Feast Upon His Love

 Jacob speaks of feasting on the Lord's love and I was curious what this could mean.

O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever. (Jacob 3:2)

It is clear from this scripture that feasting on his love is connected to receiving the word of God and feasting is most often used in conjunction to feasting upon the scriptures, which includes the words of our Prophets, therefore when we feast upon the scriptures and general conference etc, we are feasting upon His love.

But the caveat is that we need to have a firm mind, forever. Last week my post was about having firmness of mind, and the process of our sanctification is to learn to direct our mind to be single to the glory of God.

If we are loving the Lord with all our might, mind and strength, (D&C 20:31) we show this by consistently receiving the pleasing word of God.

Therefore we receive the Lord's love by giving our love to Him.

King Benjamin shares how to taste of His love

"And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel." Mosiah 4:11

 Mormon teaches us that if we pray with all the energy of our hearts, we can be filled with His love and then the blessings that will come if we do that.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. Moro. 7:48

Alma implores us to have the love of God always in our hearts (Alma 13:29)

Mormon in a letter to his son Moroni fears that their people had lost their love (Moroni 9:5)

The people of King Mosiah did wax strong in their love (Mosiah 29:40)

Nephi shares that charity is love and the Lord has commanded that everyone should have this love (2 Nephi 26:30) 

Pres Oaks back in 2000 shared:

"The reason charity never fails and the reason charity is greater than even the most significant acts of goodness is that charity, “the pure love of Christ” (Moro. 7:47), is not an act but a condition or state of being. Charity is something one becomes" 

Recently we learnt from Pres Nelson that charity is a spiritual gift. He said Charity is the principal characteristic of a true follower of Jesus Christ and he promised that when we humble ourselves before God and pray with all the energy of our hearts, God will grant us charity (Pres Nelson, April 2023)

Elder Whetten of the Seventy: 

"Like faith, Christlike love is a gift of the Spirit, is granted upon the principles of personal righteousness and in accordance to our level of obedience to the laws upon which it is predicated. Like faith, love must be exercised to grow. We all live our lives one day at a time, and each of us, regardless of our age or circumstances, is presented each day with choices in our relationships with others. As we deny ourselves and reach out to serve others, the Spirit will refine us and teach us and we will come to learn what Paul meant: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.” Our compassionate service to others will grow into divine love and change us, “and when he shall appear we shall be like him.” April 1999, True Followers

George Q Cannon:

"Every man and woman in the Church of Christ can have the gifts of the Spirit of God divided to them according to their faith and as God wills. … How many of you … are seeking for these gifts that God has promised to bestow? How many of you, when you bow before your Heavenly Father in your family circle or in your secret places, contend for these gifts to be bestowed upon you? How many of you ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to manifest Himself to you through these powers and these gifts? … …

I know that God is willing to heal the sick, that He is willing to bestow the gift of discerning of spirits, the gift of wisdom, of knowledge and of prophecy, and other gifts that may be needed. If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for charity, which envieth not.

So with all the gifts of the gospel. They are intended for this purpose. No man ought to say, “Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.” He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them. If a man lack wisdom, it is his duty to ask God for wisdom. The same with everything else. That is the design of God concerning His Church. He wants His Saints to be perfected in the truth. For this purpose He gives these gifts and bestows them upon those who seek after them, in order that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the earth, notwithstanding their many weaknesses, because God has promised to give the gifts that are necessary for their perfection." Seeking Spiritual Gifts April 2016 Ensign

Love of God action plan:

Ask: pray (and fast) with the energy of our souls that the love of God will fill our hearts.

Study: consistently feast on the word of God and learn all we can from the scriptures, conference talks, Prophets past and present 

Act : do all we can to qualify for this spiritual gift e.g. repent daily and be obedient to the laws it is predicated on. Act in faith believing that it will be given in the moments we need. Find situations where we can use this spiritual gift, especially when we can use them to benefit others 

The Lord has commanded us to seek earnestly the best gifts (D&C 46) Moroni teaches us, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all (Moroni 7:46) I testify that charity or the love of God is indeed the best gift and greatest of all spiritual gifts. I invite each of us to earnestly pray and seek for this spiritual gift with the energy of our souls that we might be filled with the love of God.