And the greatest of these is Love.

I haven't blogged in awhile. Some people have said they don't like reading a blog that doesn't contain pictures and for some reason mine includes more words than pictures. I understand what they mean because "a picture is worth a thousand words", but sometimes I would rather just use "the thousand words".

It is no secret to anyone how much I love my family, am grateful for a myriad of friends and find joy in life...those things are forever in my heart, I really should blog more about my day to day experiences and how my life is filled with blessings. But instead I find that I want to write about the ramblings inside my head...indeed I must write about them.

I have written several blogs on LOVE, but I guess there are worse things to be redundant about. I am indeed a romantic; you can see that in my house when you enter, and it isn't lost in anything about me. But my thoughts today were generated by writing my goals or resolutions. I am a "list maker" and a "goal maker". I love setting goals, breaking them down into small bites, working on them, and re-evaluating and re-setting them if necessary. Frequently I find the need to re-assess because I haven't taken the right perspective on the goal I've set. That's what happened this morning while I was pondering.

I was thinking about how confused we sometimes make our efforts in living the gospel. How overwhelmed we make ourselves fulfilling every "jot and tittle", when Christ made it so abundantly clear where our focus should be. The "lesser law" was filled with "jots and tittles" it told the children of God exactly what they needed to do every step of the way, but them Christ came to give us the "greater law" which says "Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." He went on to say "On these two commandments hang all the laws and the prophets." Also concerning Love he said "Love one another as I have loved you", and we know of His perfect and unconditional love. So I am simplifying all my goals to one "LOVE".

Didn't Christ say on these commandments hang all the laws and the prophets. So the gospel isn't difficult to live, it doesn't have to be overwhelming, it is really so simple, just LOVE.

Of course my mind still wants to break it down:

If I love the Lord MY GOD with all my heart, soul and mind then I will want to know more about him: I will want to praise Him.

Attend church regularly

Take the Sacrament

Pay tithing (which is only a portion of how he shows his love for me)

Study my scriptures

Keep the Sabbath Day Holy.

and other things that come so easily as I am active in fulfilling the verb LOVE.

If I love my neighbor as myself, then I will want to be kind to my neighbor AND MYSELF.

I will lift a hand in charity.

I will reach out when someone is hurting.

I will be a friend to not only my friends, but to my associates, clients, and strangers.

I will not gossip, judge others, covet, lust or hate.

I will honor my body by those things I eat,.

I will become healthier.

I will forgive others, and I will forgive myself.

I think if we think about Loving others as He loved us...we have to truly recognize the POWER that love has. It was only through His love for us that He sacrificed himself for us, for me. If we can try to attain that kind of love for others we truly can attain a gift that makes everything else seem petty and small....jots and tittles. Although jots and tittles are important too, they can be overcome and fulfilled with the greater law of LOVE.

My prayers won't change too much because I do LOVE love, and usually ask the Lord to fill my heart with love for all the people I come in contact with, but now I recognize that if I ask for this blessing in my life, I don't need to clutter it with all those "Jots and Tittles" because if I just love, then they will take care of themselves.

I am so astounded and grateful for my Heavenly Father's love, and for the amazing love and grace that the Savior so fully gave to me, little ole me. I am grateful for my heart that receives so much love that it overflows to all those I love. I am so grateful that the Savior made it so exquisitly simple and showed it in each and every principle, parable, and example He gave us.

Love from the Lord is unconditional and so our love to others should be unconditional.

All we need is LOVE.