately bridge—with its ascending twin towers built on a strong foundation—through a gospel lens.
“In the twilight of Jesus Christ’s ministry, during what we now call Holy Week, a Pharisee who was a lawyer asked the Savior a question he knew was nearly impossible to answer: ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law?’ The lawyer, ‘tempting him’ and seeking a legalistic answer, with seemingly deceitful intent, received a genuine, sacred, divine response.
“‘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.
“‘This is the first and great commandment.’ Hearkening to our bridge analogy, the first tower!
“‘And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ This is the second tower!
“‘On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ The remaining elements of the bridge!
“Let’s examine each of the two great commandments, revealed and recited in Jesus Christ’s response. As we do so, let the image of the magnificent suspension bridge resonate in your mind’s eye.” -Elder Stevenson - Footnote 2: “Anciently, Jewish scholars had enumerated 613 commandments in the Torah and actively debated the relative importance of one versus the other. Perhaps the lawyer intended to use Jesus’s answer against Him. If He said one commandment was the most important, it might allow an opening to accuse Jesus of ignoring another aspect of the law. But the Savior’s response silenced those who had come to entrap Him with a foundational statement that today is the bedrock for all we do in the Church.” -Elder Stevenson
- Luke 10:25-29: “[25] And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? [26] He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? [27] And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. [28] And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. [29] But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?”
- “My Favorite Psychology Study: The good samaritan is in the situation” by Glenn Geher Ph.D. (I read this article live during the podcast episode)
What is the speaker inviting me to do, and how might I consider taking action?
Invitations
1: “I invite you to look at this stately bridge [the Golden Gate Bridge]—with its ascending twin towers built on a strong foundation—through a gospel lens. … In the days ahead, when you pass over a majestic suspension bridge or even when you see a picture, with its soaring towers, I invite you to remember the two great commandments, described by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. May the Lord’s instructions inspire us. May our hearts and minds be lifted upward to love the Lord and turned outward to love our neighbor.”
- Strengthen our testimonies by relating everyday things to gospel things.
- Sister Missionaries | 30 seconds to find something that reminds you of Jesus Christ | Add “finding Jesus Christ” to our nightly routine (Highlight, Lowlight, Someone I Helped, and Finding Jesus Christ)
2: “Let’s examine each of the two great commandments, revealed and recited in Jesus Christ’s response. As we do so, let the image of the magnificent suspension bridge resonate in your mind’s eye.”
- Examine (i.e., inspect, investigate, and test) Heavenly Father’s commandments.
- President Russell M. Nelson has also invited us to examine God’s commandments: ‘Heart of the Matter: What 100 Years of Living Have Taught Me‘ by President Russell M. Nelson: “If you have questions about the gospel and about your life – and I hope you do – seek answers with the fervent desire to believe. Learn all you can about the gospel by turning to truth-filled sources for guidance. We live in the dispensation when ‘nothing shall be withheld.’ Thus, in time, the Lord will answer all of your questions.
“In the meantime, immerse yourself in the rich reservoir of revelation we have at our fingertips. I promise that doing so will strengthen your testimony, even if some of your questions are not yet answered. Your sincere questions, asked in faith, will always lead to greater faith and more knowledge.
“If friends and family should step away from the Church, continue to love them. It is not for you to judge another’s choice any more than you deserve to be criticized for staying faithful.
“Now, please understand this: Do not be led astray by those whose doubts may be fueled by things you cannot see in their lives. Most of all, let your skeptical friends see how much you love the Lord and His gospel. Surprise their doubting hearts with your believing heart!
“As you take charge of your testimony and cause it to grow, you will become truly converted. You will become a more potent instrument in the hands of God.”
Here are the results of Elder Stevenson’s “examination” of the two great commandments:
Love God:
- “For me, the application of the first great commandment can sometimes feel abstract, even daunting. Gratefully, as I consider further words of Jesus, this commandment becomes much more graspable: ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments.’ This I can do. I can love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, which then leads to prayer, scripture study, and temple worship. We love the Father and the Son through the payment of tithes, keeping the Sabbath day holy, living a virtuous and chaste life, and being obedient.
