God's servants' love for God's children

Dear friend

There are special people who have been called by God to represent Him; to lead, teach and serve His children. Down the years they have been known as prophets, patriarchs, presidents, pastors, priests, and many other titles (that don't all start with the letter p), not least of these other callings being simply that of teacher. They are all imperfect men and women sent out by a perfect God to do His will and His work. In performing their duties they strive to pattern their lives after the Saviour Jesus Christ. This includes learning to have the same type of pure love Jesus has for all people. The Lord called this ultimate love charity.

There are several examples in the scriptures of the Lord's servants exhibiting the pure love of Christ in the way they serve and lead. For example in the Book of Mormon, Alma 13:27.

27 And now, my brethren, I wish from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great anxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not procrastinate the day of your repentance;

Notice the truly heartfelt emotion of pure love the Prophet Alma expresses as he desires the people to repent. There is no obvious personal gain for Alma that would cause him to be so concerned for others' salvation. Indeed he and his companion Amulek would end up imprisoned, maltreated and worse. Alma uses language that emphasises the intensity of feeling and selflessness, with words like anxiety and pain.

This is surely an inkling into the kind of love Jesus Christ has for us. It was His pure charitable caring for our spiritual wellbeing and eternal future that motivated the acceded agony of the Atonement. I believe that true servants of Jesus Christ have a testimonial understanding of Christ's sacrificial suffering and the feeling behind it. They want to help us attain to a glorious eternal future. Like the Lord, they too find it intensely saddening to imagine anyone being assigned or resigned to a place that is not with the Father. They also have come to understand the familial connection between every living soul as children of God, even loving us as literal brothers and sisters.

I hope we appreciate the sincerity of God's chosen teachers and leaders. We should pray for them as they serve us. And we too should seek to have that same pure Christlike love for others.

Samuel.