How should we react when we perceive that a person is in misery? Jesus gave us the answer in the parable of the Prodigal Son.[i]

The Heart of the Gospel Message

Luke recounted an instance when Jesus was eating with known sinners.[ii] This incensed the Pharisees, and they challenged Jesus about the propriety of his actions. Apparently, the thing that disturbed the Pharisees more than sinners living amongst them was the Lord’s willingness to have fellowship with such people. Jesus’ response to the Pharisee’s criticism was his relating three parables: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Prodigal Son. The central themes of these parables are the love of Christ, the value he places on a wayward soul, and his disdain for hypocrisy in people who ought to be about the work of the Father. These parables are sometimes called the heart of the gospel. If the gospel doesn’t work on this level, nothing else matters.

When we read these parables, we are drawn to how much value Jesus places on a wayward soul and the effort he is willing to expend to reclaim that soul. But there is a side story that is often overlooked: the story of the prodigal son’s brother—the other prodigal.

The Other Prodigal “would not go in”

We are informed that when the prodigal son finally returned home, his father immediately reinstated the boy into full family fellowship, which was represented by the robe, ring and shoes. Then the father called together his household for a celebration and a feast. Everyone was happy, except one: the prodigal’s brother. Upon hearing the news that the prodigal had returned and was suddenly his equal, the brother reacted with anger and discouragement. Significantly, we are told, he stood outside his father’s house “and would not go in.” The symbolism of remaining outside the Father’s house is striking.

When the father came out to beg the second son to reconsider (notice that the father has now rushed to recover both his sons), the boy complained that he was being treated unfairly. This selfish attitude betrays the boy’s true character. Was he really the dutiful son? Was he really interested in his father and his father’s concerns? If he had been interested in his father’s concerns, why had he apparently abandoned his father to shoulder alone the burden of a lost son? We have no mention of the second son’s waiting with his father, day after day, scanning the horizon for a familiar figure to finally appear. Over the long, agonizing years, did the second son ever kneel with his father to plead for his brother to reconsider his ways and return home?

There are other glaring character flaws. For example, Jesus makes no mention that this brother ever tried to talk his prodigal sibling out of leaving home or thereafter to go out and try to find him. We wonder if he was relieved that he no longer had to associate with his sinful brother. Perhaps his judgment of his brother urged the separation in the first place. After his prodigal brother departed, did the brother continue to criticize his brother’s actions by comparing them to his own? When he received news that his prodigal brother had wasted his substance on riotous living and was now eating with the pigs, did he say in his heart, “Well, at last my brother has received his due”?

Prodigals Among Us

I spoke with a prodigal recently. She is sick of her sinful life and wants to come home. She made an attempt recently, quietly sitting alone on the back row of Relief Society. No one came to sit by her; no one shook her hand. She attracted what she interpreted as judgmental glances. You see, in her neighborhood, she is a known sinner. She came to church for love and relief but she was met by Pharisees. Now she is afraid for her daughter, who also wants to return to church, but this daughter is an unwed mother who is struggling to recover from years of drug abuse. And everybody in the ward knows. Both of them could make it all the way home, if someone would rush to their side, help them return, greet them with a robe, ring, shoes, and throw a celebratory feast. At this critical moment, a true friend could make all the difference. The mother and the daughter want to escape the “far country,” stop eating with the swine and return to the full fellowship of home, but they are not sure if their brothers and sisters will welcome them.

Remember, the heart of the gospel message is The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Prodigal Son. If the gospel does not power to save from incredible distances, it is just a nice philosophy. Jesus gave these parables to defend his preferring to work with sinners over his seeking the fellowship of the self-righteous. He set the perfect example of being about his Father’s business, which is redemption. He always had his antennae up, searching for the one who had wandered, seeking the one who was lost, and patiently waiting and praying for the rebellious one to reconsider and start home.

True sons and daughters of God do the work of their Father. Like Jesus, they plead with their prodigal siblings not to leave home, but when that happens, they go out to find them. They search the mountains and valleys; they shine a light and sweep and seek for their precious missing brothers and sisters. When nothing else works, they sit patiently with their Father and scan the horizon for the first motion of their loved ones’ return. They pray with their Father, hurt with their Father, yearn with their Father, and finally they rejoice with their Father and support him in his decisions when their prodigal siblings come home. In every way, they do as Jesus does: they do the work of the Father. They devote their lives to the plan of redemption. They always have their antennae up, looking for opportunities to bring people to Christ.

I will love you even if…

All the gospel learning in the world does not compensate for failure to do the work of redemption. Both Paul and Mormon—two witnesses!—taught us that without charity we are nothing.[iii] Charity is a different kind of love; it is the celestial quality of love–saving love. “Charity is the pure love of Christ,” meaning the type of love that comprises the power of Christ to search out, seek, wait patiently, reinstate and rejoice.

True sons and daughters of God are “filled with this love.”[iv] They assume that there are “no coincidences in the lives of righteous people.”[v] They are not afraid to love: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.”[vi] Rather, when they encounter someone who is hurting and who wants to come home, they show love unconditionally; they respond with their consecrated time, talents and means to embrace and rescue the tender prodigal.

True sons and daughters of God test their love against the “even if” list.

• I will love you even if you … lie.
• I will love you even if you … steal.
• I will love you even if you … yell at me.
• I will love you even if you … abandon your covenants.
• I will love you even if you … drink, smoke, take drugs.
• I will love you even if you … commit sexual sin.
• I will love you even if you … choose an alternative lifestyle.
• I will love you even if you … leave home and don’t talk with me for years.
• I will love you even if you … betray me.
• I will love you even if you … are committed to prison.
• I will love you even if you … have an abortion.

We might ask ourselves where our love ceases for a family member. Where does our love cease for a non-family member? Where, would we suppose, does God’s love cease? One of the exacting prices of becoming like God is to learn to love “even if.”

Genuine love—charity—saving love—offers returning prodigals a soft place to land. Harsh judgment will turn them away; charity will embrace them and create a network of healing support. If they have no friends, they might return home, but they will not remain.

Hypocrisy at Its Worst

Hugh Nibley wrote: “The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism….”^[vii]

The worst kind of hypocrisy is to pretend piety and loyalty to God but turn away from the work of God. The prodigal’s brother proclaimed his righteousness, but had never lifted a finger to help his father bring his brother back. Then when his prodigal brother finally did return, he would not accept his brother as an equal part of the family. He judged that his brother was unworthy of the family’s love. He refused to participate in the Father’s work of redemption, but he expected the Father to reward him anyway.

The Opposite of Love is Apathy

Hypocrisy is at its worst when it rears its head with harsh judgment or idly standing by. Elder Marvin J. Ashton said, “Hate is not the opposite of love. Apathy is.”[viii]

Every prodigal takes a tremendous risk when he (she) makes the effort to come home. He simply does not know if love and welcome await him. A ring, robe and shoes and a celebratory feast are beyond his imagination. More than likely, the prodigal will slip into church quietly the first time, hoping that no one notices the odor on his clothes or his unconventional appearance. Perhaps, prodigals are already among us and have come and gone for a long time. Or perhaps they regularly attend, but retreat to an area where they can sit alone and try to remain unnoticed–somewhere they can silently scream because of the pain they are experiencing.

True sons and daughters of God will do the work of the Father and seek out their prodigal brothers and sisters. True sons and daughters of God will manifest unconditional love, the pure love of Christ that has the power to save. True sons and daughters of God will withhold judgment, and not sit by as apathetic observers. True sons and daughters of God are striving to become saviors in the similitude of the Savior.

Author’s Note

My thanks to John Unice and Jerry Garrett who gave me the inspiration for this article.

Parts of this article were adapted from my book, Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.)

Also, get a sample of my new 5-book series on Zion: The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here.

[ii] Luke 15:1-2.

[iii] 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; Moroni 7:46.

[iv] Moroni 7:47-48.

[v] “Encouraging Advice Prophetic for Couple Embarking on Future,” LDS Church News, 07/11/98.

[vi] 1 John 4:18.

[vii] Nibley, Approaching Zion, 53–54.

[viii] Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, Feb 1993, 64.

My mother was a woman of great faith,” recounts Avilda’s daughter. “It was Mother’s practice to never let a day go by without praying to God for his watchful care. When I was a small child growing up in Monroe Louisiana, Mother had a dream one night that she was driving along a country road with my sister and me playing in the back seat of the car. En route, my mother suddenly glanced in the rearview mirror and saw smoke and flames shooting from the trunk area. Quickly, she pulled to the side of the road, jumped out, and began searching for something to douse the flames. In a nearby gully, she spotted a rusty bucket filled with rainwater. Grabbing it, she ran back to the car and emptied the bucket on the fire. A strange dream, my mother thought as she awoke. And she let it go at that.

The next morning, Mother piled my sister and me into the car for a sixty-mile trip to attend Sacrament Meeting. About halfway there, on an infrequently traveled road, she was suddenly startled to see flames and smoke rising from the trunk of the car. My sister and I were frightened, but because of her dream Mother knew what to do. Pulling over to the side of the road, she quickly got out, ran about ten yards to a nearby gully, located a rusty bucket of rainwater, and extinguished the fire. Then, catching her breath and offering a simple prayer of gratitude, she settled back in the car and drove to church.

Avilda’s miracle story is not uncommon. Many people have experienced divine intervention from an unseen Source. Often, that intervention came at a time of crisis when other options had failed. Pure and simple, it was a gift.

What Are Gifts?

Gifts, by definition, are pure, voluntary offerings of love, indisputable evidence of the Giver’s affection. A gift cannot be earned; it is freely imparted with no expectation of repayment. Furthermore, inherent in the gift is the personality of the Giver. The gifts of God, for example, reveal his perfect attributes of character-his power, his awareness, his love-upon which believers rely and upon which their faith pivots.

These gifts-miracles-are unique in that they are inexplicable by the laws of nature. We receivers cannot duplicate them. Large or small, the gifts of God attest to his nearness and his interest in our welfare. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “God is found in the details of our lives.” Thus we can expect to find him as we struggle with relationships, finances, health and weaknesses. We discover him as we labor over difficult decisions. We become acquainted with him as we receive unanticipated warnings of danger, gain added strength to endure, and follow carefully prepared paths of escape. From time to time we glimpse him delivering unexpected bouquets of affection, those almost anonymous offerings that communicate, “I am aware. I am near. I love you.”

Gifts often come when extraordinary help is needed; gifts provide us evidence of the existence of the Giver and illustrate his active involvement in our lives. God’s gifts provide hope, anchor faith, and demonstrate that prayers are heard and answers come. One man wrote:

Our family had suffered through a string of serious illnesses that had taken their toll on our family. My husband, who had been sick for three years, had finally come to the conclusion that his business could not be saved and that he needed to liquidate the inventory to pay his creditors. He made the difficult decision to close down the company and begin to pay off $300,000 in debts–without a job! Two years later, he had managed to pay back only $100,000 by liquidating the best of the remaining inventory. To retire the last $200,000 seemed impossible and he began to despair.

