Who knows how to really love? Raise your right hand. Here is a more difficult question: Who really understands love? Say yes, if you do. How about this: Do you know how to let love pour out from you to heal and bless and enlighten all those whom you contact? Can you make love vibrate from your hands - let your fingertips sing with it?
Have you ever read the "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew, Chapters 5-7)? Raise your hand again. Next question: Have you ever LIVED the Sermon on the Mount?
Do you know how to become perfect? We have been commanded (in the great sermon) to be perfect EVEN as our Father in heaven is perfect. But, we do not become perfect the way most would assume. Learn how to love the way Jesus Christ taught in the great Sermon on the Mount when you read Chapter 16. Learn how to be perfect in the most humble, enduring, unselfish way. This chapter holds hands with the Bible to bring forgotten principles back to our hearts. These words are seeds of love from the author. We can plant them in our minds and souls in order to produce and understand fully this "Glory of the Universe", the Pure Love of Christ.
So few understand the Two Great, and all-inclusive, Commandments: "Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength -- and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This first commandment has been taken up elsewhere in this work, so we will go on to the second, to clothe it in its full robe of shimmering glory.
Learn to love. Let love vibrate from your hands. Let your fingertips sing with it. Let every little fibre of your being magnify it and your soul perfect it. Let love pour out from you and as it does it will heal and bless and enlighten all those whom you contact, either in thought, or by actual meeting. Never let anger rage in your heart. Never hold grudges. Forget injuries instantly. Never let discord cling to you. Never cling to discord.
Along with this great love comes the perfect gift and privilege of forgiving. It is beautiful beyond expression, for in it is contained the very glory of God. Read carefully the Sermon on the Mount which is contained in the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters of Mathew. At the end of chapter five is given the admonition to love your enemies, to pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you -- in other words, think love, speak love, give love, and live love -- and be willing always to go the second mile -- that you might be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Yea, be the servant willingly, with deep, eternal love, and as sure as you live you will become one of the great and noble of the earth.
If this Sermon on the Mount sounds like so many words, then please pray about it and study it often. Then begin to live it and you will know of the doctrine, whether it is just words or whether Christ was putting the truths of eternal power and glory into the hands of man. These teachings are truly living principles, filled with the power and glory of the Almighty. They are the laws of those who desire to become "Saints", which means "holy ones." No church can make a person a Saint. That has to be done by the individual as he becomes obedient to the laws of God. None can become holy only as they live in holiness, and those glorious laws of perfection become not only their creed, but their very lives.
At first the Sermon on the Mount may seem terribly difficult and even impossible to live, or at least not worth the great effort required to give love for hate. It is so much easier to love our grudges and weaknesses than it is to love our enemies. It is always easier to hold to our human faults than it is to forgive them in our neighbor, which if done, would cancel every flaw in our own characters as well as heal our foes. As one's soul opens to comprehend the divine power contained in these teachings he will rejoice in the majestic glory of these perfect privileges, for he will prove to himself for all time that it is indeed a privilege and a glory to forgive. It is the complete cauterization of an otherwise incurable ulcer on the soul, and no matter how painful the process it will bring healing, pure and glorious.
You will glory in the divine knowledge, that you too, can forgive sins that they stand not before God. You too, can share in the work of the Savior, in that you too, can begin to do the works and take upon you the sins and mistakes of the world, that they might be blotted out, that the love and light and the power of God might begin to flow through you to bless and heal and enlighten. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and even greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12). His greatest work was the healing power of His compassion and mercy -- His forgiving tenderness. In order to have the perfect power to heal and bless He had to have the power in His own heart to forgive, which was always used in connection with the healing, for more often He said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee," than "be thou whole."
As one stands thus above the discordant vibrations of the hates and discords around him he has "overcome" and all power is given to such a one. He walks the earth in majesty, doing the greater works for they automatically follow.
If you do not believe this, then try it. Live it and you will know of its power and you will need none to teach you for God Himself will be your Instructor for you will be one with Him.
