Meridian Magazine : : Homemaking Made Easy: Take Homemaking to An Enlightened Level, Part 2: Who Is My Neighbor?

Take Homemaking to An Enlightened Level, Part 2: Who Is My Neighbor?
By Natalie J. Hale

We have been commanded to love our neighbors. But in a world where words have been redefined — thanks to political correctness and infamous double speak — one must ask the question, what does “love your neighbor” really mean and how do we apply it to our own lives, especially as homemakers?

A lawyer once had the same question, and he took it to the Savior:

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him [Jesus], saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou?

And he answering said, 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; and thy neighbour as thyself.

And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? [i]

Most of us I’m sure are familiar with the Savior’s response. He spoke it as a parable about a man who fell among thieves. The lawyer had a very good question (just don’t use it to try and trip up the Savior or any of his disciples). Who really are our neighbors and how can homemakers apply this important doctrine to themselves?

In order to recognize who our neighbors are we need to better understand what is means to love the Lord. There is solid reason why the First Commandment came first. As we step through these next paragraphs you’ll see that we need to look to God for enlightenment [ii] , otherwise we’ll have confusion. Everyone will have his own definition of what love is then we’ll really be in trouble [iii] .

“We must,” said President Ezra Taft Benson, “put God in the forefront of everything else in our lives. He must come first, just as He declares in the first of His Ten Commandments: Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Ex. 20:3).”

He continues by saying, “When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities. We should put God ahead of everyone else in our lives.” [iv]

We can safely deduce from the previous statements that the Lord must come first in our lives. That shouldn’t be too hard to wrap our brains around and accept. But now for the seemingly more elusive, yet vitally important question to answer: what does it mean to love God?

What Does It Mean To Love God?

Remember the familiar verse from John: “If ye love me, keep my commandments”? [v]

As a result, we see that to love God means we will keep his commandments. That concept shouldn’t be difficult to understand. But that was written years ago. Our problems today seem so much more complex with all our modern technology and sophistry.

So let’s bring this basic doctrine into focus in this last dispensation. Again, to quote President Ezra Taft Benson, “The breadth, depth, and height of this love of God extend into every facet of one’s life. Our desires, be they spiritual or temporal, should be rooted in a love of the Lord. Our thoughts and affections should be centered on the Lord. ‘Let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord,’ said Alma, ‘yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever’ (Alma 37:36).” [vi]

Thus, it can be said that keeping the commandments includes all facets of our lives summarized by our thoughts, words, and works. [vii]

So How Do We Obtain This Love of God?

In order to obtain a love of God, we must first live his commandments in all areas of our lives. This has hereby already been established. Logically the next question should be, what are the Lord’s commandments? The Savior himself defined his commandments as His Doctrine or the Doctrine of Christ:

And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things. [viii]

By living the Doctrine of Christ, we will repent of our sins and be baptized [ix] , and then there will come a change in us and we will be like unto a little child. [x] We will have put off the natural man in every facet of our lives [xi] and then we will have Christ-like love for our fellowmen. [xii] I’ll go into greater depth on this topic in later article.

Who Is My Neighbor?

Now that we know what it means to love the Lord, let’s return to the lawyer’s question of “who is my neighbor?”

Perhaps a Book of Mormon prophet can help us better understand this.

If you will recall Enos, the son of Jacob, prayed all day and all night for a remission of his sins. After the Lord granted forgiveness he turned his desires to the welfare of the souls of others.

Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them.

And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites. [xiii]

This great prophet sets a truly significant example for us in his short, one chapter book. By first setting himself aright with the Lord he fulfilled the First Great Commandment. And then he turned his desires to the welfare of not just the souls of men, but first for his family the Nephites, which brings into perspective the Second Great Commandment.

So who are our neighbors? According to Enos, our neighbors are everyone. But there is a priority placed on family first because, “The most important of the Lord’s work that you will ever do will be the work you do within the walls of your own home,” as stated by President Harold B. Lee. [xiv]

This is where loving our neighbors really starts — at home. And as homemakers, this is where our part in the great tapestry [xv] of mortality is very critical, indeed necessary.

Like all prophets of God, President Joseph F. Smith recognized this important role of mothers (and fathers) when he said,

Oh, mothers, salvation, mercy, life everlasting begin at home. “What profiteth it a man, though he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” What would it profit me, though I should go out into the world and win strangers to the fold of God and lose my own children? Oh! God, let me not lose my own. I can not afford to lose mine, whom God has given to me and whom I am responsible for before the Lord, and who are dependent upon me for guidance, for instruction, for proper influence. Father, do not permit me to lose interest in my own, in trying to save others. Charity begins at home. Life everlasting should begin at home. I should feel very badly to be made to realize, by and by, that through my neglect of home, while trying to save others, I have lost my own. I do not want that. The Lord help me to save my own, so far as one can help another. I realize I cannot save anybody, but I can teach them how to be saved. I can set an example before my children how they can be saved, and it is my duty to do that first. I owe it more to them than to anybody else in the world. Then, when I have accomplished the work I should do in my own home circle, let me extend my power for good abroad just as far as I can. [xvi]

Further we learn from God Himself that, “Inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance [the doctrine of Christ], faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.“For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized.” [xvii]

Now in light of what you just read, take into consideration the following statement by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

These verses do not simply recommend or suggest that we teach our children. Rather, they outline a law unto the inhabitants of Zion-that we must teach our children to understand. [xviii]

How do we Love Our Neighbors?

