Elder Robert F. Orton
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"The attention of people around the world has been drawn, during the past four weeks, to the willful, intentional and destructive acts of terrorism and hatred."
Hatred is the "antithesis of love," and Lucifer is its chief proponent. On the other hand, Jesus said, 'Love your enemies' and pleaded for the soldiers who crucified him, saying, 'Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.'
"I thought, for many years, that love was an attribute. But it is more. It is a commandment . . . . Most of us profess to love God. The challenge, I have observed, is loving neighbor . . . . Our eternal progression leans heavily on the degree to which we love.
"Brothers and sisters, if we are obedient to the commandment of love, there will be no disputations, contention or hatred between or among us."
In Bucharest, I observed an old tree struggling to give new branches — to give new life. We give so much to family and friends, to community and church, that at times we feel, like the old tree, that giving is a burden too heavy to bear. But we must not quit. We must continue to give, just as Christ and that old tree continued to give.
"Jesus, near the end of his mortal life, revisited the doctrine of love when he instructed his adherents that as he loved them, so they should also love one another.
"I conclude that, given the purpose of our existence, if we do not love God and neighbor, whatever else we do will be of little consequence."