On New Years day, 1993, he called a friend whom he knew to be a man of faith. After my husband had explained our situation, he and his friend decided to pray and seek God’s help. Then the friend, in the authority of the priesthood, laid his hands on my husband’s head and sought divine counsel. The words of the blessing were astonishing.

“The time for your efforts is over. Heavenly Father has prepared another way to pay your debts.”

When the blessing had ended my husband asked, “I don’t understand. What should I do?”

“Go about your daily life,” his friend answered. “Your debts are God’s now.”

Ten days later, the area where we lived experienced a massive snowstorm.

Early on the morning of January 10th, my husband received a phone call and was told that he should hurry down to the warehouse where his inventory was stored. When he arrived, he could not believe his eyes. The warehouse roof had collapsed under the weight of the snow. A water line had broken and water was gushing all over his inventory. It appeared as though a bomb had exploded. Substantially everything was damaged.

As we later gathered to consider our options, bankruptcy was the only thing that came to mind. It was a discouraging alternative, one that we had tried to avoid for several years. Then we remembered the insurance policy. Five months earlier, the thought had weighed on my husband’s mind that he should reinsure the inventory for a value equal to what we owed the creditors. Although he had to scrimp to find the money for the extra premium, he had followed the prompting.

The result?

Within six weeks from the day of the priesthood blessing we were out of debt. The insurance company paid us $200,000!

Gifts Draw Us Close to the Giver

People who receive gifts from God often consider their experiences as holy ground whereon they become acquainted with the Giver. Diverse and intimately personal, gifts are woven from a common loom, summoning within their owners deep confidence in their Father in Heaven. Placing hope in the Giver of gifts proves not to be a vain effort after all.

Sometimes receivers of gifts experience miraculous intervention, and other times gifts come as quiet love notes. In either case, those who receive the gifts experience an increase of faith so that when they encounter difficulty again, they are better equipped to once more appeal to a loving Father who has the ability to help, is indeed aware, and cares enough to help. Receivers of gifts believe that their hope is anchored to something substantial. Simply put, they believe they are not alone.

This is not to say that there is an equation for God’s intervention: A+B=C. Our definition of deliverance is seldom God’s definition. We can dictate neither timelines nor terms. Nevertheless, we can be absolutely confident that our every prayer is heard and counts, and that somewhere in the process of working through, a divine encounter will happen. A son in Utah recounts:

When Mother was dying of cancer, she asked for a blessing to know the will of the Lord. I agreed to give the blessing, but I knew it would be the hardest of my life. Not that it would be harder for the Lord. I knew that he could heal cancer as easily as a cold. But for me, I had to prepare. I dared not approach this blessing casually.

Over the next few days, I attended the temple and prayed and humbled myself before the Lord. I read the scriptures about miraculous manifestations of power and healing. I counseled with wise men that had spent a lifetime exercising their priesthood righteously. Then I began to fast. I would not eat until the blessing was given. Mother lived six hours away.

As I drove through the night, I prayed continuously. I attempted to remove all doubt from my mind. I knew that God could heal Mother; I knew that the priesthood was the power; I knew that the ordinance of anointing and sealing had been revealed for this very purpose. I had come to that point of confidence and clarity. I pushed aside the temptation to craft words and plan the blessing. I had no desire to be eloquent or clever. I only wanted to plainly state what would be dictated by the inspiration of the Spirit-and remarkably, I now felt fully prepared to pronounce the promise of healing and witness a miracle.

I will not recount my reaction to stepping into Mother’s room and witnessing her frail, weakened body. My emotions were so tender. I loved my mother. How I longed for divine permission to say the words of healing. Our family knelt in prayer. We pled for a miracle. I was sure it would come.

It did.

At the moment I laid my hands upon my mother’s head, the Spirit said, “No.”

I wasn’t prepared for the answer. I felt Mother relax and concede under my hands. The miracle followed–sweet words of comfort and peace, every word dictated by a loving influence that knew her and understood her pain. Mom was going home.

Gifts Build Faith in God

In the Lectures on Faith, the Prophet Joseph Smith laid out the fundamentals of our achieving faith in God. Imperative in that process is our having a correct idea of God’s perfect attributes of character, including power, knowledge and love. Hope and faith in God turn on the belief that he possesses these and other attributes in perfection.

Otherwise, what’s the use in petitioning God at all?

In times of urgency, we hope that God has the power to help, we hope that he is aware of us, and we hope that he loves us enough to rush to our rescue. We reach out to the Giver and plead for his gifts because we believe that he has both the ability and the disposition to grant them. In the end, perhaps there is no better way to know him.

A great example is found in the oft-told tale of the ill-fated journey of the Martin and Willie handcart companies. Having begun their westward trek late in the fall of 1856, they were caught in an early winter storm in Wyoming. Although help was quickly dispatched from Salt Lake City, the storm took a terrible toll. Some people froze to death; others starved. When the survivors had later recovered in the safety of the valley, they settled and tried to piece together their lives. Years of controversy ensued. Debating the wisdom of their journey made good fodder for backyard courts and juries.

Much later, in the setting of a comfortable, frontier Sunday School class, criticism was raised once more over the company’s shortsightedness in leaving so late in the year.

An old man in the corner sat silent and listened as long as he could stand it, then he arose and said things that no person who heard him will ever forget. His face was white with emotion, yet he spoke calmly, deliberately, but with great earnestness and sincerity.

In substance he said, ‘I ask you to stop this criticism. You are discussing a matter you know nothing about. Cold historic facts mean nothing here, for they give no proper interpretation of the questions involved. Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it…. We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that company ever apostatized or left the Church, because everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities….’ (Relief Society Magazine, January 1948, p. 8.)

It is upon our own personal holy ground that we add stories of our receiving God’s gifts to these. It is within our individual sacred space that we become acquainted with Someone who hears, who knows us, who has the ability to help, and who loves us enough to shower us with his gifts.

H. Wallace Goddard observed that charity has three meanings: Love from Christ, Love for Christ, Love like Christ. The process of loving begins when we feel Jesus reaching after us (Love from Christ).

Somewhere along the path the miracle of His love breaks down our resistance. As we begin to understand His goodness and redemptiveness, we are changed. We are filled with a profound awe and gratitude for Him. We experience the stirrings of hope. Without this conversion, we are nothing spiritually (1 Cor. 13:2; 2 Ne. 26:30; Moro. 7:44, 46; D&C 18:19). As the amazing truth of His unrelenting love pierces our hearts, we are led to the second kind of charity, love for Christ. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 Jn. 1:19). . . . As soon as we glimpse His love for us we instinctively love Him in return. We fall at His feet and bathe them with tears of gratitude. Why would He do all He has done to love and rescue my flawed soul? Why??? The answer is charity. As we feel the love from Him and for Him, we naturally love like Him. We become saviors on Mount Zion with Him.

True Love in Marriage and Family

Interestingly, a temple marriage-especially one that is built upon the foundation of charity-is called a saving ordinance. Temple marriage saves a man and woman. Marriage is one of the greatest evidences of God’s salvation. In an act of unequalled charity, He snatches two individuals from their fallen condition, introduces them to each other as his beloved son and daughter, and invites them to experience His exalted meaning of love and thus partake of the fullness of His glory. Through marriage God saves the couple, they save each other, and others are saved in the process. Amazingly, by means of the couple’s saving marriage, their progenitors now experience a higher manifestation of salvation, for “they without us cannot be made perfect.”

Likewise, future generations are saved by the couple’s marriage. As children are born into this union, they are saved by the love and the covenants of their parents. Therefore, by the couple’s entering into the saving relationship of marriage, the children become the focal point of eternity for untold generations past and future.

“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” states that husbands and wives, by virtue of their marriage vows, have a solemn obligation to love and care for one another. As couples continue to court and care for one another, they ensure their love will never die. Likewise, to keep their love vibrant, husbands and wives might try applying two keys of courting: anticipate the needs of their companion, then surprise and delight with constant acts of love. It has been said that children can receive no greater gift than being reared by parents who love each other.

Surely there can be nothing greater than the love that Heavenly Father has for our Heavenly Mother. A husband wrote about his contemplation of this idea and how it helped him to be a better partner:

After three and a half decades of marriage, I was one day distressed by the realization that, as much as I loved my wife, my level of love for her paled in comparison to the love that Heavenly Father has for His wife. His love is perfect love; mine is not. Therefore, I realized that I had a ways to go. Because charity is a spiritual gift, I began to pray that I could learn to love my wife as Heavenly Father loves his wife. Every time I prayed, I received the same answer, Do more for your wife. Love, I learned, is a feeling that has expression and grows by loving actions. If I wanted to love more, I needed to do more, and I needed to do all this for no selfish expectation, and only for the pure purpose of expressing love. Whereas worldly love often diminishes with time, charitable love increases until it becomes perfect and becomes like the love shared by our Heavenly Parents. Do I love my wife more now than when we married in 1972? Much more. Why? Because over the years we have shared so many loving experiences. My love for her is not perfect, but I am determined that it will be, and that is sure to be a wonderful journey.

To Love First

How does love grow? It grows as we love someone first. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us . . . We love him, because he first loved us.” We love first, and then love is returned. As we discussed in chapter seven, it is an oft-repeated scriptural formula that has many applications: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”

Elder Boyd K. Packer said it this way: “As you give what you have, there is a replacement, with increase!” Love is returned by someone’s loving first; love increases by being loving; love cleaveth unto love like “light cleaveth unto light.” This love, a saving love, is charity, which never faileth. John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “I’ll lift you, and you lift me, and we’ll both ascend together.” Of course, loving first is fraught with risk. Love shown might not be returned immediately. Sometimes it may seem like it will never come.

Elder Maxwell explained that parents often extend love that is not reciprocated. He quoted Edith Hamilton as saying, ‘”When love meets no return the result is suffering and the greater the love the greater the suffering. There can be no greater suffering than to love purely and perfectly one who is bent upon evil and self-destruction. That was what God endured at the hands of men’ (Spokesman for God, 1936, 112).” Elder Maxwell explained that the pain that we feel provides us an appreciation for the Savior, which appreciation we might not otherwise gain.

Nevertheless, love we must, for only love unfeigned has the power to rescue a wayward soul. If we want to love our wayward children back, we must start by better loving God and our spouse, which increases our capacity to love. Then we are in a position to better love the “unlovable” child. Often, we will need to show love for the child before he shows love to us, and we must persist in that love until love breaks down every barrier between us, melts the child’s heart, embraces him in an unbreakable bond, and finally leads him home. Professor Rex A. Skidmore has said, “Parents need to remember that a youth is never so much in need of understanding as when he is non-approachable and never so much in need of love as when he is unlovable.”

Love Perfected

Being loving to our spouse is not only an expansive principle, it is a perfecting one that draws God near. “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” Moreover, by loving acts we are endowed with an added measure of the Holy Ghost: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” As we abide in this cycle of loving and receiving love, our love eventually becomes perfect: “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect.”

Significantly, the only other person besides God whom a man is commanded to love with all his heart is his wife: “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else.” Our model is Christ, who frequently refers to Himself as the Bridegroom, and we, being part of His church, are symbolically His bride. In Hosea, He is the forgiving, compassionate, nurturing Husband, and elsewhere He is the Good Shepherd, who gives His life for those whom He loves.