Now that we know what it means to love God, and thanks to prophets both ancient and modern we have found a definition of who our neighbors are, it would seem appropriate to ask how do we love our neighbors?

Do you think the Lord cares how we love our neighbors, just so long as we make sure that we do love them? Or does He provide guidelines, like He has for all of his other commandments, for us to follow? Let’s take a look and see.

On the subject of love, Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said in General Conference that, “We must at regular and appropriate intervals speak and reassure others of our love and the long time it takes to prove it by our actions. Real love does take time. The Great Shepherd had the same thoughts in mind when he taught, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’ (John 14:15; italics added) and ‘If ye love me feed my sheep’ (John 21:16; italics added). Love demands action if it is to be continuing. Love is a process. Love is not a declaration. Love is not an announcement. Love is not a passing fancy. Love is not an expediency. Love is not a convenience. ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’ and ‘If ye love me feed my sheep’ are God-given proclamations that should remind us we can often best show our love through the processes of feeding and keeping.” [xix]

Also remember when Jesus told His Apostle, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” [xx]

Here we have a guideline. Elder Ashton equates loving neighbors with feeding sheep. I doubt many of us are shepherds and have literal sheep to feed, so what does that scripture mean? How do we liken it to ourselves as homemakers?

There exist two kinds of feeding: a physical and a spiritual. The physical shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. Our children are hungry so we fill their stomachs with things like chicken and broccoli. But what does it mean to feed someone spiritually?

Spiritual foods come in the form of commandments. And getting these foods from ourselves to others requires teaching. And teaching presents itself in two forms:

1 Precept — our words [xxi]
2. Example — our actions [xxii]

And we are forever teaching by these means. Our children hear what we say and they see what we do; whether or not we are teaching them what the Lord would have us teach them depends on our choosing to do so. [xxiii]

And what are these things Heavenly Father would have us teach our children? If we look to the prophet Alma from the Book of Mormon, he taught his people “that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people.” [xxiv]

Sound familiar?

God’s commandments really are a beautiful, seamless plan. First we must love Him by keeping His commandments and exercising faith and repentance in our own lives, and then we love our neighbors by teaching others — starting with our children — to do the same. [xxv]

As a homemaker, who knows how many future civilizations you are influencing every day in your home, however modest or grand it may be. Surely we can see and understand that we must love our children by first keeping the Lord’s commandments and then teaching them to do the same. Such is the eternal round [xxvi] of God’s plan for us and for all his children. And such is the homemaker’s sacred obligation.

Natalie is the editor of the Enlightened Homemaker newsletter. Each monthly issue contains homemaking and parenting helps, including articles and preschool activities. Currently she is giving away free tote bags and subscriptions to those who get their friends to subscribe. For more information visit http://www.enlightenedhomemaker.com

[i] Luke 10: 25-29

[ii] D&C 136: 33

[iii] D&C 1: 16

[iv] President Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1988, 4

[v] John 14: 15

[vi] < President Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1988, 4

[vii] Alma 12: 14

[viii] 3 Nephi 11: 32-33, 37.

[ix] Mosiah 18: 8-11

[x] Mosiah 3: 19

[xi] Moroni 10: 32-33

[xii] Moroni 7:47

[xiii] Enos 1: 9,11

[xiv] Harold B. Lee, Strengthening the Home [pamphlet, 1973], p. 7

[xv] Gordon B. Hinckley, “An Ensign to the Nations,” Ensign, Nov. 1989, 51

[xvi] Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 300, 461

[xvii] D&C 68: 25-26

[xviii] Elder David A. Bednar, “ Arise and Shine Forth,” Brigham Young University-Idaho Education Week Devotional, June 28, 2003

[xix] Marvin J. Ashton, “Love Takes Time,” Ensign, Nov. 1975, 108

[xx] Luke 22:32

[xxi] Henry B. Eyring, “The Power of Teaching Doctrine,” Ensign, May 1999, 73

[xxii] Lorenzo Snow, The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, comp. Clyde J. William [1984], 78-79

[xxiii] Jacob 1: 19

[xxiv] Mosiah 18: 20

[xxv] Luke 22:32

[xxvi] D&C 3: 2