As one holds to these laws of love and forgiveness, he will, in a short time, find that they are easy and an eternal glory to his soul. Even as he begins to understand and to do the works of love he discovers that every word of discord, every disagreeable condition becomes an opportunity and a privilege to meet and transmute into glory. These obstacles are no longer insurmountable barriers, but the steps by which he climbs into the light. With this higher knowledge he learns to value the admonition, "He who is thankful in all things shall be made glorious." And he fulfills that law with a power that lifts him above every difficulty. Soon he will feel light and love and warmth fill his being -- and before too long it will begin to pour forth from him, and the great and mighty promises of the scriptures will begin to be fulfilled unto him.
"And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth -- that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief.
"And woe be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you. NO NOT ONE. For if there be ONE among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God."1 (Moroni 10:24-25).
Only with this divine gift of love allied with faith can any man go forth to do good. This perfect love can right all wrongs. It can heal and restore. It can bless and glorify and blot out all mistakes both for oneself and his neighbor. One will even develop the power to send this light and love back down the dark, dismal hallways of the past, to the injuries and heartbreaks that have been -- and enfolding them in love, enshrine them in the purity of healing light. And thus even the darkness of the past can be transmuted into light for the glory of God. Love can heal every injury, past or present, and enfold one in such a glorious flame of light that the future can only be a melody of loveliness.
As we begin to perfect this power of love and forgiveness we find that it is possible to take upon us the sins of the world. This is done by accepting the hurts and mistakes of others without retaliation or bitterness -- then they can be immediately dissolved through our love and forgiveness, forgotten and blotted out. It is the balm that can heal every cancerous ulcer of the soul and heart, both for ourselves, and those who do not yet know the law.
Job's comforters, or rather, accusers could not be restored to favor with the Lord until Job himself prayed for them as instructed by the Almighty.
"I will forgive whom I will forgive, But of you it is required to forgive all men." With all this scripture of glory it is a shame that we have gone through life so blind to its literal meaning and thus have sealed our own sins upon ourselves, for, according to the Lord's Prayer, we cannot be forgiven our trespasses unless we forgive others their trespasses. Our sins can only be forgiven as we forgive. This is the key of forgiveness, and those whom God will not forgive are those who forgive not.
Often the true meaning of the scripture is veiled by words rather than revealed by them. At least the great meaning of the second commandment has been lost in the words:
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." For many people it requires no love at all to love their neighbors as themselves. They have lost all love, all respect, all regard for themselves, and usually not without cause. When a man "lets himself down" so that he can no longer have faith in himself, his fellowmen or in God he is pretty close to the bottom. For such individuals to love their neighbor as themselves would require nothing at all, if taken at its face value. To others it is only a gathering together of words without meaning. Yet behind it stands a law of utter glory.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, then you are to love him as you love that inner, divine self. You are to love him as your own soul, overlooking his weaknesses and his mistakes. You are to love him literally as though he were your VERY SELF -- and you were he. There is a divine self in each man and it is that divine self that must step forth and love that divine soul of his neighbor. In doing this he has fulfilled all the laws and kept all the commandments and brought forth divinity in himself and planted that vision in the soul of his neighbor. If you would be perfect then always see your neighbor as perfect. See him in his divine power of creatorship, a son of God. Look into his soul, beyond the outer wrappings of mortality and see that Divine spark of eternal life, and you will help to awaken it and bring it forth. This is the greatest service that can be rendered to the human race. It is the gift divine. It will help to heal a world and enfold it in light.
This great, understanding, divine love, when put into practice, truly makes you and your neighbor ONE, as Christ so persistently taught and prayed for. This love can heal and bless and enlighten and enfold until darkness has no power before it. This divine love has to forgive, and in its forgiveness is the power of the Almighty.
