Rooted in Love

To love God and to love ones neighbor, these two are the first and great commandments. Have you ever wondered why these two commandments are the commandments upon which hang "all the law and the prophets"? If I understand Christ correctly, He is saying that all of the writings contained in the Law (Torah), and all the writings contained in the Prophets (Nevi'im), essentially all holy writ up until that time, is useless if we fail to love God and our neighbors. Why is the love of God and neighbor so key that without it, nothing else matters?

I believe the answer has something to do with us becoming more like Christ. When God sent Jesus Christ to earth to atone for our sins, it is said that He did so because He "so loved the world" John 3:16. In sending His son, God became involved in our salvation. He showed his love for us in the most real and ultimate way possible, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

It is not simply enough to just accept the fact that Jesus Christ has atoned for our sins; we must become participants in our own salvation, and the salvation of others. As stated in Romans 8:17, we are only to become "joint heirs with Christ; if it so be that we suffer with Him". However, the suffering we are to participate in pales in comparison to the sufferings of Christ, "which suffering caused [Jesus], even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit" D&C 20:18. The Savior has stated, "For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent" D&C 20:16.

Therefore, if we are to be like Christ, and if we are asked to suffer with Him, but not to suffer as He suffered, what other way is there to be like Christ than to emulate his perfect Love toward God, His Father in Heaven, and toward his neighbors? That is why the commandment of love is so important, without it, we will never be able to obtain our highest potential and become like God. It is written, "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." 1 John 4:16-17.

If we are to realize the great blessings that await us, we must do as Paul says, and become "Rooted in love", that we "might be filled with all the fullness of God" Eph 3:17,19, and continue on our journey to become like He is.