This quality of love is that which yokes us to Him, an important principle considering the fact that He, by covenant, is an important third partner in our marriage; He is as essential to us as we are to each other. Our marriage simply cannot be sanctified, and we cannot grow in the principle of love, without Him. In the case where we are in a struggling marriage where our spouse does not seem willing to work with us in increasing love, or where a spouse does not believe in gospel principles, we still may rely on the amazing power of love-freely given by us-to powerfully affect the relationship and us individually. This is one reason why we do not need to fear one-sided love.

No Fear in Love

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of loving is ceasing to be afraid: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.” If our circumstance is causing us fear, we might consider reexamining the foundation upon which our love is built, “because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” We must regroup by being loving, and love will be returned with increase. As love grows, we will feel our level of fear decrease. This love is the love of God, giving us peace and ameliorating the risks of unreturned mortal love.

Love-The Greatest Power

Love–perfect love–is the greatest power in the universe. Love motivates God to do all that He does. The greatest expression of His love is to give and redeem life. He invites His children to experience His type of life, for therein is His joy made full. By following His example-giving life and redeeming life-our joy is also made full. Therein is the perfection of and hope for our love. Therein are children given and therein are children saved.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my book, Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.)

Also, get a sample of my new 5-book series on Zion: The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here.

Note: Although this article speaks of the power available in the marriage sealing, many principles apply to singles, single parents, those working for eternal union with less-active spouses, and to children who are praying for their wayward parents. Faith and grace allow us to act as if we were in possession of that which we lack. The Lord assures us that when we do all we can do, He will make up the difference.

H. Wallace Goddard, Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage, 111.

See Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Celestial Marriage,” 117-118.

D&C 128:15.

See “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.“

1 John 4:10, 19.

Matthew 5:7.

Boyd K. Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, January 1983.

D&C 88:40.

Edith Hamilton quoted, also Elder Maxwell, in Neal A. Maxwell’s “Enduring Well,” Ensign, April 1997.

Rex A. Skidmore, “What Part Should the Teen-ager Play in the Family?” Improvement Era, January 1952.

1 John 4:12.

1 John 4:13.

1 John 4:16-17.

D&C 42:22.

See Matthew 9:15.

See Isaiah 62:5.

See John 10:11.

1 John 4:18.

See 3 Nephi 17:20.

See Alma 26:11.

To become Zion people, we must make a decision. Once and for all, we must commit to both believe and live what we have received. It is not enough to go through the motions of being a Latter-day Saint. We must thoroughly study and understand the new and everlasting covenant, which is the offspring of the Atonement.  Receiving, committing to, studying, and living the Covenant are the vehicles that allow us to become Zion people. In the final analysis, it is what we have become that will determine our eternal possibilities.

If we are to become Zion people, what will be our characteristics?

• Above all, pure in heart.
• Separate from Babylon.
• Of one heartand mind-unified with Godand our fellowmen.
• Equal in opportunity for and access to God’s blessings.
• Stewards, not owners, who are accountable to God.
• Having chosen God over mammon.
• Striving to laborfor Zion and not to amass personal waelth.
• Having completely consecrated ourselves: our time, talents, and all that we have and are for the upbuilding of the kingdomof Godand the establishment of Zion.

“How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions?”

If Zion is our aspiration, this description is what we must become. And it all starts with making a commitment. Well did Elijah challenge his contemporaries: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.” As long as our commitment waits, Zion’s blessings remain unclaimed.

In a conference address entitled “Becoming the Pure in Heart,” President Spencer W. Kimball taught that we should keep uppermost in our minds the vision of who we are and what we are about. He said, “For many years we have been taught that one important end result of our labors, hopes, and aspirations in this work is the building of a latter-day Zion, a Zion characterized by love, harmony, and peace-a Zion in which the Lord’s children are as one.” Then he quoted Doctrine and Covenants 48, in which the Lord gives us a glimpse of the latter-day Zion:

Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand. . . .

Behold, verily I say unto you, for this cause I have sent you-that you might be obedient, and that your hearts might be prepared to bear testimony of the things which are to come; and also that you might be honored in laying the foundation, and in bearing record of the land upon which the Zion of God shall stand.

And after that cometh the day of my power; then shall the poor, the lame, and the blind, and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb, and partake of the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come. Behold, I, the Lord, have spoken it.

With the gift of seership, President Kimball proclaimed that this scripture will be fulfilled. The day of Zion will surely come, and it is our destiny to cause it to happen. Then he asked if these promises do not inspire us to lengthen our stride and quicken our pace to do our part in this marvelous latter-day work. At that point he mourned that many of us are still mired in Babylon, uncommitted and floundering between two divergent philosophies. He said,

Unfortunately we live in a world that largely rejects the values of Zion. Babylon has not and never will comprehend Zion. . . . Zion can be built up only among those who are the pure in heart, not a people torn by covetousness or greed, but a pure and selfless people. Not a people who are pure in appearance, rather a people who are pure in heart. Zion is to be in the world and not of the world, not dulled by a sense of carnal security, nor paralyzed by materialism. No, Zion is not things of the lower, but of the higher order, things that exalt the mind and sanctify the heart. Zion is “every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.” (D&C 82:19.) As I understand these matters, Zion can be established only by those who are pure in heart, and who labor for Zion, for “the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish.” (2 Nephi 26:31).

Our duty and our opportunity are clear. We need only to commit.

“It Is High Time to Establish Zion”

In an address given to the Saints on May 2, 1842, Joseph Smith rejoiced in the coming day of Zion, which assumes that some individuals within the Church will have prepared themselves to become the pure in heart:

The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the latter-day glory; it is left for us to see, participate in and help to roll forward the latter-day glory…. [the establishment of Zion is] a work that God and angels have contemplated with delight for generations past; that fired the souls of the ancient patriarchs and prophets; a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family.

To establish Zion, whether in the heart of an individual, a marriage, a family, or in a priesthood community of Saints, President Lorenzo Snow admonished us to cease the destructive practice of competition and the selfish building up of our own kingdoms. We must resolve now, he said, to center our efforts on the building of God’s kingdom for the establishment of Zion:

It is high time to establish Zion. Let us try to build up Zion. Zion is the pure in heart. Zion cannot be built up except on the principles of union required by the celestial law. It is high time for us to enter into these things. It is more pleasant and agreeable for the Latter-day Saints to enter into this work and build up Zion, than to build up ourselves and have this great competition which is destroying us.

Again, calling for us to prepare for the establishment of Zion today and simultaneously denouncing the competitive practices that prohibit Zion, President Snow said,

What a lovely thing it would be if there was a Zion now, as in the days of Enoch, that there would be peace in our midst and no necessity for a man to contend and tread upon the toes of another to attain a better position, and advance himself ahead of his neighbor! And there should be no unjust competition in matters that belong to the Latter-day Saints. That which creates division among us pertaining to our temporal interests should not be.

Let us state here that Zion, meaning the ideal of Zion, is the perfection of sanctification. That is our aim and the reason that we submit to the transforming process of being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. If Zion is the pure in heart, then we must become pure-that is to say, unalloyed, unmixed, uncontaminated, uncorrupted, unsullied-if we truly desire to qualify for the ultimate blessings of Zion. President Snow ended with this definitive statement: “So long as unrighteous acts are suffered in the Church, it cannot be sanctified, neither can Zion be redeemed.” Our call to become Zion people is a call to act now and begin to embrace the principles of Zion, “or else,” the Lord warns, our “faith is vain.”

An editorial written by Bishop Newel K. Whitney and his counselors in the Messenger and Advocate sums up the urgency to become Zion people now:

Whatever is glorious. Whatever is desirable-Whatever pertains to salvation, either temporal or spiritual. Our hopes, our expectations, our glory and our reward, all depend on our building up Zion according to the testimony of the prophets. For unless Zion is built: our hopes perish, our expectations fail, our prospects are blasted, our salvation withers, and God will come and smite the whole earth with a curse.

Clearly, it is high time to establish Zion!

A Few Could Form the Foundation of Zion

If we accept the Book of Mormon to be our latter-day guide, we also accept the account in Third Nephi to be our model for the latter-day establishment of Zion. In surveying that account, we are immediately struck by the fact that even a few pure-in-heart people could anchor the principles of Zion to the earth.

Mormon makes the point that only 2,500 Nephites made up the initial group of Zion people. According to the Third Nephi model, the small group of the pure-in-heart people act as leaven by setting an example and encouraging others to become pure in heart and join with them under the organizational leadership of thepriesthood. We note with interest that within a few years, the entire Nephite population had become pure in heart and was assimilated into Zion.

Are we willing to be counted among the few who have the courage to embrace the principles of Zion in our lives? Hugh Nibley quoted Brigham, who issued the following warning: “If we are not faithful, others will take our place.” Zion is our opportunity, but we can lose it through apathy or carelessness. President Young said that though individuals might fail, nevertheless the Church will succeed:

“We may fail, if we are not faithful; but God will not fail in accomplishing his work, whether we abide it or not.” Obviously, our individual inaction will have little impact on the Lord’s global plans for Zion. His purposes will roll forth, and the prophecies and promises concerning Zion will all be fulfilled: “If we do not wake up and cease to long after the things of this earth, we will find that we as individuals will go down to hell, although the Lord will preserve a people unto himself.

Then President Young asked, “Shall we do this in our present condition as a people? No; for we must be pure and holy.” Continuing, he said, “If my brethren and sisters do not walk up to the principles of the holy Gospel . . . they will be removed out of their places, and others will be called to occupy them.” To the uncommitted, he stated that the unifying principles of Zion can be divisive and troublesome: “Of the great many who have been baptized into this Church, but few have been able to abide the word of the Lord; they have fallen out on the right and on the left . . . and a few have gathered together.”

Joseph Smith also lamented about the Saints’ lack of commitment to the cause of Zion: “I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions: they cannot stand the fire at all. How many will be able to abide a celestial law, and go through and receive their exaltation, I am unable to say, as many are called, but few are chosen.”

The first latter-day opportunity to build up Zion evaporated with the contentions and jealousies of the early Saints. That will not happen again. Most certainly, the Lord, through his prophet, will call a “select” few, “who are worthy to be called” to form the foundation of latter-day Zion, and when that happens, Babylon’s fate is sealed. Elder McConkie wrote:

“There has been a day of calling,” a day in which all the elders of the kingdom were invited to come forward and build the New Jerusalem, “but the time has come for a day of choosing.” The response of his early Latter-day Saints having been inadequate, the Lord will now choose, when he will, those who are to accomplish the great work. “And let those be chosen that are worthy.” When the day comes, none but those who qualify by obedience and righteousness will participate in the work. “And it shall be manifest unto my servant”–the President of the Church who then governs the kingdom–”by the voice of the Spirit, those that are chosen; and they shall be sanctified; and inasmuch as they follow the counsel which they receive, they shall have power after many days to accomplish all things pertaining to Zion.” (D&C 105:14-37.) After many days, a designated period in which we still live, those who are called, chosen, selected, appointed, and sent forth by the voice of the Spirit, as it speaks to the President of the Church, shall build the New Jerusalem and the holy temple to which the Lord Jesus Christ shall come in power and glory as the great Millennium is ushered in. In the meantime, our work as a people is to keep the commandments and sanctify ourselves so that if the call comes in our day, we shall be worthy to respond.