“Loving the Lord is often measured in small daily deeds, footsteps on the covenant path: for young people, using social media to build up rather than tear down; leaving the party, movie, or activity where standards might be challenged; showing reverence for things sacred.” -Elder Stevenson
Love Our Neighbor:
- “Here Jesus bridges our heavenly upward gaze, to love the Lord, with our earthly outward gaze, to love our fellow men and women. One is interdependent on the other. Love of the Lord is not complete if we neglect our neighbors. This outward love includes all of God’s children without regard to gender, social class, race, sexuality, income, age, or ethnicity. We seek out those who are hurt and broken, the marginalized, for ‘all are alike unto God.’ We ‘succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.’ …
“To love your neighbor includes Christlike deeds of kindness and service. Can you let go of grudges, forgive enemies, welcome and minister to your neighbors, and assist the elderly?” - “Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys“, April 2024 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson: “I invite you to consider carefully the following three statements:
- “The gathering of Israel is evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere.
- “The gospel of Abraham is further evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere. He invites all to come unto Him—’black and white, bond and free, male and female; … all are alike unto God.’
- “The sealing power is supernal evidence of how much God loves all of His children everywhere and wants each of them to choose to return home to Him.”
Interdependency:
- “Jesus further taught, ‘On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ This is very instructive. There is an important interdependency between loving the Lord and loving one another. For the Golden Gate Bridge to perform its designed function, both towers are equally strong and with equal power to bear the weight of the suspension cables, the roadway, and the traffic crossing the bridge. Without this engineering symmetry, the bridge could be compromised, even leading to collapse. For any suspension bridge to do what it was built to do, its towers must function together in complete harmony. Likewise, our ability to follow Jesus Christ depends upon our strength and power to live the first and second commandments with balance and equal devotion to both.
“The increasing contention in the world suggests, however, that we at times fail to see or remember this. Some are so focused on keeping the commandments that they show little tolerance of those they see as less righteous. Some find it difficult to love those who are choosing to live their lives outside of the covenant or even away from any religious participation.
“Alternatively, there are those who emphasize the importance of loving others without acknowledgment that we are all accountable to God. Some refuse entirely the notion that there is such a thing as absolute truth or right and wrong and believe that the only thing required of us is complete tolerance and acceptance of the choices of others. Either of these imbalances could cause your spiritual bridge to tip or even fall.” -Elder Stevenson - “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things” by Adam Grant: “It’s easy for people to be critics or cheerleaders. It’s harder to get them to be coaches. A critic sees your weaknesses and attacks your worst self. A cheerleader sees your strengths and celebrates your best self. A coach sees your potential and helps you become a better version of yourself.”
3: “So the question for each of us is, How do we build our own bridge of faith and devotion—erecting tall bridge towers of both loving God and loving our neighbors? Well, we just start. Our initial efforts might look like a plan on the back of a napkin or an early-stage blueprint of the bridge we hope to construct. It might consist of a few realistic goals to understand the Lord’s gospel more or to vow to judge others less. No one is too young or too old to begin.”
- Establish one goal for loving God more, and one goal for loving our neighbor more, and begin this initial effort immediately.
- “Over time, with prayerful and thoughtful planning, rough ideas are refined. New actions become habits. Early drafts become polished blueprints.” -Elder Stevenson
- 6/28/2024: We are never too old to change or to start something new. This is especially true in marriage. If your significant other is struggling, are you willing to put as much energy into them as you’re willing to put into your favorite hobby?
