To increase my love of the Lord

I had to teach a lesson in Relief Society a few weeks ago about obedience, and it caused me to reflect on the nature of my obedience to the Lord. I realized that many times I obey because I am in the habit of obeying. This is good to a certain extent because cultivating good habits makes those actions less of a struggle and more natural for me. However, when they are done habitually, it is also easy for those actions to become thoughtless and robotic.

When I read the lesson, I found the point well made that we should obey because we love the Lord. I could see that if I obeyed out of love for the Lord, obedience would become sweeter to me. So I pondered how I might increase my love for the Lord. I found I had no idea how that could be done. I knew that love would lead to obedience and service, but what would bring more love?

Interestingly enough, I found the answer in the temple while reading the scriptures as we waited for our session to start. (It’s wonderful how it seems those well-thumbed pages turn so quickly and easily to exactly what I need.) I ran across these verses:

11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true. (Mosiah 4:11-12)

To increase my love for the Lord, I needed to remember His greatness, His goodness, His long-suffering toward me. So I thought about all the things the Lord had done for me, and in only a few seconds I was overwhelmed with awe and love for the Lord. How I wanted to obey then!

And I also realized this was why the sacrament prayer includes the covenant that we will always remember Him. It’s not only so that we can have the Spirit to be with us, but also so that we will increase our love of the Lord, which will lead us to willingly, happily obey Him.