If we are waiting to become Zion people when we hear the announcement of the priesthood society of Zion, we will be sorely disappointed. Zion, the location, does not make Zion, the people. Zion is a condition of the heart. Hence, we no more wait for an announcement to become Zionlike than we wait for an announcement to live the law of consecration. When it comes to living the laws and principles of Zion in our individual lives, nothing waits. We have covenanted and we are expected to strive to become Zion people today.

Our preparation for “the upbuilding of an ‘holy city’ which shall be called Zion” is plainly an individual effort that centers on our attempts to purify our hearts. Joseph Smith said, “All who build thereon [the foundation of Zion] are to worship the true and living God, and all believe in one doctrine, even the doctrine of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

To this end, President Lorenzo Snow counseled, “Then let us practice honesty and diligence in our various callings, seeking unity and to cultivate the spirit of brotherhood financially as well as spiritually, that we may be in readiness, upon call, to go forth and build up the center stake of Zion and prepare a house in which to meet the Lord our Savior and Redeemer.” Until the prophetic call to Zion comes, said Joseph Smith, “the Lord wants the wheat and tares to grow together; for Zion must be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.”

What, then, must we be about? The Prophet Joseph Smith answered, “We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object.” Repeatedly the Lord has commanded us to “seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion.” Therefore, we are to “arise and shine forth, that [our] light may be a standard for the nations.” Our safety and the safety of other good-hearted people are at stake. Only in Zion will there be temporal and spiritual protection: “And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.” Our unique latter-day calling is to prepare the earth for the coming of Christ, the great Millennium, and the vanquishing of Satan.

How shall we begin to become individual Zion persons? President Kimball offered three steps: “First, we must eliminate the individual tendency to selfishness that snares the soul, shrinks the heart, and darkens the mind. . . . Second, we must cooperate completely and work in harmony one with the other…. Third, we must lay on the altar and sacrifice whatever is required by the Lord.” The result of living these steps, he said, is charity.

Everything about Zion comes down to love. If we are filled with charity, we will be selfless, cooperative, and willing to sacrifice all that we have and are; we truly will be Zion people. It is interesting to note that Enoch established a city called Zion after his people had been denominated Zion by the Lord. The society of Zion is comprised of people who have first qualified as Zion in their hearts. Most assuredly, then, it is high time to establish Zion.

Author’s Note

Click here to view a new video presentation called, “The Pure in Heart.”

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” 32-34.

1 Kings 18:21.

D&C 58:3-12.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 362-63.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 231.

Snow, The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, 181.

Smith, History of the Church, 2:146.

D&C 104:54-55.

Whitney, Cahoon, and Knight, Messenger and Advocate 3 (Sept. 1837): 563.

3 Nephi 17:25; 19:1-5; 4 Nephi 1:2.

Nibley, “Educating the Saints-a Brigham Young Mosaic,” 85; quoting Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:144, 183; 18:304; 8:144; 16:26; 11:324; Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 331.

McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 619.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 79.

Snow, The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, 185.

Smith, History of the Church, 2:228.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 160.

D&C 6:6; 11:6; 12:6; 14:6.

D&C 115:5-6.

Moses 7:60-65; D&C 43:28-35.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 364.

Moses 7:18-19.

Charity Defines Discipleship

Charity transforms a natural man into a sanctified Saint-a Zion person-someone who by nature seeks to comfort the downtrodden, redeem the oppressed, heal the sick and the afflicted, and console the brokenhearted.

If charity is the defining characteristic of Jesus Christ, it is also the defining characteristic of his people. When they, like their Master, encounter need, they confront it. They will not allow lack and suffering to exist in their presence. They are willing to consecrate all that they are and have to blessing the sufferings and underprivileged. For this reason, consecration, the foundational law of Zion, has no need to be legislated; consecration, like charity, is a condition of the heart.

Keeping and Feeding-the Two Tests of Charity

Jesus gave us two tests of  charity:

1. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
2. “If ye love me feed my sheep.”

Clearly, charity–Christlike love, Zion love–is defined by action. For example, in a marriage a declaration of love is meaningless unless it is demonstrated by keeping one’s vows and proffering service to one’s companion: keeping and feeding. The spouse who professes love but is disloyal is a liar; the spouse who proclaims love but who is selfish and non-sacrificing is a hypocrite.

Conversely, charity keeps its vows and goes out to find and nourish others. Elder Marvin J. Ashton taught that the keeping element of charity centers on keeping the first and great commandment, the royal law, which is a foundational law of Zion: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy heart, and with all thy mind….Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Keeping and feeding are to stand proxy for the Lord and do as he would do if he were present. Therefore, to the extent that we keep the Lord’s commandments, we show our love for him; and to the proportion that we feed the Lord’s sheep, we keep the first and great commandment. This is Zion!

Charity–The Life Blood of Zion

Most certainly, charity is love in action, and that action always involves sacrifice. Without the action of charitable sacrifice, Zion could not be established in the life of an individual, a marriage, a family, or in a priesthood society. It is by consecrated sacrifice that we keep the commandments and hold true to our covenants. It is by sacrifice that we feed the Lord’s sheep. It is by sacrifice that we love God. Helping, giving, and loving always require selfless sacrifice. It is sacrifice, we sing, that “brings forth the blessings of heaven.”

Charitable service creates a positive imbalance that demands correcting. This is the hundredfold law, which President Thomas S. Monson described this way: “It is an immutable law that the more you give away, the more you receive.” Then, referencing a quote attributed to Winston Churchill, he said, “‘You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.’” The Lord always rewards us with more than we sacrifice.

This “immutable law”-the hundredfold law-drives Zion’s cycle of abundance and makes Zion people exceedingly prosperous. Of course, this law runs contrary to Babylon’s practices of grabbing, competing and hoarding. The hundredfold law, which flows from the law of consecration, stipulates that if we will give what we have and are, the Lord will reward us beyond our sacrifice: “an hundredfold.”

As long as we do not stop the cycle abundance by keeping what we receive, we will become vessels of help. Through us the Lord will pour down blessings to his needy children, and in the process our prosperity will increase until it approaches the infinite abundance of the kingdom of heaven. Thus, charity is the lifeblood of Zion, and consecrated sacrifice is the that propels Zion’s prosperity.

When charity, the love exemplified by Zion people, is planted in the hearts of a few, it acts as leaven “until the whole [of humanity is] leavened.” Others love because we love them, and soon Zion is anchored on the earth by love. Joseph Smith said, “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.”

Charity Is Defined by Service

President Hinckley called love ”the lodestar of life.” Citing the Savior’s reference to the Final Judgment, President Hinckley reminded us that Jesus will say to those on his right hand that they shall inherit his kingdom because they effectively “fed, clothed, and visited Him” by blessing his children.

President Hinckley wrote: “One of the greatest challenges we face in our hurried, self-centered lives is to follow this counsel of the Master, to take the time and make the effort to care for others, to develop and exercise the one quality that would enable us to change the lives of others-what the scriptures call charity. . . . Best defined, charity is that pure love exemplified by Jesus Christ. It embraces kindness, a reaching out to lift and help, the sharing of one’s bread, if need be.”

Zion people become angels to the poor and afflicted. We are taught that there are “angels round about [us], to bear [us] up.” As much as angels are instruments in the Lord’s hands to sustain and help us to carry our heavy burdens, so we, by our charitable service, become angels to God’s children and instruments in the Lord’s hands to steady the weak and to heft their weighty load. President Kimball said, “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom.”

It is a gospel verity that charity saves the lives of both the giver and the receiver. Charity is sometimes a handout, but it is always a hand up. comes to our souls when we lift another and give of ourselves and our means for the purest and highest of motivations–love.

President Joseph F. Smith said, “I would advise that we learn to love each other, and then friendship will be true and sweet. It has been said by one, that ‘we may give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.’” We note with interest that it was only when the people of Limhi repented, unified, and began to practice a form of consecration to care for the widows and orphans that deliverance from bondage came.

Cain first stated the motto of Babylon in the form of a question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” That self-centered statement became the foundation of the Anti-Christ doctrine that was advanced by others including Korihor. The entire anti-Christ philosophy is also anti-Zion. It is faithless, immoral, destructive, and selfish. In no way does it draw us to Christ, encourage us to depend on him, shelter us from the consequences of sin, provide for the poor, or make us our brother’s keeper.

To Cain’s selfish motto–”Am I my brother’s keeper?”–The Lord countered with the doctrine of Zion that carries promises: “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him.”

Charity is the mantra of Zion. President Heber J. Grant said, “Make a motto in life: always try and assist someone else to carry his burden.” Charity is also the source of safety for Zion people. The prophet of Ecclesiastes stated that when we plant seeds of service to bless God’s children, we save our own souls. When evil attempts to overwhelm us, when terrifying storms gather above us, when temptations fell trees all about us, charity will protect us-”there [our safety] shall be.” The prophet said we do not understand how God transforms our charitable acts into cloaks of safety; we only know that it happens. Therefore, we are to go about liberally planting the seeds of charitable service: “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand.” We do not know which seeds of charity will take root and how they will prosper. We only know that by sowing and nourishing charitable acts, many people are blessed by our actions, and in the process we will be kept safe. This is the safe and secure state of Zion people.

Charitable Service Prospers the Giver

The promise of charitable service is that of an abundant return. President Marion G. Romney taught the following truth: “You cannot give yourself poor in this work; you can only give yourself rich.” His statement is a confirmation of the ancient prophet’s teaching: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”

This suggests both a boomerang effect and a germination period. Bread that is cast upon the water will most certainly float back to land on the tide or a current; that is, our charitable actions will always return to bless us. Moreover, the seed that makes the bread that is cast upon the water will eventually find land, set down roots, sprout, and grow; that is, charitable acts carry the potential of life within them; charitable acts might take time to find ground and take root, but in time, those acts will become a beautiful and fruitful tree. We cannot be impoverished by casting the seeds of our charity upon the water. We cannot consecrate ourselves poor.

Abundance flows to Zion people as they manifest charity. They grow from grace to grace by giving grace for grace. It is also upon the principle of charitable service that Zion people progress toward perfection. Therefore, by receiving grace (the Lord’s help) for grace (our service), we grow from grace (light, truth, power, and perfection) to grace (more light, truth, power, and perfection).

According to John the Baptist’s testimony, Jesus grew in grace (light, truth, power, and perfection) by giving grace (service): “And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace. And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness.” Likewise, we progress incrementally from grace to grace to a fulness of glory by keeping the commandments and giving service, whereupon the Lord blesses us by granting us grace for our having given grace to another: “For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.”

Again we see the hundredfold principle in giving charitable acts. When we receive the seed of grace from God or from a charitable person, we should plant rather than hoard that seed of charity by giving charity to another person. The replanting of the seed will urge a stalk to grow, which contains many seeds. Then if we will plant again, we will realize a marvelous harvest. Thus, ever repeating the cycle of planting and harvesting constitutes the mystery of Zion’s prosperity. It is the Zion principle of giving then receiving in return with increase.

