Why is LOVE for the Lord and others so important?

This week for our District Meeting Counsel, I was asked to do a discussion about this particular question..."Why is LOVE for the Lord and for those you teach important?" As I studied it out, instead of just focusing on the people I teach, it was EVERYONE. (Why is LOVE for the Lord and others so important?)

Well, it starts off by reading the scripture. In Matthew 22:37-39 it says,

37"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

We LOVE the Lord and everyone else because it is a commandment. We show our LOVE to our Heavenly Father by obeying His commandments, serving Him, and standing as His witness at all times and in all places. We listen to Him, we follow Him, and we respect Him as our father. But how about loving others? How do we show our love to others? We can show our love to others in many ways: being kind, listening to them, mourn with them, serve them, pray for them, be a friend, and or share the gospel. It may be hard to do these things at times. But in the Book of Mormon, a prophet has showed us how we can develop Love, or Charity--the pure love of Christ. Moroni taught, "pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with his love..." (Moroni 7:48) Praying and asking Heavenly Father for this precious gift, He will bless us with it. Our love for those around us also increases when we remember that we are all children of God--that we are brothers and sisters.

I am grateful for a great gift that we can all be blessed with as we ask for it in prayer. God is a loving Heavenly Father that knows and loves us individually. We all have that love of Christ within us that we can share it with others as we serve one another. Heber J. Grant once said, "I know of nothing which gives us a greater love of all that is good, than teaching this Gospel of Jesus Christ." I too testify that as we serve others, by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ...our love will grow and Heavenly Father will continually bless us with the gift of Charity.