When times get tough, remember this reminder from the Apostle Paul.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
—Romans 28: 35, 38-39
Dallin Oaks reminds us, “The love of God does not supersede His laws and His commandments, and the effect of God’s laws and commandments does not diminish the purpose and effect of His love….
If a person understands the teachings of Jesus, he or she cannot reasonably conclude that our loving Heavenly Father or His divine Son believes that Their love supersedes Their commandments. Consider these examples.
When Jesus began His ministry, His first message was repentance. (See Matthew 4:17.)
When He exercised loving mercy by not condemning the woman taken in adultery, He nevertheless told her, “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:11).
Jesus taught, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).”
All things are done according to the free choice of individuals. Dallin Oaks also reminds us, “[God] will bless us to endure the consequences of others’ choices, but He will not prevent those choices.”
Also, “If only we will listen, we can know of God’s love and feel it, even when we are disobedient.” He related one woman’s story, who said: “He has always been there for me, even when I rejected Him. He has always guided me and comforted me with His tender mercies all around me, but I [was] too angry to see and accept incidents and feelings as such.”
INspired Action INvitation: May we all obey God’s laws and feel His love rather than becoming “a law unto ourselves” by participating in iniquity, therby TURNing away from the source of our true strength and ultimate happiness.
About Carolyn Calton Carolyn Calton
Carolyn Calton is an online educator and ReNEW YOU Life Strategist. As founder of FamilyTreeQuest.com, CarolynCalton.com and as CEO of Ron Newsom's LiahonaLightAcademy.com, Carolyn helps sincere, determined men and women embrace with certainty a safe, secure framework for creating their own brighter and happier future TODAY—no matter their past. Turning heartache to happiness, those who Join her ReNEW YOU Classes and Joyful Breakthrough Membership Circles at FamilyTreeQuest.com, learn how to turn stress, anxiety, anger and dysfunction to hope, direction, happiness and peace in order to renew and regenerate themselves, their families and family lines.