Here are the results of my diligent search for ways we can love God and love our neighbor:
This is what loving God looks like:
- “Consider this tender example. It was fast Sunday as Vance and I knocked on the door of a small, humble home. We and other deacons in the quorum had come to expect the words ‘Please come in,’ yelled warmly in a thick German accent loud enough to hear through the door. Sister Muellar was one of several immigrant widows in the ward. She couldn’t answer the door very easily, as she was legally blind. As we stepped inside the dimly lit home, she greeted us with kind questions: What are your names? How are you doing? Do you love the Lord? We answered and shared that we came to receive her fast offering. Even at our young age, her meager circumstances were readily apparent, and her faith-filled response was profoundly touching: ‘I placed a dime on the counter earlier this morning. I am so grateful to offer my fast offering. Would you be kind enough to place it in the envelope and fill out my fast-offering receipt?’ Her love of the Lord lifted our faith each time we left her home.” -Elder Stevenson
- followHim Podcast – Mosiah 29 – Alma 4 – Dr. Nate Williams: “One of the experiences I had that I think reinforces what we’ve been talking about for me is a discussion I had with a leader of the church once when I asked him the question, ‘how do we measure success effectively?’ And I think there are a lot of possibilities, and I’ve enjoyed exploring possibilities with you today on how do we measure if faith’s working, how do we measure if repentance is working? Do we have any hope that we’ve got a finger on the pulse?
“It was such an intriguing, instructive answer this leader gave me that I’ve been pondering upon and I find it very scriptural, so I feel comfortable sharing it. He alluded to the time period that he was a stake president and he would visit various wards and had that kind of question in mind, like, how’s this ward doing? Do we have any indication besides positive reports about how they’re doing?
“Do any of our many, many numbers really reflect anything about the spiritual pulse of a people or a ward? And I was struck by his quick, clear answer. He said, when I want to find out the spiritual well-being of a ward, I look at their fast offering contributions.
“And I was like, oh, wow, that’s it. You look at their fast offering contribution. So I can go to the temple without paying any fast offerings. They don’t ask me about my fast offerings. They ask about, do I pay tithing?” (Loving God is doing things that we don’t “have” to do.) - “Teaching Children the Power of Relationships and Service“, Mike Goodman, June 2024 Liahona: “A critical task for parents is to help their children know who they are. Many today focus on identity in ways that separate and divide us. Instead of focusing on our identity as part of God’s family, many choose labels that discourage empathizing with and caring for those around us.
“No wonder President Russell M. Nelson emphasizes how important it is to know and prioritize our most important identities:
“‘Who are you?
“‘First and foremost, you are a child of God.
“‘Second, as a member of the Church, you are a child of the covenant. And third, you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.'” (Loving God is developing a deeper relationship with Him. Also see the five “Simple Ways to Involve Children in Service” at the end of this Liahona article.)
This is what loving our neighbor looks like:
- “Consider this example: Brother Evans was surprised when he was prompted to stop his car and knock on an unknown door of an unknown family. When a widowed mother of over 10 answered the door, their difficult circumstances and great needs became readily apparent to him. The first was simple, paint for their home, which was followed by many years of temporal and spiritual ministering to this family.
“This thankful mother later wrote of her heaven-sent friend: ‘You have spent your life reaching out to the least of us. How I would love to hear the things the Lord has to say to you as He expresses His appreciation for the good you have done financially and spiritually for the people that only you and He will ever know about. Thank you for blessing us in so many ways, … for the missionaries you provided for. … I often wonder if the Lord picked on you exclusively or if you were just the one who listened.'” -Elder Stevenson - “Divine Discontent“, Sister Michelle D. Craig, October 2018 General Conference: “As we walk the path of discipleship, we will receive spiritual nudges to reach out to others.
“A story I heard years ago has helped me recognize and then act on promptings from the Holy Ghost. Sister Bonnie D. Parkin, former Relief Society General President, shared the following:
“‘Susan … was a wonderful seamstress. President [Spencer W.] Kimball lived in [her] ward. One Sunday, Susan noticed that he had a new suit. Her father had recently … brought her some exquisite silk fabric. Susan thought that fabric would make a handsome tie to go with President Kimball’s new suit. So on Monday she made the tie. She wrapped it in tissue paper and walked up the block to President Kimball’s home.
“‘On her way to the front door, she suddenly stopped and thought, ‘Who am I to make a tie for the prophet? He probably has plenty of them.’ Deciding she had made a mistake, she turned to leave.
“‘Just then Sister Kimball opened the front door and said, ‘Oh, Susan!’