Therefore, should we be concerned about keeping the commandment to consecrate and extend charitable service? Do we really believe that we will end up with less? President Kimball refuted the idea and challenged our faith:

What are we to fear when the Lord is with us? Can we not take the Lord at his word and exercise a particle of faith in him? Our assignment is affirmative: to forsake the things of the world as ends in themselves; to leave off idolatry and press forward in faith; to carry the gospel to our enemies, that they might no longer be our enemies. We must leave off the worship of modern-day idols and a reliance on the ‘arm of flesh,’ for the Lord has said to all the world in our day, ‘I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.’

Clearly, our ultimate safety and security are only found in extending charity and consecrating our lives, property, time, and talents for the building up of God’s kingdom and for the establishment of Zion.

Charity Is an Absolute

Few scriptural absolutes are as stunning as those describing charity:

• “If ye have not charity, ye are nothing.”
• “Charity never faileth.”
• “Charity . . . is the greatest of all.”
• “Charity . . . endureth forever.

In a world where everything fails, only those things that are built upon the foundation of charity will not fail. When we seek charity first, as exemplified by our seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness first, we are promised that all else will fall into place and be added unto us. Because of charity, the blessings of the priesthood will flow to us forever without compulsory means.

Charity Is a Gift–the Greatest Gift

Despite our best efforts, we never will obtain charity or know its power in our lives unless the Holy Ghost delivers it to us. Charity is a spiritual gift that must be sought. Like the principle that states that we are saved by grace only after all we can do, we receive charity as a gift only after we do all we can to obtain it. Therefore, because salvation is impossible without charity and because charity is delivered to us as a gift of the Spirit, Mormon pleads with us to “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.”

When charity finally enters our souls, Mormon continues, this love becomes the vehicle to make of us “sons of God.” Charity has the power to make us “like him.” Ultimately, upon the principle of charity, we will become “as he is” – Zion! This is our “hope; that we [through our charity] may be purified even as he is pure.” This is the principal aim and the ultimate destination of the royal law, the celestial law of love upon which a Zion life is built.

Charity is the quality of love that propels Zion’s foundational law of consecration and fulfills the first and second commandments: “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. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” We consecrate because we love, and when love motivates all we do, we become Zion.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from The Three Pillars of Zion. You may receive a free sample at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

1 Timothy 1:5.

John 14:15; emphasis added.

Paraphrased from John 21:16; emphasis added.

Ashton, “Love Takes Time,” 108.

Matthew 22:36-40.

D&C 97:8.

Phelps, “Praise to the Man,” Hymns, no. 27.

Genesis 26:12; 2 Samuel 24:3; Matthew 13:8-23; 19:29; Mark 10:30; Luke 8:8; D&C 98:25; 132:55.

Monson, “In Quest of the Abundant Life,” 2.

4 Nephi 1:7.

Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:21.

Smith, History of the Church, 4:227.

Hinckley, Standing for Something, 6.

D&C 84:88.

Tanner, “All Things Shall Work Together for Your Good,” 104.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 252.

Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, 192.

Mosiah 21:16-18.

Genesis 4:9.

Alma 30:12-28.

Psalm 41:1-2.

Grant, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant, 139.

Ecclesiastes 11:2-6.

Romney, “Welfare Services: The Savior’s Program,” 92.

Ecclesiastes 11:1.

D&C 93:12-13; emphasis added.

D&C 93:20; emphasis added.

Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:30.

Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” 54-55.

Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 417; quoting D&C 64:24.

Moroni 7:46-47.

3 Nephi 13:33.

D&C 121:46.

2 Nephi 25:23.

Moroni 7:48.

We cannot read the scriptures, especially latter-day scriptures, and avoid personal responsibility for becoming Zion people. Without reservation, our obligation is to accept every revealed Zion principle and put it into practice. To that end, President Benson laid the obligation of becoming Zion squarely on our shoulders. Zion, the priesthood society, he said, can only be brought about by Zion people. As more and more of us decide to embrace the principles of Zion, he said, the celestial order will finally exist among us, then we, individually and collectively, will be prepared to receive the Lord.

Zion is the standard among celestial and celestial-seeking beings. The celestial condition of Zion is the exact opposite of the telestial condition of Babylon; therefore, we are constantly faced with choosing between the two. We cannot have it both ways. Let us examine the Zion way of obtaining safety and security.

The Law of Restoration

Zion’s abundance flows from the law of restoration. This law becomes operational when we enter into the new and everlasting covenant at baptism, and the law reaches its zenith in the resurrection. Joseph Smith taught to the degree that we have sacrificed, suffered or been opposed or denied, we shall be restored. In fact, the Lord promised that we would be restored an hundredfold: “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

The promise of hundredfold restoration is repeated so often in the scriptures that we are obligated to consider it as literal. The apostle Paul wrote, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

Here is how the law of restoration might work. Imagine sacrificing $10,000 to help a needy friend. Most of us would feel the acute sting of such a sacrifice. But suppose that the Lord were to restore to us $1,000,000. Suddenly, the $10,000 would become a non-issue. Herein is a key to Zion’s abundance.

Struggling with Zion and Babylon Principles

In a telestial world, especially one in which the philosophies of Babylon enjoy almost free reign, we struggle when we are confronted with celestial laws. Giving our way to prosperity is an example. We can point to nothing in our environment that suggests this law will work. In Babylon, we can no more make sense of less is more than we can of walking on water. So how do we square with the idea that giving away our time, talents and resources is the only way to achieve the unequalled prosperity of Zion and ultimately an inheritance in the celestial world?

Clearly, we must rely on the prophets to articulate celestial laws. Following is how King Benjamin summed up the law of restoration:

And behold, all that [God] requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you. And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

Here is how we might portray the celestial law of restoration as it applies to Zion’s condition of abundance and prosperity:

• Our love of God motivates us to seek to serve him.
• Because God is not in need, he immediately asks us to transfer our service to his suffering or needy children.
• When we do what God asks of us, he accepts our sacrifice “unto the least of these” as if we had done it unto him.
• Our sacrifice creates something akin to a credit in our favor, which credit demands payment.
• God gladly assumes this obligation, which is actually an opportunity to bless us. He rewards us for our service: first, because he loves us; second, because we have obeyed the law upon which the blessing is predicated, and third, because our service has created an implied celestial deficit that needs correcting.
• Because God will not and cannot remain in a real or implied deficit position, “he doth immediately bless [us]; and therefore he hath paid [us]. And [we] are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever.”
• What is the result? We live forever in the condition of divine debt-celestial debt-debt that is structured so that we can receive an abundance of blessings.

This is the hundredfold principle. We are always rewarded beyond our sacrifice. God overpays his obligations, and therefore we find ourselves eternally indebted to him and we always enjoy an abundance of blessings.

New Math

We cannot make sense of the law of restoration or the hundredfold law for an obvious reason: the math doesn’t work. Let’s take the law of tithing, as an example. In the telestial world, ten minus one equals nine; but in the celestial world, because we are dealing with a celestial law and celestial math, ten minus one can equal eleven or fifteen or fifty or “an hundredfold.” But never nine!

For instance, in past articles we have cited the example of the kernel of corn. Given the choice of planting or eating it, we chose the Zion way of faith and planted it; that is, we gave it away. Our faith increased when we observed our seed grow into a stalk with several ears of corn. Now we had another choice: eat the ears of corn or plant (give away) the kernels. Once again, we applied the Zion principle of exercising faith and planting. Now the result of our faith and sacrifice was a great harvest-all from a single kernel.  Elder Boyd K. Packer said, “As you give what you have, there is a replacement, with increase!” This in the hundredfold law: a most important principle of Zion that lends to safety, security and abundance.

What Doth It Profit to Cling to Our Stuff?

True safety and prosperity are only found in making the sacrifice of all things through consecration and by following Christ. Jesus sounded a warning against our tendency to step into the snare of the love of money: “For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

When a wealthy young man went away sorrowing after having received the Lord’s answer regarding the price of becoming perfect, Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Imbedded in the Lord’s explanation is an introduction to the law of consecration, which is founded on the law of restoration. This law is our safety net from the preoccupation of wealth, and it is a key to our becoming perfect.

To the rich young man, the Lord said, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor.” Although the rich man was clearly a good man, who had lived the commandments, he could not bring himself to accept the law of consecration, which would have covered him in safety and security, and would have opened the door to perfection. Truly, it is hard for a rich man-or for that matter, a proud, selfish, power-hungry, recognition-seeking man-to lay aside the things of this world and still achieve heaven.

Safety and Perfection in Consecration

We learn several important principles of Zion from the incident of the Savior and the rich young man:

1)     Perfection hinges, not on living the commandments alone, but on living the Law of consecration.

2)     The ultimate test of discipleship is the Law of consecration.

3)     The law of consecration was instituted, in part, for our safety, because pursuing and hoarding wealth can result in the loss of exaltation.

4)     The law of consecration is hard to live, but it is harder for a rich man.

5)     Only divine intervention can save the rich, who are those who have too much of what they do not need or deserve, but that intervention is not necessarily guaranteed.

6)     Consecrating our excess to the poor tends to stockpile treasure in heaven, where treasure is needed.

7)     The law of consecration makes us truly safe and secure. The Lord invited the rich young man to “come and follow me,” which implies true safety. If we are with the Lord, we are safe.

8)     Consecrated sacrifices earn “an hundredfold” return. If that is true, the rich young man would have received hundredfold more blessings than he sacrificed to bless the poor, and in the process of giving, the Lord would have kept the young man safe; he would have achieved perfection, and he would have earned eternal life.

Thus sang the psalmist: “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.” Deliverance, preservation, safety, blessings, protection, strength, and health-these are the blessings of consecration.

The Hundredfold Law

The incident of the rich young man disturbed the apostles so much that they began to search their souls. Evidently, they wondered if they had fully complied with the laws of sacrifice and consecration so that they might obtain eternal life. Jesus offered them an astonishing promise: “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” Here the Lord makes two divine promises connected with consecration: 1) an hundredfold return, and 2) the promise of eternal life. Those who live this celestial law will be blessed a hundred times their sacrifice, and they will inherit exaltation!

Whatever we give the Lord in service to his kingdom, his children, or in personal sacrifice are restored to us “an hundredfold.” That is the celestial law of Zion. Jesus’ apostles had firsthand experience with the hundredfold law on at least two occasions: first, when Jesus fed the five thousand and second when he fed the four thousand. Each time, Jesus required the apostles to bring (consecrate) all that they could to the Lord. Then when Jesus blessed their offering, the resource multiplied and fed many.

Of significance, in each instance, Jesus instructed the apostles to gather up the fragments and take note of the resulting quantity. Amazingly, the five loaves and two fishes had not only fed thousands, the fragments now filled twelve baskets! An hundredfold return!

