The First Great Commandment

Lesson taught by Polly Astorga

Polly began today's class by sharing a story that explains the meaning of the symbols of Christmas. The star, the color red, the Christmas tree, bells, candles, bows on gifts, candy canes and wreaths all have meanings that point toward our Savior and the true meaning of Christmas. You can click HERE for a story similar to the one Polly shared in class.

The remainder of our class focused on remarks made by Elder Holland in October 2012, "The First Great Commandment." You can click HERE to read, listen to, or print the talk.

Elder Holland sympathizes with the early apostles and the confusing time after the Savior's crucifixion. After all, they were all new converts. Even though they had been with the Savior for three years, there was much they didn't know or understand. After His death, they rather naturally returned to what they had done earlier, which for several of them meant fishing. Christ appeared to them beside the sea after they had fished all night and caught nothing. He instructed them to move their nets to the other side of the boat. Peter recognized His instruction and realized that the resurrected Savior was speaking to them and was so eager to greet him that he walked on water to get to him. After the night was over and the boat was onshore, Jesus spoke with the apostles. Three times, He instructed Peter that if he loved Him, he should feed his sheep.

The first great commandment is that each of us love our Savior with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. (Luke 10:27)

The crowning characteristic of love is loyalty. How might we show our loyalty to the Savior?

• You love Him no matter what. He's in our hearts. We make decisions based on our love for Him even if "life" tries to trip you up. ~Paula
• Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty voiced his conservative opinion opposing homosexual lifestyles in keeping with his religious beliefs, even though it didn't make him popular with the A&E network and puts the success of the Duck Dynasty franchise on the line in some places. ~Paulette
• We shouldn't be Sunday Mormons. Don't turn down callings. Serve out of love for others and for Heavenly Father. ~Betsy
• Love our enemies even though it's hard to do and you feel justified being angry. ~Sue
• Forgive. Especially forgive family members who have hurt you. ~Polly

Out of love, the Lord is intensely loyal to us. He won't let things happen to us if they aren't a part of His plan.

• The Lord can help us be loving and giving. That's healing to us. ~Janice
• Scripture stories help us go forward. For example, in the story of Abraham and Isaac, Abraham obeyed an extremely difficult commandment from the Lord. All his promises were fulfilled. We need to go forward and obey like Abraham did. ~Tara
• Kim told a story of her non-LDS cousin who passed away recently. She felt so heartbroken seeing his family who doesn't have the gospel and the perspective it offers. It was a reminder what a blessing the gospel is in our lives and that we should seek for opportunities to share it, even in small ways.

How can we relate to the apostles?

• When we seek answers, sometimes the right answer is different from what we expected or wanted it to be. ~Sister whose name I can't remember...
• Sometimes we "go fishing" ~Polly or get distracted. ~Sue 
• When Peter understood what the Savior wanted him to do, he went and did it!
• We're mortal and inadequate and sometimes childish in our gospel perspective. ~Betsy, from Elder Holland's talk

Elder Holland: If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before. The Crucifixion, Atonement, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ mark the beginning of a Christian life, not the end of it.

What can we do?

• Through visiting teaching, we can lift, serve and bring joy to others. ~Teresa
• Put the Lord first & ask for His guidance. ~Polly
• Always be open to finding answers to your questions. Paulette has a daughter who loved drugs more than she loved her own child. That child is now Paulette's, and she fears her (older) daughter has returned to her old ways. She has been praying for what to say to her, knowing that the things she has said in the past aren't quite right now. Today President Wilkinson read something in Sunday School that really touched Paulette. She knew it was the right thing to share with her daughter.

Elder Holland said that "having set our 'hand to the plough,' we will never look back until this work is finished and love of God and neighbor rules the world."

Anything we are asked to do helps us and refines us. It helps us become who we are meant to be.