If there are those who are so wicked they will not respond to this love, who set up a resistance against it as it pours forth in great light, they will destroy themselves, for they are fighting against the light of God if it is the pure, unselfish Christlike love of enfolding glory. However, there are few on earth who will fight against it for even the most hardened criminal will respond to this love and desire to be enfolded in its healing rays of penetrating warmth, and will often open up his heart and soul to it when no third degree on earth could break him down. Love is the wand of the magician, it is the greatest gift and the most powerful force that man can use. It is the gift divine.
Long before the sun was visible to this earth, or the moon shone, when God began His work of creation as it had been conceived in His mind, He said, "Let there be light; and there was light." And that light was the love and glory of God that conceived a world and filled every atom of it with light and a desire to expand and reach, "And light is life." (Compare Genesis chapter 1:34 with verses 14-15. Also see Moses 2:23 and verses 14-15).
Within each man this divine spark of light, or life and love is enfolded, waiting to be brought forth by the understanding or command of each individual as he steps forth to take his place in the higher realms of divine progress. It can fulfill every desire, accomplish any task and glorify a world.
Such is the power of love, and the power of man to send it forth.
It is not sufficient not to hate, not to dislike, not to retaliate to hurts. These can be inactive, even negative conditions under some circumstances. Love must be sent out with power, knowingly and with direct purpose. It must be sent out as a musician sends out his melody. Just because one refrains from inharmony does not make him a musician. To be a musician one must send out melody; and to be a master of music requires hours of practice. So to be a master of the divine gift of love one must practice, and he is both the instrument and the musician, for upon his own being is the divine melody played, first within himself, then within the hearts of others. And love is the theme song of the universe. Sing that song and you can never be out of tune. It is the melody of heaven.
With an understanding of this great and perfect gift of love one learns the power of using his mind, his heart, and soul as one, to send it forth. Controlling one's thoughts is no longer a struggling burden of trying to eliminate the undesirable thoughts, but becomes a practice of keeping the perfect thoughts of love always there. When one is learning to play some masterpiece he often makes a slip -- and then he plays that one measure repeatedly until he has perfected it. So it is in the exercise of perfecting the melody of divine, Christ-like love. If for a moment the thoughts have strayed into discord and confusion, it is easy to stand quietly for a few minutes, and intensifying the vibrations of love, send them forth as a power of light to the very ends of the earth, scattering the darkness completely. Soon the melody will become a perfect glory and there will be no tones of discord, for one will find himself a great master of the most marvelous harmony of all existence. Love is the melody that will vibrate across the entire universe, in perfect tune with it. It will play a symphony on the stars. Love is the light that will reach into the very darkest corners of human hearts -- and those hearts and minds of mankind can sometimes be much darker than the forgotten corners of the earth. Love is as necessary in the life of every individual as is sunlight, food or drink. Lives grow warped and ugly without it.
Pour out love and watch a hungry, starving world respond. Pour it out as light, while you work, as you walk along the streets, and as you stand in throngs, or sit in quiet churches -- send it out as light from every little cell and fibre of your being -- a "pure love, unfeigned" -- a love that is felt in every little tissue of the heart. Give love like this and your highway of life will become a highway of divine light, and you will know that you walk with God.
This great love automatically rises above all ego, all pride, all selfishness, all discord, fear and confusion. It is perfection that steps beyond the weaknesses without even having to give them a thought. They are left behind. It is this love that blends with the holy desires of heaven and opens wide the portals to the storehouse of eternal knowledge, and all weaknesses, darkness and ignorance are dissolved as the morning sun melts the hoar-frost.
Then one knows that in exalting his neighbor he exalts himself. In forgiving his neighbor he has received the power to be forgiven. He will know that in the beginning, he was with God, even "The Spirit of Truth"; as surely will he know this as he knows that love is a reality, more beautiful than many forests and great wealth. Love is the glorified string of pearls that belongs to every individual who desires to possess it. It is the greatest gift. As one wears this precious gift he will know also that his brother too is "The Spirit of Truth" -- and he will understand that through his great, tender compassionate love he can help restore that vision to his brother. Perhaps not in words -- but love plants its own glory. Then he will know that he and his brother, under the divine light and love can again become ONE -- the glory of the Almighty.
