I won't tolerate you

I don't think that anyone should tolerate anyone anymore. They don't deserve my tolerance. And they don't deserve God's tolerance either.

I remember one bright sunny day holding up a big sign that says, "Smile, God tolerates you!" Oh wait, I think that was wrong. I've never heard anyone tell me that God tolerates me. That's because our Heavenly Father LOVES us. Love is much deeper than tolerance. In fact, God loves us enough to never tolerate imperfection. 

Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Tolerance is alright. It's better than intolerance, but we can do better. Love your neighbor. Not murdering people is alright. It's much better than murder, but we can do better. Love your neighbor. When Jesus Christ taught the Jews in his short ministry on Earth, he taught "the higher law."

Obeying the Law of Moses is alright. It's better than not obeying the Law of Moses, but we can do better.

Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?

Tolerance is simply a gateway to love. How appropriate that part of the "higher law," (really all the higher law) is to love Our Father in Heaven, and love our neighbor as ourselves. I truly love my friends and family. I want the best for them. If I hear/see my imperfect neighbor (everyone is our neighbor) doing something wrong, do I judge them? Certainly not. Do I tolerate their bad behavior? I don't think so. Out of my true love for my neighbor, I will ALWAYS encourage, strengthen, and help them to overcome imperfection. As a result, I and my beloved neighbor are now closer to our Savior, and we have come one step closer to being perfected in Him.

So God has revealed truth to his prophets in ancient scripture, and today. Some may not believe in that truth, but that does not make it untrue. We have been commanded to be perfect like our Father in Heaven. On my journey toward perfection I will gain a love for all mankind. And I show that love by helping my brothers and sisters and friends and enemies closer to reaching that far off goal of perfection with me.

 
Anyone who is reading this, I'm not sorry if I ask you to change. You aren't perfect, and neither am I. So when I ask you to change, know that I am changing too. I won't tolerate you anymore. I love you too much.

Divorce

I'm teaching the gospel to a dear friend of mine right now. Not really a friend, more like a whole family who I have come to love more than I thought I ever could. I met them in New York a few months ago. Since then, I have come over to their house to teach them the truth of the gospel at least once a week for nearly three months. They have a lot of issues they are going through right now. The father is a recovering alcoholic, and is unemployed. A cousin of theirs has cancer. And husband and wife do not get along anymore. As I have taught them the principles of the gospel, I have watched this family start to live them, achieve temporary happiness, forget the principles, and collapse once again.

"It's just not working..."

What? (He was talking about his marriage.) It's just not working? How can it "just not work?" These were my thoughts last night as this poor father told me why he wanted a divorce. Some people have marriages that are truly broken. I get that. Sometimes husbands are relentlessly abusive. Or someone may not be faithful. Those kinds of things can SOMETIMES constitute a divorce.

When someone is sick, in the hospital, does that person simply say, "Oh, my body stopped working, I guess it's time to give up now," and then die in their bed?

If I get a flat tire do I take my car to the junkyard, or to the mechanic?

When a marriage isn't functioning as well as it should, do you give up? Do you take your marriage to the divorce court, or do you take it to get fixed?

And with a marriage, you have options. You can go to a marriage councilor. You can go to your bishop/pastor. You can go to the savior, the one who understands perfectly your situation. The one who knows both sides to the story. The one who has the answer, the cure! I suggest you take it to all three.

The purpose of this little rant of mine is to suggest a principle that I am most passionate about. If I had a testimony of one thing, it would be this:

We are here, on Earth, to progress. No one is perfect, but Christ is. And he wants us to be PERFECTED in him.

So those who feel like it's time to toss in the towel, 99% of the time, it's not. It's time to become humble. It's time to become patient. It's time to become selfless.

 "In all of this, we should realize that a good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect woman. It only requires a man and a woman committed to strive together toward perfection."
 -Elder Dallin H. Oaks Divorce

Brothers and sisters who read this. Our Savior Jesus Christ loves us, and enables us to do all things. I cannot thank him enough for His sacrifice for me. That He understands my every feeling. When all is said and done, we need to turn to Him, and do His will. Divorce has consequences. Let us not make a hasty decision. Let us not take matters into our own hands. Let us give our hearts to Christ. Let us give our hearts to our family members. I want to be with my family forever. And I know that any couple living the gospel as they should, will feel the same about their family.

Some marriages cannot be saved. But most can. Do not take your car to the junkyard for a flat tire. Learn to become perfected, and fix what has been broken.