The laws of restoration, consecration and the hundredfold law are celestial laws that we must live by faith in a telestial world. When we sacrifice and consecrate our time, talents and resources to build the Kingdom of God, to promote the cause of Zion, and to bless the lives of others, we invoke these celestial laws of abundance upon which Zion people and a Zion priesthood society are built. What the Lord said to his disciples, he repeats to us: “freely ye have received, freely give”; “feed my lambs…feed my sheep.”

Of the “many” who are called to eternal life, only a “few” will actually achieve it, and when they do it will be because they made a consecrated effort, allowing the law of restoration to engage, which triggered the powers of earth and heaven to work together to return an hundredfold reward and the promise of eternal life.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from The Three Pillars of Zion. You may receive a free sample at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p.118

See Matthew Cowley, Matthew Cowley Speaks, p.30

See Ezra Taft Benson, “Jesus Christ-Gifts and Expectations,” New Era, May 1975

D&C 105:5

See Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.30

Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.296

Matthew 19:29

1 Corinthians 2:9

Mosiah 2:22-24

See D&C 42:38

See D&C 130:21

We are tempted to describe abundance in terms of finances, and it can certainly include such blessings; but abundance and prosperity more often refer to blessings that lend to safety, security and an outpouring of divine favor.

See Gen 26:12; 2 Samuel 24:3; Matthew 13:8-23;19:29; Mark 10:30; Luke 8:8; D&C 98:25; 132:55

Boyd K. Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, January 1983

Matthew 16:26

Matthew 19:23

Matthew 19:21

Psalms 41:1-3

Matthew 19:29

See Matthew 19:16-30

See Mark 6:35-44 and Mark 8:1-9

See Mark 6:35-44

Matthew 10:8;

John 21:15-16

Joseph Smith said,

‘If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.’ Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions–Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn.”

The Ideal of Zion

This, then, is the ideal to which we should aspire. We may not achieve the ultimate expression of perfection of Zion in this life, but we must “relentlessly chase perfection,” as Vince Lombardi is quoted as saying, “knowing full well we will not catch it, but…in the process we will catch excellence.” To achieve Zionlike attributes in our lives requires no new revelation. The Prophet Joseph Smith, whose mission it was to restore the fullness of the gospel, received every revelation, covenant and power regarding the establishment of Zion. Therefore, we have everything that we need to become individually pure in heart and Zionlike. While the Church-wide implementation of the specific “law” of Zion might still be futuristic, our individual living of the law is not. We have made covenants; we simply need to abide in them.

And do it we must. Everything of eternal consequence hinges on our obedience and diligence to the New and Everlasting Covenant.

Eternal Marriage-the Crowning Order of Zion

Prefacing the eternal law of marriage, which is the crowning order of the New and Everlasting Covenant and the gate to Zion (The Church of the Firstborn and the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom), the Lord revealed the following essential information regarding the Covenant:

Prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same. For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory. For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world. And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.

Apathy Toward the Covenant

In vision, Nephi saw the latter-day members of the Church, who had made the New and Everlasting Covenant. To his dismay, he saw widespread apathy; we had neglected the Covenant in favor of carnal security. We had been lulled away from the Covenant by Satan, and we were ignorantly under the impression that “All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well.” While it is true that all is well with the Church, it is not necessarily “well” with many of its members. Nephi saw that our carnal appetites had allowed the devil to “cheat our souls” with the purpose of “leading us away carefully down to hell.” According to Brigham Young, carnal security, materialism, and wealth seeking are the devil’s clever “decoys” that drive a wedge between Zion and us.

The metaphor is chilling. A decoy is something that looks like the real thing but is meant to trap its victim. A decoy is cleverly disguised, but it is deadly if you get too close to it. President Young said, “It is a fearful deception which all the world labors under, and many of this people too, who profess to be not of the world, that gold is wealth.” The only solution is the one that Nephi offered when confronted by the people in the great and spacious building: “We heeded them not.” That is, “we did not allow ourselves to become distracted. We were determined to abide in the Covenant, regardless of what Babylon said or offered us.” Only abiding in the Covenant provides real security.

Safety in the Covenant

Of course, this is a tall order. You might ask, “What will become of me, if I attempt to step away from Babylon and fully embrace the principles of Zion?” The answer is always the same: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” The solution is imbedded in the Covenant; it is God’s promise. He will support you, sustain you, stand beside you, and keep you safe: “Surely Zion shall dwell in safety forever.” Safe in the Covenant, you no longer have to worry like you did in Babylon: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”

This is not to say that we cease laboring. Labor is essential to Zion. But labor, like other principles, exists in varying degrees that range from telestial to celestial. What we labor for defines our labor as of Babylon or of Zion. To make the mental leap takes faith–lots of faith. Only the Atonement of Jesus Christ can make the transition to Zion possible. The Atonement has the power to purify our hearts, make of us celestial people, secure for us a celestial resurrection, make us heirs of God’s kingdom, and bind to us our spouse and family forever.

The Establishment of Zion is the Goal of the Gospel

“The prophets always labor to prepare people to become a people of Zion. Sometimes people embrace Zion; most often they do not.” If the prophets cannot persuade the Church as a whole to become Zion, then they will continue to preach Zion principles and convert us one by one.

Considering the blessings of Zion, why would we choose otherwise? Perhaps because of fear.

We might say, “Zion and consecration are well and good, but I don’t want to be the first to live them. Therefore, I will wait for the president of the Church to reveal a program.” This is a dangerous attitude that is fraught with folly. We might ask ourselves: “Which of our covenants is waiting for a program from Church headquarters? Baptism? Sabbath day observance? Temple worship? Eternal marriage? Why, then, do we consider parts of the New and Everlasting Covenant, especially the Law of Consecration, futuristic?

We know the principles of Zion, so what stops us from living them? Clearly, Babylon has a hold on us that we fear to break. But we need not fear. We have evidence that the principles of Zion hold safety and prosperity. For example, who has ever made themselves poor by paying tithes and offerings? It is impossible, With confidence in tithes and offerings alone, we are equipped to press through our fear and embrace Zion in its entirety, as we have covenanted to do. Perhaps to that end the Lord encouraged us to consider the lilies of the field. Most certainly, he will take care of his covenant people. The Book of Mormon is a textbook on the subject.”

Why are ye so fearful?

During the ministry of Christ, a fierce storm arose that threatened to capsize the apostles’ boat. Panicked, they awakened the Savior and cried, “Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” In other words, “How could you be afaid, knowing that I was with you? Where is your faith?” Wherever Zion is, there is the Lord; wherever a Zion person is, there is the Lord.

If he is with us, if we know that he commanded us to live the fullness of the New and Everlasting Covenant, if we really believe that he will stand beside us while we struggle to live the Covenant, what have we to fear? We will not be disappointed. We, like the Nephites, will experience for ourselves the safety, abundance and joy of Zion, for “surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.”

The Ultimate Blessing

If we intend to become Zion people, we might consider changing the paradigm of our belief, if it is lacking. In too many instances, we do not believe what our faith tells us. We believe in a convenient gospel with the expectation that God, if he wants to, will move us along and eventually rewards us with the extraordinary blessings of Zion.

But Zion cannot be established either in an individual’s life or in a society on such a philosophy. Zion has always been established by people’s believing all that their faith tells them. When we back away from our responsibility to live the entirety of the Covenant, and when we shift the burden of preparing for the establishment of Zion to the prophet, we are stepping into dangerous territory, the same that Moses’ people stepped into. If we want to become Zion people, we must first believe what our faith tells us Zion people are – the pure in heart, those who are striving to achieve the presence of God. Will that happen without seeking and asking? Of course not. No blessings arrive unbidden. We must work for them. “Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am.”

Elder McConkie said, “Those who attain this state of cleanliness and perfection are able, as occasion may require, to see God and view the things of his kingdom. (D. & C. 84:23; 88:68; Ether 4:7). Indeed, the ultimate privileges of God’s holy authority are spoken of as follows: ‘The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church-to have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant’ (D&C 107:18-19).”

“While in the flesh,” Zion people can qualify for the “privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves.” The Father and the Son will come and make their abode with that person, as the Prophet said, and because they have made their hearts pure by abiding the Covenant, “they shall see God.” This is the ideal and the privilege of seeking to become a Zion person.

Becoming merciful.

“And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” 1 The Law of the Harvest states, “…whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap.” 2 Applied to mercy, the Law of the Harvest reads: “those who sow righteousness reap mercy.” 3 That is, when a Zion person strives to live faithfully in the Covenant, he qualifies for the Lord’s mercy.

Mercy is another of the gospel’s reciprocal principles; once mercy is given it returns “with increase.” 4 Mercy, like love, multiplies when it is “given first.” 5 Elder Henry D. Moyle said, “There is an eternal truth, the verity of which I am certain, that love begets love, and as we love one another, our ability to love increases.” 6 The same could be said of mercy.

Pres Hinckley said, “How godlike a quality is mercy. It cannot be legislated. It must come from the heart. It must be stirred up from within. It is part of the endowment each of us receives as a son or daughter of God and partaker of a divine birthright…. I am convinced that there comes a time, possibly many times, within our lives when we might cry out for mercy on the part of others. How can we expect it unless we have been merciful ourselves?…. One cannot be merciful to others without receiving a harvest of mercy in return….” 7

Mercy is defined as compassionate treatment, especially to those for whom we have a responsibility; it is showing clemency or leniency toward an offender; it is a disposition to be kind and forgiving, and a willingness to alleviate distress and give relief. 8

Heavenly Father sets the standard of mercy: “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is also merciful.” 9 The Father’s plan of mercy called for an infinite atonement to “satisfy the demands of justice,” and encircle us “in arms of safety.” 10 The Savior’s mission was to enact the Father’s plan of mercy, which “overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they might have faith unto repentance.” 11

Because of the Lord’s atonement, the meek have claim upon mercy: “I, the Lord, show mercy unto all the meek.” 12 A Zion person is merciful even as the Lord is merciful. 13

Becoming pure in heart.

“And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” 14 Notice the word all. Perhaps more than any other principle, this one describes a Zion person: ” Zion is the pure in heart.” 15

President Kimball taught, ” Zion can be built up only among those who are the pure in heart, not a people torn by covetousness or greed, but a pure and selfless people. Not a people who are pure in appearance, rather a people who are pure in heart. Zion is to be in the world and not of the world, not dulled by a sense of carnal security, nor paralyzed by materialism. No, Zion is not things of the lower, but of the higher order, things that exalt the mind and sanctify the heart.” 16

President Kimball suggested three fundamental things to become pure in heart and thus “bring again Zion ” 17: 1) eliminate selfishness, 2) cooperate completely and work in harmony one with one another, and 3) lay on the altar whatever is required by the Lord. 18

To be pure in heart suggests a change of heart or a rebirth, which begins with baptism and leads to eternal life: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God….” 19 Explaining the process of rebirth or changing one’s heart, the Encyclopedia of Mormonism says, “Scripture describes the rebirth to which Jesus refers as a ‘mighty change in your hearts’ or being ‘born of God’ (Alma 5:13, 14). It means that the person puts off the ‘natural man’ [telestial man] and puts on a new [ Zion ] nature that has ‘no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually’ (Mosiah 5:2; 3:19).

