Earlier this week, we talked about obeying the Savior from love. A comment in response to that blog made me think about another reason we obey the Savior – because we trust Him. Oddly enough (or perhaps not), the subject raised its head again as I was studying this week’s Relief Society/Elder’s Quorum lesson.
As I discussed, the Savior wants us to obey Him out of love. However, even if we love someone, it can be difficult to trust them. Take for instance your marriage. If you have trouble trusting your spouse on some issue – financial, spiritual, or even just trusting that they are telling you the truth – it causes serious problems in your relationship. You begin to second-guess things not related to the primary trust issue. You may begin to wonder, if they would lie to me about ‘A’ (or simply conceal the truth), what else are they lying or concealing? And so, in an emergency situation where immediacy matters, you may be frozen by doubt or disbelief. Your distrust has hampered your movements, and could even cause physical harm.
The Savior, on the other hand, gives us no cause to distrust Him. He has told us His plan from the beginning, and has laid it out for us through all the scriptures. In John 15:15, he tells us “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” He has told us of His divine plan: He seeks to reunite us with our Heavenly Father. Hence we know that the commandments He gives are righteous ones, given with that intent.
Because we love and trust the Savior, we are more inclined to obey Him when we don’t know all of the reasons. True, He does not explain the details of every step of His plan. He did not tell the pioneer Saints that tobacco causes cancer; He simply told them that it was bad. He does not tell us that we need to put together our food storage because in two months, three weeks, and four days there will be a natural disaster in our area. He simply tells us to prepare. But because we know His overall mission, because we know that He is perfect, and because we know that He completely and totally loves us with “the pure love of Christ”, it should be easier to obey spiritual promptings and prophetic counsel.
Related Articles:
RS/EQ: Developing a Friendship With the Savior
Sunday Review: Quick to Observe