Showing Love

There are many ways to communicate, beyond just using words. In the writing community, there's an oft-repeated bit of advice: Show, don't tell. It means that we should, as much as possible, demonstrate the information that we mean to convey, instead of just stating the information. It's one thing to say that Sherlock Holmes is a brilliant detective, but it's much better to show him observing clues, putting pieces together, asking the right questions, and following his train of thought. We know he's clever, not because the author said he is, but because we saw him doing something clever.

Similarly, we should try to show our love and not just state that it exists. As Elder David A. Bednar once said, "We should remember that saying 'I love you' is only a beginning. We need to say it, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need consistently to show it. We need to both express and demonstrate love."

So, how can we show love for the people whom we love? We can try to spend quality time with them, if that's at all possible. We can communicate with them and show real interest in them. We can show concern for their well-being and do things to try to lift their spirits and make them happy.

Of course, the ways in which we show love for other people can be as different as the people themselves. For some people, showing love may mean getting close to them. For others, it may mean giving them their space. And the best way to chow love for someone may change over time. One day, a person may need guidance and direction, and another day, they may need to be trusted to make good decisions on their own. The best advice I can give in general is to pay attention to other people and their spiritual and emotional needs and to try to meet those needs. Granted, that's easier said than done, and it's not anyone's job to meet the emotional needs of others, but I think that the more you love someone, the more you'll want to help them, and the more genuinely you want to help them, the more you'll want to try to understand what they individually need.

As Elder Bednar said, "We need to both express and demonstrate [our] love." It's good to tell others that we love them. We should do that more often. But we should also look for ways to show our love for them. I'm going to try to find ways to show my loved ones that I love them. I hope you do the same.