A person who is pure of heart is one who has died to evil and awakened to good. Thus “pure people,” being alive to good, dwell together in righteousness and are called Zion (Moses 7:18). Zion , then, is the way of life of a pure-hearted people who abide in the Covenant and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.” 20

Beyond this description, the pure in heart are those who forsake their sins, come unto Christ, call on his name, obey his voice and keep his commandments. 21 On August 2, 1833, the Lord gave an expanded revelation on the principle of being pure in heart: “And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it; Yea, and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God.” 22 This revelation places the temple at the center of importance concerning a pure hearted person’s qualifying to see God. ”

To see God, according to Elder Royden G. Derrick, [is more than visual sight; it] means to come to know God, discover him, and understand him ( Temples in the Last Days, 80).” 23 A Zion person is privileged to come to know God, discover him, understand him, and to literally see him, for Zion is God’s “abode forever.” 24

The temple ordinances help to purify one’s heart and point that person toward this supernal experience: “And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof [the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood], the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live. Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God.” 25

And the temple is the likely place where that will happen. Hugh Nibley said, “…the temple is the earthly type of Zion ….” 26 Quite literally, the temple is heaven on earth. Because heaven is where God lives, the pure in heart – all the pure in heart 27 – may enter the temple, God’s house, and partake of its ordinances and commune with and see God.

Becoming a maker of peace.

“And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” 28 Again, notice the word all. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” 29 Clearly, peace ranges in levels, as do other gospel principles, from telestial, which is almost non-existent 30 and usually means absence of war, to celestial, which “passeth all understanding.” 31

The Lord’s peace is, according to Elder McConkie, a gift of the spirit, 32 and Satan cannot duplicate it. 33 Mortal fear flees in the face of the Lord’s peace: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 34 When the Lord established Zion among the Nephites, they experienced unequalled peace.

The following description is remarkable:

• No contentions
• No disputations
• Every man dealing justly one with another
• All things in common
• No rich, poor, bond, or free Peace and prosperity in the land
• A love of God in the hearts of the people
• No envyings, strifes, tumults, whoredoms, lyings, murders, or lasciviousness
• No robbers, murderers, or any “-ites.” 35
• Every person – each and every peacemaker 36 – who strives to make celestial peace follows the example of the Prince of Peace, and that person’s reward is glorious: “…he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.” 37

Melchizedek, who established Zion among his people, became a peacemaker and followed the example of the Savior to become a prince of peace: “…Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace.” 38 Likewise, Abraham desired to establish Zion and become a prince of peace. 39

The peace of Zion that a peacemaker establishes blesses his family: “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” 40 For making such an effort, the Lord promises that peacemakers will become sons and daughters of God, meaning that such people will become “joint heirs with Christ, inheriting with him the fullness of the Father. (D&C 93:17-23)… [and become] gods in eternity. (D&C 76:58).” 41

Being willing to suffer persecution for the cause of Christ.

“And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.” 42

Persecution comes in a variety of ways, but it appears to be the common lot of every saint who espouses the principles of Zion . Paul said, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 43 One form of persecution is mockery and scorn, as exhibited by the people in Lehi’s great and spacious building: “…their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come and were partaking of the fruit.” 44

That persecution grew out of the mockers’ pride and vain imaginations, meaning their useless pursuits. 45 These people were clearly vicious in their motives to dissuade the people of God. Nephi described the philosophies of the persecutors as having the capacity to torture, slay, bind down, yoke and bring into captivity the saints of God. 46 We understand the meaning to be both temporal and spiritual abuse and confinement. These persecutors were idolaters, materialistic and sexually perverse: “And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots.” 47

The proud of Babylon have always persecuted Zion’s people, who are defined as the poor, i.e. poor in pride, poor in spirit, poor as to things of this world: “The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor….” 48 Moreover they who are rich often judge the poor harshly and withhold their assistance, which is a form of persecution 49; or they see themselves in an elevated class and consider themselves better 50; or they persecute, mock and ignore the poor in favor of increasing their holdings, which they idolize as if they were sanctuaries: “…because of pride they are puffed up. They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.” 51

This sin, according to Jacob, is very “abominable unto God.” 52

Zion people are never accepted by Babylon , and they never will be. Babylon has been and ever will be the enemy and persecutor of Zion : “…know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” 53 But for enduring the persecutions of Babylon , the humble followers of Christ will earn the greatest reward that God has to offer. Because they have believed in him and tried at all costs through their works and examples to build up his kingdom on the earth for the establishment of his Zion , they will inherit nothing less than the celestial Kingdom of Heaven , the eternal Zion of God.

These qualities are the conditions and characteristics of blessedness that are embraced and enjoyed by a Zion person. Some of them speak to the first commandment of loving God, while others involve the second commandment of loving our neighbor. They are “Jesus’ character in words,” 54 and President Lee’s “constitution for a perfect life.” 55 They are Zion .

Notes

1 3 Nephi 12:7

2 D&C 6:33

3 Hosea 10:12

4 Boyd K. Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, January 1983

5 See 1 John 4:19

6 Henry D. Moyle, Conference Report, April 1951, p.125-126

7 Gordon B. Hinckley, “Blessed are the Merciful,” Ensign, May 1990

8 See American Heritage Dictionary, “Mercy”

9 Luke 6:36

10Alma 34:15-16

11Alma 34:15-16

12 D&C 97:2

13 See 3 Nephi 27:27

14 3 Nephi 12:8

15 D&C 97:21

16 Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball , edited by Edward L. Kimball, p.363

17 Isaiah 52:8; Mosiah 12:22; 15:29; 3 Nephi 16:18: D&C 113:8

18 Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball , edited by Edward L. Kimball, p.363

19 John 3:5

20Encyclopedia of Mormonism , ” Zion ,” p.1625

21 See D&C 93:1

22 D&C 97:15-16

23 D. Kelly Ogden and Andrew C. Skinner, Verse by Verse: The Four Gospels , p.180, insertion added

24 Moses 7:21

25 D&C 84:19-23, insertion and emphasis added

26 High Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.27

27 3 Nephi 12:8

28 3 Nephi 12:9

29 John 14:27

30 See D&C 1:35

31 Philippians 4:7

32 See Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Peace,” p.561-563. He lists the following scriptures: Psalms 37:37; 119:165; Isaiah 26:3; 48:18, 22; 57:21; Romans 8:6; 10:15; 14:17-19; 1 Corinthians 14:33; Ephesians 6:15

33 See George D. Watt, ed.,, Journal of Discourses 15, p. 379; Sheri L. Dew, “Living on the Lord’s Side of the Line,” Brigham Young University devotional, March 21, 2000

34 John 14:27

35 4 Nephi 1:15-17

36 3 Nephi 12:10

37 D&C 59:23

38Alma 13:18

39 See Abraham 1:2

40 Isaiah 59:23

41 Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Son of God,” p.745

42 3 Nephi 12:10-12

43 2 Timothy 3:12

44 1 Nephi 8:26

45 1 Nephi 11:36

46 1 Nephi 13:5

47 1 Nephi 13:7

48 Psalms 10:2

49 See Mosiah 4:17

50 See Jacob 2:13, 20

51 2 Nephi 28:13

52 Jacob 2:5

53 James 4:4

54 D. Kelly Ogden and Andrew C. Skinner, Verse by Verse: The Four Gospels , p.173

55 Harold B. Lee, Decisions for Successful Living , p.56-57

Have you ever become so frustrated with your wayward child that you wish something difficult would happen to shake him up? Then you repent and go back to status quo. But what if your prayer was to ask for a conversion experience-something that would offer the child an opportunity to rethink his position and exercise his agency in a positive way?

Here are two stories from parents: one who is in the process of rescuing her wayward children, and another who prayed for an accident!

Dear Larry,

I’ve been happily reading your articles on Meridian Magazine.  I even printed a couple of them and studied and pondered.  Because of what I read, I began praying for my children and for opportunities to let them feel my love, preparatory to praying for conversion opportunities.  I have three adult sons–one died by suicide 17 years ago–so lots of pain in the parenting world for me!  And I have three adult daughters, and a twelve-year-old daughter. 

Our family is not only broken, it is fractured. I had “accepted’ that my adult children had made their choices to not be involved with the gospel, and I threw all my attention on raising the youngest. Then her father began to fight me for custody of her. During the struggle, I prayed mightily and was blessed with success, but ALSO the spirit whispered to me that I do have other children, who still need my love and attention. 

It was right then that I saw your articles on Meridian and realized that my parenting responsibilities are not over. There ARE things I can do! So I began to pray mightily for them, praying for opportunities to show my love for them (let’s start small!).  Last night, as I lay in bed, I realized that a miracle had occurred during that day: I had enjoyed ‘heart to heart’ talks with two of my adult daughters and another wonderful conversation with my youngest. All in one day!  The Lord had answered my prayers for “conversion opportunities!” He had quietly opened the door for me to show my love. 

I am working on strengthening myself spiritually, and praying more fervently for more opportunities to reach out to my children. I had given up, but now I realize that I can pray and sanctify myself, and the Lord will bless and help me. I realize that my children their agency, but I also have learned that I can pray and ask the Lord to bless them with opportunities to use their agency to rethink their position. And maybe it all starts with love and healing the relationship. Please tell your readers that we mothers should never underestimate the power of our love. That power can make us an instrument in the hands of the Lord in the lives of our children.

Thank you so much for opening my eyes!

Mom whose eyes were opened

Dear Mom Whose Eyes Were Opened,

You have made an important discovery: Love is the greatest power in the universe.

When we work with our wayward children, we must remember that we can no more change a person than a missionary can convert. Change and conversion are the Holy Ghost’s job. But sadly, often when we parents are faced with a challenge that only a god could tackle, we feel overwhelmed and alone. Actually, divine help rushes to our aid, as you have learned. Our object should be to infuse spiritual power into our lives so we can better participate in God’s plan of salvation for our child. As we do so, we make another discovery: Every effort we make to sanctify ourselves has a redeeming effect on the person for whom we are praying. When we make that discovery, we have learned one of the most valuable lessons in mortality–one that will follow us into eternity and fit us to become eternal parents, who will be doing the work of redemption forever.

Keep loving and praying. Things will turn out better than you can imagine.

Blessings!

Larry

Dear Larry,

I am a mother to six children, all of them are now grown and most are struggling. One of my sons came home after serving nine months of his mission. He was determined to repent of his sins, but found it harder than he had anticipated. His prison term is nearing an end, and I have observed in him the desire to repent and change his life. I know that this will take time, but hopefully he will be fully converted to the gospel. 

Another son returned from serving an honorable mission and served faithfully in various church callings until abruptly he changed his entire lifestyle within six months. He tells me that he knows that the gospel is true, but he can no longer live it as he was taught. Now he has chosen an alternate lifestyle.  Another son was a victim of abuse as a young child. He says the gospel is true, but living the commandments is too hard. He has also chosen an alternate lifestyle and questions why our church won’t accept it.