“‘Stumbling all over herself, Susan said, ‘I saw President Kimball in his new suit on Sunday. Dad just brought me some silk from New York … and so I made him a tie.’
“‘Before Susan could continue, Sister Kimball stopped her, took hold of her shoulders, and said: ‘Susan, never suppress a generous thought.”
“I love that! ‘Never suppress a generous thought.’ Sometimes when I have an impression to do something for someone, I wonder if it was a prompting or just my own thoughts. But I am reminded that ‘that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.’
“Whether they are direct promptings or just impulses to help, a good deed is never wasted, for ‘charity never faileth’ – and is never the wrong response.
“Often the timing is inconvenient, and we seldom know the impact of our small acts of service. But every now and then, we will recognize that we have been instruments in the hands of God and we will be grateful to know that the Holy Ghost working through us is a manifestation of God’s approval.
“Sisters, you and I can plead for the Holy Ghost to show us ‘all things what [we] should do,’ even when our to-do list already looks full. When prompted, we can leave dishes in the sink or an in-box full of challenges demanding attention in order to read to a child, visit with a friend, babysit a neighbor’s children, or serve in the temple. Don’t get me wrong—I am a list maker; I love checking things off. But peace comes in knowing that being more does not necessarily equate to doing more. Responding to discontent by resolving to follow promptings changes the way I think about ‘my time,’ and I see people not as interruptions but as the purpose of my life.” - “Ways We Can All Make a Difference in Our Communities“, June 2024 Liahona, President Emily Belle Freeman, Facebook, August 22, 2023, facebook.com/youngwomenworldwide: “Be a difference maker.
“On our first day of seminary my junior year, the teacher challenged us to become friends with someone new by the end of the semester.
“I like a challenge, so I chose someone who was as different from me as I could.
“I was shy, had the same friends since elementary school, and loved seminary.
“Kevin sang the songs at the top of his lungs and told Brother Howell he would come every day if he promised to give him an F on his report card. (His friends didn’t think seminary was cool.)
“I decided to walk with Kevin to and from seminary every day. Just across the parking lot. It seemed easy. He always walked alone. As soon as we got to the school building, we both went our separate ways.
“It didn’t take long to realize Kevin didn’t have a lot of friends. In fact, over the next few months I realized he only had two. He ate lunch with them, walked the halls with them. And sluffed class with them. But not seminary.
“One day, Kevin and his two friends walked up to me at my locker. Kevin told me he was on a scavenger hunt and needed one of my shoes. I was wearing sandals. It was against the rules to go barefoot in school. But Kevin wasn’t a rule-keeping kind of kid. I debated it for a minute and then reached down to take off my sandal. Then I told him I had to have that shoe back by the end of second period, no matter what.
“I will never forget what happened next. It’s been over three decades, and I still remember as if it were yesterday.
“‘That’s OK,’ he said, ‘I don’t really need your shoe.’ Then he turned around to those two friends and said the words I will never forget: ‘I told you there was one person in this school who believed in me.’
“Who needs you to believe in them today?
“Who needs an extra friend?
“Who could you walk through the parking lot with?
“Sometimes, standing as a witness of Christ means eating lunch with someone who needs a friend, stopping to talk with someone new, meeting someone where they are, and extending love to them.
“Become a difference maker.
“The Lord needs you.
“And in case you need this reminder today, I believe in you.” (Hearkening back to the quote from ‘Hidden Potential’, this is a perfect example of a “cheerleader”.) - Excerpt from J. Scott Henrie’s Stake Conference address: June 1, 2024 (see also Brother Henrie’s August 1985 New Era article: “Harley-Davidson“) (I read this excerpt live during the podcast episode) (Hearkening back to the quote from ‘Hidden Potential’, this is a perfect example of a “coach”.)
