Divine Love in the Father’s Plan
Divine Love in the Father’s Plan
Dallin H. Oaks
Takeaways:
We have a unique understanding of Heavenly Father’s plan, and we should seek to understand it and to understand how God’s love explains the Church’s doctrine and inspired policies.
All God’s children (with very few exceptions) will end up in a kingdom of glory—the teaching that after death you end up in either heaven or hell is not correct. There are different kingdoms of glory. Where we end up will depend on “our deeds and the desires of our hearts,” or more specifically, “the laws we choose to abide by in our Heavenly Father’s loving plan” while we are on the earth. “Under that plan there are multiple kingdoms so that all of His children can be assigned to a kingdom where they can ‘abide.’”
The Lord’s plan is for all of His children, which is why agency and religious freedom are so important. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emphasizes missionary work and humanitarian aid because “the Lord has taught us to esteem all of His children as our brothers and sisters, and we want to share our spiritual and temporal abundance with everyone.”
Additionally, we have a distinct perspective on having children: “It is a joyful and sacred duty of those given the power to participate in it. Therefore, we are commanded to teach and contend for principles and practices that provide the best conditions for the development and happiness of children under God’s plan.”
We are a family-centered church that values mortal and eternal relationships. As President Russell M. Nelson has explained, “in God’s eternal plan, salvation is an individual matter; [but] exaltation is a family matter.” And exaltation comes only through “faithfulness to the covenants of an eternal marriage between a man and a woman.” This is why marriage between man and woman and an understanding of the essential characteristic of gender is important. “[T]he family proclamation, founded on irrevocable doctrine, defines the kind of family relationships where the most important part of our eternal development can occur.”
We live in relationships and circumstances that require us to live with differences. “As followers of Christ who should love our fellow men, we should live peacefully with those who do not believe as we do.” We should share the truths of eternity that we have with those around us, “[b]ut with the love we owe to all of our neighbors, we always accept their decisions.”
Questions to Ponder:
What are the desires of your heart?
What does it mean to you that “salvation is an individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter”?
Further Study:
John 14:2; D&C 88:22-24; D&C 137:9;
Russell M. Nelson, “Salvation and Exaltation,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2008, 10;