Day 4 - Loyal & Trustworthy

A True Friend is Loyal and Trustworthy

Brace yourselves for some Elder Holland:

I am not certain just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised if at some point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ asked Peter: “Did you love me?” I think He will want to know if in our very mortal, very inadequate, and sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least understand one commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.”13 And if at such a moment we can stammer out, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,” then He may remind us that the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments,”14 Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before. The Crucifixion, Atonement, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ mark the beginning of a Christian life, not the end of it. It was this truth, this reality, that allowed a handful of Galilean fishermen-turned-again-Apostles without “a single synagogue or sword”15 to leave those nets a second time and go on to shape the history of the world in which we now live. 

Jeffrey R Holland, "The First Great Commandment" https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/the-first-great-commandment?lang=eng


 

Reflection 

Think of a close friend or family member. How have you come to trust them?

Do you trust the Lord?  What things can you do to trust in Him more in your life?

What can we do to show Christ that He can trust us? Are we reliable friends to Christ or are we flaky?

“The sweetest experience I know in life is to feel a prompting and act upon it and later find out that it was the fulfillment of someone’s prayer or someone’s need. And I always want the Lord to know that if He needs an errand run, Tom Monson will run that errand for Him” (President Thomas S. Monson)

How can President Monson's attitude of loyalty, trustworthiness, and dependability be reflected in our own lives and prayers? 

Some more talks to read...

• "The First Great Commandment", Jeffrey R. Holland
• https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/the-first-great-commandment?lang=eng

• “Yet Thou Art There” Neal A. Maxwell

• https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1987/10/yet-thou-art-there?lang=eng&query=knows+us+perfectly 

• "Sometimes in life, there is no where else to turn but to God."

•  "Trust in the Lord," Richard G. Scott
• https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1995/10/trust-in-the-lord?lang=eng
• "Put your Trust in the Lord," M. Russell Ballard
• https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/put-your-trust-in-the-lord?lang=eng
• "Trust in the Lord," L. Tom Perry
• https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1978/04/trust-in-the-lord?lang=eng  

• D&C 35:1
• Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever.

• Alma 37:12
• And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth counsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.

• Mosiah 2:22
• And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

• D&C 3:2 
• For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round. 

• 2 Samuel 22: 2-3 
• And he said, The Lord is my rock , and my fortress, and my deliverer; 
• The God of my rock; in him will I trust : he is my shield , and the horn of my salvation, my high tower , and my refuge , my saviour; thou savest me from violence. 

Make the exercise of faith your first priority.  In order to truly trust the Lord, we must have faith in who He is and believe that He is our Savior. (Richard G. Scott - October 2014 )

"Put Your Trust in the Lord" - M. Russell Ballard

Invitation

Write a list of how you come to trust a friend and what makes a loyal friend.

Change an aspect of your prayers and actions to show Heavenly Father that He and Christ can depend on you. Let them know your desire to be trusted with the work of His kingdom.