A week ago today, I was sitting in my home experiencing one of the most wonderful times that only happen twice a year: watching General Conference. Conference is absolutely so amazing and I love it so much because we get the privilege to hear prophets and apostles speak to us in behalf of God. So in reality, everything they say comes directly from God to his children here on earth. Because it would be impossible for me to highlight each talk that was given (that would require a super, super long post) I will write about one of the many talks that stood out to me.
In Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk entitled "Loving Others and Living with Differences," he explains how we as should be treating those who do not share the same beliefs that we do. Elder Oaks presents his principles in an easy-to-follow, logical way that helped me understand why we need to love others even though it is sometimes hard. The physical copy of his talk on lds.org, is separated into six sections which organizes the ideas he presents.
He starts his talk by reiterating the second great commandment: "love thy neighbor as thyself." I find it interesting that he did not directly quote the first great commandment. He quoted the second commandment, which leads into his talk. He asks the question "Why is it so difficult to show Christ-like love for one another." I immediately began thinking why but before I got very far into my thought, Elder Oaks presented the answer: "because we must live among those who do not share our beliefs and values and covenant obligations." This statement made me analyze whether or not this really was the case in my life. As with my case, I'm sure many other people began analyzing their own life when Elder Oaks asked his question. His question was used in a way to get people to start thinking so they would be more receptive to the things he would say next.
Throughout his talk, Elder Oaks presents several key ideas, each presented in its own section. In each section, Elder Oaks stated his principle; gave examples of how it applies, whether in Christ's life or in our own lives; and then followed up with a sentence or two that reiterated his principle. This format helped me understand how his principles can be applied in my life.
The first principle he stated is that we must avoid contention. Quoting from the scriptures to illustrate his point, he says:
“For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another." 3 Nephi 11: 28-30
His second principle is we must not compromise or dilute our commitment to the truths we understand. In other words, as Elder Oaks stated at the end of this principle,
A follower of Christ will be firm in the truth.
The third principle is that sometimes we will sometimes be confronted by sinful behavior. Sometimes being called "bigots" or "fanatics" as a result of holding out for right or wrong. But we should be persons of goodwill toward all. Again at the end, Elder Oaks says
When our positions do not prevail, we should accept unfavorable results graciously and practice civility with our adversaries.
Elder Oaks fourth topic is about how we can apply those the principles he talked about before. Once again, this section shows examples of how we can apply the principles in our life.
Elder Oaks then finishes with a short reiteration of the principles he mentioned and concludes with the understanding that our
Savior's commandment to love one another like he loves us may be the greatest challenge [but we should] seek to live it just the same.
Elder Oaks presented his talk in a way that really made sense to me in my mind. His principles stayed with me because he would state it, give examples, and restate it. If you haven't watched/read/listened to conference or missed sessions, you can find all the talks here. I encourage you to review and study the talks!
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