God Is Love www.kevinhinckley.com

Oh! That part! A few days ago I was having some work done at my local garage. A woman came in and asked for a seven-hundred-ten. We all looked at each other and another customer asked, "What is a seven-hundred-ten?" She replied, "You know, the little piece in the middle of the engine, I have lost it and need a new one.." She replied that she did not know exactly what it was, but this piece had always been there. The mechanic gave her a piece of paper and a pen and asked her to draw what the piece looked like. She drew a circle and in the middle of it wrote 710. He then took her over to another car which had its hood up and asked "is there a 710 on this car?" She pointed and said, "Of course, its right there."

Mormon behold I say unto you that [a man] cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity Meekness Faith

Mormon continues… How does Love “purify” us? 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 we may be purified even as he is pure." (Moroni 7:48) How does Love “purify” us?

John, whom “Jesus loved…” He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (1 John 4:8) And 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." (1 John 4:16) We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Parents can become confused on this one…. What is the difference between: Loving Fixing Or Enabling Question: How many examples can you name of those who have done hateful things in the name of God?

Bro. Rodney Turner As spirit is drawn to Spirit, so is love drawn to Love. John wrote: "We love him, because he first loved us". Above all other attributes, it is the love of the Father and the Son that ultimately draws the souls of men and women to them "without compulsory means". It is a compelling power. Few men have experienced such visions, revelations, and angelic visitations as were granted Joseph Smith. If ever a man would seem unneedful of others it was he. And yet the Prophet remarked: "When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind" (TPJS 240). Lectures on Faith in Historical Perspective, 218

Question: How many new converts to the Church join because they first felt loved? Answer: all of them. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is an expression of love. (…I will not leave you comfortless…)

Elder Enzio Busche The only way that we will not suffer from the hardness of our hearts, as Christ explains, is to build within ourselves the power of love, literally asking our Heavenly Father for this gift, and becoming sanctified through the atonement of Christ. When we become as children in humility, we can be filled with unconditional love and, in this love, we can be in the Spirit and with the Spirit, being directed in all the challenges of our lives. The Power of Love in the Family," in Love, 27-28.

President Thomas S. Monson "Our Heavenly Father's plan contains the ultimate expressions of true love. All that we hold dear--even our families, our friends, our joy, our knowledge, our testimonies--would vanish were it not for our Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ....  The world has witnessed no greater gift, nor has it known more lasting love."  (Ensign, May 1993, pp62-63)

Elder Busche One day when circumstances made it necessary for me to be at home at an unusual time, I witnessed from another room how our eleven-year-old son, just returning from school, was directing ugly words toward his younger sister. They were words that offended me—words that I had never thought our son would use. My first reaction in my anger was to get up and go after him. Fortunately, I had to walk across the room and open a door before I could reach him, and in those few seconds I fervently prayed to my Heavenly Father to help me to handle the situation. Peace came over me. I was no longer angry. My son, being shocked to see me home, was filled with fear when I approached him. To my surprise, I heard myself saying, "Welcome home, son!" and I extended my hand to him. Then I invited him to sit close to me in the living room for a personal talk. I heard myself expressing my love for him. I talked with him about the battle that every one of us has to fight each day within ourselves. As I expressed my confidence in him, he broke into tears and began confessing his unworthiness, condemning himself beyond measure. Now it was my turn to put his transgression in proper perspective and to comfort him. A wonderful spirit came over us, and we ended up crying together, hugging each other in love and finally in joy. What might have been a disastrous confrontation between father and son became, with help from the power above, one of the most beautiful experiences of our relationship that we have ever had, an experience we have never forgotten