The answer is an emphatic yes. Yes, I can. But I can see where my counselor was coming from. Loving, in our difficult and convoluted world, isn’t always easy. Said Elder Robert D. Hales, “Our Savior’s command to love one another as He loves us is probably our greatest challenge.” But that Christ-like love is also our “greatest need.”
In 2 Timothy 2:3 we are told that “in the last days, perilous times shall come.” These are the last days. And they are certainly perilous. These are the days when Satan is his putting forth his final, urgent fight. We are told, too, that in these last days men will be found “without natural affection” and that “the love of men shall wax cold.” In Matthew we read that it is because iniquity shall abound that love will wax cold. While this may be true, I believe the greater lesson is in its inverse: because love will wax cold, iniquity will abound.
In his talk “Christian Courage: The Price of Discipleship” Elder Hales emphatically stated, “[God’s] love . . . is the only power that can subdue the adversary.” It is by simple, courageous acts of love that we make Satan quake and tremble as we bring heaven closer. As President Nelson stated in a recent address, “Our doctrine is not complicated, convoluted, or complex. It is so simple—love God and love your neighbor.” Love EVERYONE.
