A Person Who Loves

Last Sunday, I went and saw my nephew and one of my nieces in their Sacrament Meeting Primary Presentation. They, along with their classmates sang one of my favorite songs, which I blogged about recently, If the Savior Stood Beside Me. But not only did they sing, they also performed the song in Sign Language.

In Sign Language, they have a unique way of referring to a person who does something: they give a sign for what is done, then give a sign that basically means "person who does that." Most fresh in my memory are the signs for "teacher" and "student." A teacher is a "Teach-Person," or a person who teaches. A student is a "Learn-Person," or a person who learns. When my niece and nephew signed the word for "Savior" in If The Savior Stood Beside Me, the sign that was used was "Love-Person," or a person who loves.

Also last Sunday, I gave a lesson taking most of my material from Elder Oaks' talk Followers of Christ. As followers of Christ, we strive to follow His teachings and His example; to be like He was, and I think that most Christians will agree with me when I say that one of Christ's defining characteristics was love. If we wish to follow His example, one of the best ways to do that is to learn how to love, and how to show that love.

Jesus was most likely the most loving, most compassionate person who ever lived. In Mark chapter 7, verse 24, Jesus went from one place to another "...and entered into an house, and would have no man know it..." It seemed he wanted to be alone, but in the King James Version, it says "...but he could not be hid." The Joseph Smith Translation gives us a different take on this verse. In the JST, it says He "...entered into an house, and would that no man should come unto Him..." Not a huge change, but there's more. In the JST, the problem wasn't that he couldn't be hidden, but that "...he could not deny them; for he had compassion upon all men."

Even when Jesus was tired of having swarms of people following Him, asking miracles of Him, even though He wanted to have some time to Himself, He couldn't help but help others. He couldn't stop Himself from being who He was, a person who loves. I think having that level of love would be both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing in that it helps you be a very good person, doing lots of good things, but it's also a curse because His compassion made Him put others so far before Himself, that He was willing to suffer a great deal in order to help them. Obviously, His compassion paid off for Him in the long run, but in the short-term, He gave up a great deal of His time, energy, and even His life, for others. He must have really deeply loved them. Us. He must really deeply love us.

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." -John 13:34 (Italics Added)

This sounds like a very difficult and self-sacrificing commandment to keep, but even if we can't bring ourselves to love others that much, we should try to love them as much as we can, and to try to find ways to show love for them. My hope is that all of us as Christians will strive to follow His example, so we can be, as He was and is, known as people who love.