Sharing Out of Love

In his talk titled Great Love for Our Father's Children, Elder Quentin L. Cook shared a line from his Patriarchal Blessing: "I bless you with great love for your fellowmen, for thou shalt be called to carry the gospel to the world … to win souls unto Christ." He then said, "I understood even at that early age that sharing the gospel was based on a great love for all our Heavenly Father’s children."

This is because the Gospel is, or at least can be, a great blessing in a person's life. Those who know of the Gospel know of the power of forgiveness and what they must do to access that power. We know how to find peace in this life and eternal joy in the life to come. For those who are interested in gaining super and/or magic powers, the Gospel path provides a way to gain the greatest powers an omnipotent God can bestow. And for those who love their family, the Gospel provides a way for them to remain together forever. Basically, living the Gospel is the best, and in some cases the only way, to get the greatest blessings one can possibly imagine, making the Gospel itself a tremendous blessing.

Naturally, we all want this blessing for ourselves for any number of reasons, but if we're sufficiently compassionate, we also want this blessing for others, so they can enjoy the many blessings of the Gospel as well. If we love others, we want them to be happy, and the Gospel path is the path to true, eternal happiness. So, if we love others, we would want them to find true happiness by following the Gospel path.

Unfortunately, one can't follow a path if they can't find it, and they're not as likely to find the Gospel path unless we share it with them. That's the tricky part. Most people don't often want to talk about religion, especially if anyone tries to get "preachy" with them. However, despite whatever awkwardness such conversations may cause, we should try to share the Gospel with anyone who's willing to listen, or at least willing to tolerate hearing us talk about it. It truly is a great blessing, and we should love others enough to want to share that blessing with them, even if it's awkward.

Of course, we should be careful not to burn any bridges in our eagerness to cross them. We don't want to scare anyone away from the subject of religion as a result of our efforts to share ours. Remember: light guides, but it never compels. If people don't want to talk about it, we should back off and wait for the subject to come up again. Still we should try to share the Gospel about as often as the subject comes up. If we think people would benefit from living the Gospel, and of course they would, it would be unkind of us not to share it with them.

So, while sharing the Gospel may be awkward and impractical at times, it is also an act of love. If we love people enough to want what's best for them, then we should love them enough to tell them how they can get it.