 I’m not exactly sure what I would like to say, but after reading several of your articles in the Meridian Magazine, I felt I needed to thank you for the view that you have opened up for me.  Hope has been dim for a long time, but now I realize that I should not have let it disappear in my life. I am learning to not give up. I feel a great chasm in my family. We are being split apart by our individual understandings of the gospel. It seems that each of us is standing on a different side of the bank, and as the chasm widens we drift farther apart.

I struggle to not dwell on mourning the choices of my sons. I try to receive strength and courage from the scriptures, and I strive to follow the examples of Lehi, Alma the Elder, and others as they relate how they dealt with their wayward children. Reading your articles has helped me to redouble my hold on the iron rod. I realize that I must endeavor to live the gospel as best I can, and continue to pray and hope that my children will eventually turn and seek the gospel with all their hearts. Again, thank you for your articles which give me hope and strength.

Hopeful Mother

Becoming a Zion person is a process that replaces telestial qualities with celestial ones. In Part 2 of this Zion series, we will discuss the traits of charity (true love), experiencing true happiness, joy and fullness of life, and becoming holy.

Exhibiting the True Love of Christ

President Joseph F. Smith said, “Charity, or [true] love, is the greatest principle in existence.” On the principle of love-love of God and love of neighbors-”hang all the law and the prophets.” Like other principles, love ranges in quality from telestial to celestial, which type of love is called charity, “the pure love of Christ.” This quality of love-true love–is found in a Zion person, and because charity is perfect, celestial, true love, it “never faileth.”

Charity describes God: “God is love.” Because we are commanded to be perfect like him, we must learn to truly love like he loves. The apostle John taught that the person who loves best knows God best: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”

What sets apart celestial love from lesser love is motivation; charity is more what we do than what we feel. Therefore, the opposite of love is not hate but apathy. Perhaps the best description of charity is found in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 and Moroni 7:44-48. Here is the list personalized of a Zion person’s true love: 

Characteristics of True Celestial Love

• True love suffers long (endures a hardship or endures with someone during his/her hardship)
• True love is kind
• True love does not envy
• True love is not vaunted up (does not boast)
• True love is not puffed up (is not proud)
• True love does not behave unseemly (act rudely)
• True love seeks not his/her own (is not selfish)
• True love is not easily provoked (keeps temper under control)
• True love thinks no evil (focuses on the good)
• True love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth (is not inclined toward evil, but embraces anything virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy)
• True love bears all things (bears up under the weight of problems)
• True love believes all things (recognizes and follows truth)
• True love hopes all things (knows ultimately that God is in charge)
• True love endures all things (is willing to pay the price because he knows the wait will be worth it).

True Celestial Love vs. Telestial and Terrestrial Love

Charity (true love) differs from telestial and terrestrial love by the fact that it is saving love. Charity lifts another person, and has the capacity to forgive and rescue from enormous distances. As we give and receive this celestial love, we discover that those within our gravitational pull cannot escape its embrace.

The Three Pillars and Meanings of True Love

Charity, the true love of Zion, is built on three pillars: total loyalty, total sacrifice and total trust. Moreover, charity has three meanings: Love from Christ, Love for Christ, Love like Christ. Quoting Elder Max Caldwell, H. Wallace Goddard observed, “Charity is first and foremost the redemptive love that Jesus offers all of us. It is the love from Christ. He is the model of charity – which never faileth.’”

How Does True Love Grow?

How does celestial love grow? By someone loving first. Heavenly Father set the example: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us…We love him, because he first loved us.” Likewise, when we love first, love is returned. It is an oft-repeated scriptural formula that has many applications. For example, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Elder Boyd K. Packer said it this way: “As you give what you have, there is a replacement, with increase!” John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “I’ll lift you, and you lift me, and we’ll both ascend together.”

Blessings of True Love

Whereas Babylon elevates only me, the true love of Zion elevates others through me. Zionlike love is not only an expansive principle, it is one that draws God near to us and becomes perfect when we accept it and do not turn away from it: “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” Moreover, by showing love through selfless service, we are endowed with an added measure of the Holy Ghost: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” As we abide in this cycle of loving and receiving love, our ability to love eventually becomes perfect: “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect….”

One of the greatest benefits of love is ceasing to be afraid: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear….” Moreover, Zion’s love is patient, which means: “I will wait with you,” “I will wait for you,” and “I will wait upon you,” meaning “I will serve you.” In one way or another I will wait.

Love-celestial, true, Zionlike love–is the greatest power in the universe. True love motivates God to do all that he does. The greatest expression of his love is to give and redeem life. He invites all of his children to experience this quality of love and this type of life, for therein is his “joy made full.” By following his example-giving life and redeeming life-is our joy also made full. And the word full always describes Zion.

Experiencing true happiness, joy and fullness of life

In addition to charity-true celestial love-Zion people are distinguished by a celestial level of other virtues, such as happiness, joy and fullness of life. Interestingly, the scriptures connect these three. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught “happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.”

Happiness, like other principles, exists in varying degrees “ranging from ‘celestial’ to ‘telestial,’ depending on the level of ‘law’ they ‘abide’ (D&C 88:22-35; 76).” People of Zion enjoy happiness on a celestial level. Having embraced the New and Everlasting Covenant after the coming of Christ, the Nephites enjoyed happiness equal to that of Enoch’s people, which Elder Marion G. Romney described as “a society in which, ‘there was no contention…because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people’; a society in which, ‘there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness;’ a society in which every member had conquered the lusts of the flesh. ‘…and surely,’ concludes the record, ‘there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.’ (4 Nephi 15-16).”

Certainly, the absence of evil promotes joy, but only “virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God,” which includes selfless service, create it. If the purpose of man’s creation is that he might have joy, then that man must develop these attributes in his character.

Attendant Blessings

We experience joy by awareness and appreciation for “the gifts of life, the earth, and personal agency (e.g., taste, smell, beauty, music)”; by “using these gifts to create opportunities or to develop relationships (e.g., marriage, parenting, charity); by “coming to understand how mortality fits into the divine purpose or plan of Heavenly Father” (using this understanding “as a framework for comprehending and assimilating life’s experiences”); and by “accepting Christ as Savior and feeling his acceptance and approval of one’s efforts.”

Elder McConkie explained that only entering into the joy of the Lord, could cultivate a fullness of joy, which is the condition of Zion. True happiness-joy-, he said, “is a gift of the Spirit. It comes from the Holy Ghost,” suggesting that Satan cannot duplicate the feeling of joy. “In this connection, the Book of Mormon describes a scene wherein ‘the spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience’ (Mosiah 4:3; cf. John 15:10-12).” Therefore, the more faith-filled, repentant, humble and Zionlike we become, the more joy we experience.

Moreover, our seeking the establishment of Zion in our lives will serve to dispel sadness and result in the highest degree of joy: “For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.”

Becoming Holy

Charity, happiness, joy and fullness of life contribute to holiness. Zion is a holy place-”the City of Holiness”–whose individual citizens are holy: “…he that is left in Zion…shall be called holy.” We cannot make ourselves holy; only God can do that. Our responsibility is to strive for holiness by living the New and Everlasting Covenant (the Covenant), which has the power to bring us to perfection, and thus holiness.

Because Zion “cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom,” a state of holiness is not possible unless we embrace the celestial Covenant and become like celestial people. Brigham Young explained the goal of holiness pursued by Zion people: “We are trying to be the image of those who live in heaven; we are trying to pattern after them, to look like them, to walk and talk like them, to deal like them, and build up the kingdom of heaven as they have done.”

Journey to Holiness

Becoming holy is a journey: “The process of becoming holy is based on three doctrines: justification, which satisfies the demands of justice for the sins of the individual through the Atonement of Jesus Christ; purification, made possible by that same Atonement and symbolized in the Sacrament of the bread and water, requiring the constant cleansing of oneself from earthly stains and imperfections; and sanctification, the process of being made holy. Having purified oneself of imperfections to the greatest degree possible, one is invested, over a lifetime, with holiness from God.”

How We Become Holy

The concept of perfection, the ultimate expression of holiness, can seem overwhelming to us struggling mortals. The troubling commandment is stated in the Sermon of the Mount. Using the Father as an example, Jesus told his disciples in Jerusalem: “Ye are therefore commanded to be perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Later, to the Nephites, he gave substantially the same commandment, but this time he added himself as an example: “Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.”

We see in these verses a subtle indication that total perfection is acquired by going from one perfection to another. While Jesus was in the flesh, although he was a perfect man, he was nevertheless not as perfect as his Father, who was a resurrected, glorified man. But after his resurrection, as indicated in his rewording the commandment to the Nephites, Jesus could claim the Father’s quality of perfection. Clearly, this exalted level of perfection can only be attained after the resurrection.

Achieving Holiness in the Covenant

Interestingly, some gospel writers have suggested that the Savior’s commandment to become perfect points to the diligence we give to abiding in the New and Everlasting Covenant. Hence, the verse might read, “Ye are therefore commanded to be perfect in living the Covenant even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect in living the Covenant.” With the same degree of diligence that the Father perfectly abides in the Covenant, so we must abide in the Covenant–”even unto death, that you may be found worthy.”

We do not arrive at this or any level of perfection automatically. Nevertheless, we understand that just men, who are not yet ultimately perfect, are nevertheless made perfect through the grace of Jesus Christ; that is, abiding in the Covenant assures us the enabling power of the atonement to make us as if we were perfect until the time that we are wholly perfect, meaning “finished, complete, fully developed.” Perhaps it is this quality of perfection that just men like Noah attained, for such men are described as perfect in their generation.

Likewise, we are made perfect in the Covenant, which is designed to move us forward to ultimate perfection and holiness, if we will abide in it as does our Father, whose name is Man of Holiness. Therefore, we have no reason to lose hope. The prophets have taught us repeatedly that it is our direction, not our arriving, that makes all the difference. The perfection of Enoch’s Zion, we are told, was in the “process of time.”

Matthew 22:40

Moroni 7:46-47

1 John 4:7-8

Matthew 5:48

1 John 4:7

See Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, “Be a Quality Person,” February 1993

See Articles of Faith 13

H. Wallace Goddard, Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage, p. 111

1 John 4:10, 19

Matthew 5:7

Boyd K. Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, January 1983

See 1 Nephi 8:28

1 John 4:12

1 John 4:13

1 John 4:16-17

1 John 4:18

See Moses 1:39

See 3 Nephi 17:20

See Alma 26:11, 16; 3 Nephi 27:31; 28:10

See 4 Nephi 1:3, 16; Mosiah 16:11

Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 255-56

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Zion,” p.1625

Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, April 1958, p.126, emphasis added

Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 255-56

See Matthew 16:25; Mosiah 4:3, 20

See 2 Nephi 2:25

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Joy,” p.771

See D&C 51:19

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Joy,” p.397

See Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Joy,” p.771

2 Nephi 8:3

Moses 7:19

Isaiah 4:3

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Holiness,” p.648

D&C 105:5

Journal of Discourses, vol 9, p.170

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Holiness,” p.648

JST Matthew 5:50

3 Nephi 12:48

See D&C 98:14

See Moroni 10:32-33; D&C 76:69; 129:3; Hebrews 12:23

See Matthew 5:48 footnote b

See Moses 8:27

Moses 6:57; 7:35

Moses 7:21