This love is all-inclusive perfection. It is music and glory and life and light, and with it no man could possibly seek to climb to glory over the heads of his fellowmen, for a deep reverence for all mankind fills his soul, and a deep humility. With the most reverent attitude he finds his place of service in assisting in the glory of the Father, in helping to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Then he will understand that no creed or dogma can glorify him or lead him to exaltation unless he has fulfilled both the First and Second commandments of eternal, perfect love. This is the Word of God -- and that Word must become flesh -- our flesh -- for we ourselves must become the very essence of love.
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
"And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
"Doth not behave itself unseemingly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.
"Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth;
"Beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things.
"Charity never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues they shall cease; whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away.
"For we know in part, and we prophecy in part.
"BUT WHEN THAT WHICH IS PERFECT IS COME, THEN THAT WHICH IS IN PART SHALL BE DONE AWAY.
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am known.
"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; and the greatest of these is charity." (I. Cor. 13:1-13).
Thus faith, hope and charity are the only three enduring things or conditions. Everything else will fail. Only these three are eternal.
There is no word big enough in our modern English to take the place of or give the full meaning of the old Anglo-Saxon word "Charity." "Charity" did not mean giving out alms, as we have translated or interpreted it. "Charity" originally meant love, plus compassion and gentleness and understanding with a complete willingness to give or share one's self and possessions in service.
This definition is given in Moroni chapter seven, verses forty-seven and forty-eight: "But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, 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; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."2
One can never become fanatical or unbalanced if he possess this great love. It is the perfect balance of mind, body and soul. It renews continually the fountains of the heart, the power of the soul, the vigor of the mind, the life of the cells and tissues. No one can ever go insane who consciously sends out its light of living glory to benefit a world. It heals and restores all things. This jewel alone possesses the keys of all light and glory. It is the heavenly melody each man must learn to play on his own soul before he can fulfill the great destiny God designed for him.
No human being is so lowly, so miserable, so destitute that he cannot perfect this one master gift -- and thus receive all gifts. It costs nothing for the lessons, and man himself is the instrument. As one learns to understand all that this one great gift contains he will view in a measure the very grandeur of heaven. He will know that love is more precious than sunlight, or gorgeous blooming flowers. He will know that it is more beautiful than the song of the birds or sparkling mountain streams. It is more powerful than the oceans and more superb than high mountains, for it is life. It is light. It is eternal, indestructible, glorious perfection of existence. It is more precious than jewels, more powerful than wealth. It is the very power of heaven placed lovingly into man's hands -- the divine symphony of eternity.
Every thought carries with it its own vibration just as every key on the piano has its own tone. The vibration sent out by each man must first go through his own body, for he is the instrument, and on him is engraved the eternal record of the divine melody he creates or the eternal discord and confusion he pounds forth. And since vibration is the reality, or the eternal substance of existence, man himself is a creator. He creates every condition on earth -- good or bad. He, in a way, creates himself -- a record of eternal glory, a master of all conditions, all harmony, perfection and success, or a groveling thing of darkness, confusion and failure. "Man, know thyself, for in thee is hidden the treasure of treasures." And "Man, with all thy getting, get understanding." Man, thou replica of the Divine, thou creator of thy heaven or thy hell, thy success or thy failure! Oh, glorious man, son of God, step forth and claim thy birthright, for it is waiting for thee HERE and NOW!
"And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with the fullness of God." (Eph. 3:19).
1. Moroni 10:18-20 RLDS 1908 Book of Mormon: And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth, that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief. And wo be unto the children of men, if this be the case, for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God. return to paragraph →
2. Moroni 7:52-53 RLDS 1908 Book of Mormon: Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail; but charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth for ever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with them. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, 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, that ye may become the sons of God, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is, that we may have this hope, that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. return to paragraph →