- “What’s in It for Me?“, President James E. Faust, October 2002 General Conference: “Some years ago a young ‘Korean boy took his weekly allowance and bought newspapers with it. Then he and some friends sold these on the streets of Seoul, Korea, to raise money to help a fellow student who did not have sufficient funds to stay in school. This young man also gave part of his lunch to this boy each day so that he would not go hungry. Why did he do these things? Because he had been studying the story of the Good Samaritan and didn’t just want to learn about the Good Samaritan but wanted to know what it felt like to be one by doing what a Good Samaritan would do. … Only after careful questioning by his father about his activities’ did he admit, ‘But, Dad, every time I help my friend, I feel I’m becoming more like the Good Samaritan. Besides that, I want to help my classmates who aren’t as fortunate as I. It’s not that big of a thing I am doing. I read about it in my seminary manual and felt it was the thing I ought to do.’ The boy did not ask, ‘What’s in it for me?’ before performing this kindness. In fact, he did it without any thought of recompense or recognition.
“On September 11, 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were hit by terrorist-controlled airliners that caused both towers to collapse. Thousands of people were killed. Out of this tragedy have come hundreds of stories of courageous, unselfish acts. One very poignant and heroic account is the Washington Post’s story of retired army Colonel Cyril ‘Rick’ Rescorla, who was working as vice president for corporate security of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
“Rick was a very experienced ex-military combat leader. He was in his office when ‘the first plane struck the north tower at 8:48 a.m. … He took a call from the 71st floor reporting the fireball in One World Trade Center, and he immediately ordered an evacuation of all 2,700 employees in Building Two,’ as well as 1,000 more in Building Five. Using his bullhorn, he moved up the floors, working through a bottleneck on the 44th and going as high as the 72nd, helping to evacuate the people from each floor. One friend who saw Rick reassuring people in the 10th-floor stairwell told him, ‘Rick, you’ve got to get out, too.’
“‘As soon as I make sure everyone else is out,’ he replied.
“‘He was not rattled at all. He was putting the lives of his colleagues ahead of his own.’ He called headquarters to say he was going back up to search for stragglers.
“His wife had watched the United Airlines jet go through his tower. ‘After a while, her phone rang. It was Rick.
“‘I don’t want you to cry,’ he said. ‘I have to evacuate my people now.’
“She kept sobbing.
“”If something happens to me, I want you to know that you made my life.’
“‘The phone went dead.’ Rick did not make it out.
“‘Morgan Stanley lost only six of its 2,700 employees in the south tower on September 11, an isolated miracle amid the carnage. And company officials say Rescorla deserves most of the credit. He drew up the evacuation plan. He hustled his colleagues to safety. And then he apparently went back into the inferno to search for stragglers. He was the last man out of the south tower after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and no one seems to doubt that he would’ve been again last month if the skyscraper hadn’t collapsed on him first.’
“Amid the great evil and carnage of September 11, 2001, Rick was not looking for what might be in it for him; instead he was unselfishly thinking about others and the danger they were in. Rick Rescorla was the ‘right man in the right place at the right time.’ Rick, ‘a 62-year-old mountain of a man cooly [sacrificed] his life for others.’ As the Savior Himself said, ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’
“Most of us don’t demonstrate our unselfishness in such a dramatic way, but for each of us unselfishness can mean being the right person at the right time in the right place to render service. Almost every day brings opportunities to perform unselfish acts for others. Such acts are unlimited and can be as simple as a kind word, a helping hand, or a gracious smile.
“The Savior reminds us, ‘He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.’ One of life’s paradoxes is that a person who approaches everything with a what’s-in-it-for-me attitude may acquire money, property, and land, but in the end will lose the fulfillment and the happiness that a person enjoys who shares his talents and gifts generously with others.
“I wish to testify that the greatest fulfilling service to be rendered by any of us is in the service of the Master. In the various pursuits of my life, none has been as rewarding or beneficial as responding to the calls for service in this Church. Each has been different. Each one has brought a separate blessing. The greatest fulfillment in life comes by rendering service to others, and not being obsessed with ‘what’s in it for me.'”
Take Action
How will you take action on the invitations extended in this General Conference address?
Tags
Commandments | Discipleship | Love | Neighbors
Additional Content
Previous Podcast Episode (“Words Matter” by Elder Ronald A. Rasband)