WEBVTT 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:06.660 Paisley: Hey everybody. Welcome back today, I'm going to be 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:10.500 getting into a talk from President oaks that I'm sure was 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:15.420 a very controversial talk for some of us. It's called two 00:00:15.420 --> 00:00:18.540 great commandments, and it was given during the women's session 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:25.160 of the 2019 General Conference. Most of Christianity is familiar 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:27.800 with or knows the first two commandments that were shared 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:34.820 with Jesus in Matthew 22 but just in case, Matthew 22 verses 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:40.040 37 through 39 say, Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the 00:00:40.040 --> 00:00:43.060 Lord thy God, with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with 00:00:43.060 --> 00:00:46.600 all thy mind, this is the first and great commandment, and the 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:49.480 second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as 00:00:49.480 --> 00:00:55.060 thyself. And what I love about this talk is that President Oaks 00:00:55.060 --> 00:00:59.680 is continually reminding us, like all the way throughout 00:00:59.800 --> 00:01:07.020 repeatedly, that we need to show love for each other. But he's 00:01:07.020 --> 00:01:11.700 also very clear in pointing out that our love for each other 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:15.540 should not and cannot supersede the love that we have for our 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:20.360 Heavenly Father. Here's what he said, he said, but our zeal to 00:01:20.360 --> 00:01:23.720 keep this second commandment must not cause us to forget the 00:01:23.720 --> 00:01:28.400 first, to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. We show 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:31.460 that love by keeping His commandments. He's referencing 00:01:31.460 --> 00:01:35.480 there. John 1415, we show that love by keeping His 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:38.840 commandments. God requires us to obey his commandments, because 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:42.820 only through that obedience, including repentance. Can we 00:01:42.820 --> 00:01:48.520 return to live in His presence and become perfect as he is? And 00:01:48.580 --> 00:01:51.820 you know, the further along that we get in the way that the world 00:01:51.820 --> 00:01:55.720 is headed, the harder it seems to at least for me, the harder 00:01:55.720 --> 00:02:00.900 it seems to reconcile our love for each other, our love for 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:06.600 humanity, with our love for God and and in just my last episode, 00:02:06.600 --> 00:02:09.840 or maybe the one before that, I was telling you how we talk 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.120 about King Benjamin in our house, and how King Benjamin 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:19.260 said, Be nice, and how he what he really taught was that the 00:02:19.260 --> 00:02:22.400 way that we treat others is the way that we treat our Heavenly 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:28.400 Father, the way that we treat God, and so that, in my mind, 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:34.220 makes it even a little bit more confusing. But let me just take 00:02:34.220 --> 00:02:38.360 a second and remind us all of this truth as well. We don't get 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.700 to make the rules. Humans don't make the rules. The rules were 00:02:42.700 --> 00:02:47.560 made before we came here, and we don't get to change them midway 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:51.820 through, right? I talked about this a couple episodes ago, how 00:02:53.380 --> 00:02:58.000 you're playing a game of, let's say, uno, and you've got house 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:01.380 rules, right? You can stack your draw twos, or you can stack your 00:03:01.380 --> 00:03:05.280 draw fours. We can't change that rule halfway through. That's not 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:10.980 fair. That's not just the rules don't change midway through, 00:03:11.040 --> 00:03:13.860 partway through, towards the end of the game, you can't change 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.740 the rules towards the end of the game. You set the rules at the 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:20.100 beginning and the consequences that go with them. President 00:03:20.100 --> 00:03:23.660 oaks said this. He said, President Nelson reminded all of 00:03:23.660 --> 00:03:26.900 us that our commission as apostles is to teach nothing but 00:03:26.900 --> 00:03:31.760 truth. The Commission does not give apostles the authority to 00:03:31.760 --> 00:03:36.080 modify Divine Law. Thus, my sisters, the leaders of the 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:39.380 church, must always teach the unique importance of marriage 00:03:39.380 --> 00:03:44.920 between a man and a woman and the related law of chastity. So 00:03:44.920 --> 00:03:48.940 not even the apostles get to modify divine law. If the 00:03:48.940 --> 00:03:52.420 apostles don't get to modify Divine Law, the prophet doesn't 00:03:52.420 --> 00:04:00.240 get to modify divine law. What makes us think that we get to in 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.020 this talk, President Oaks is specific. He is specifically 00:04:04.020 --> 00:04:07.680 talking to the LGBT community. A lot more letters have been added 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:10.860 on since then, but he's specifically talking to them and 00:04:10.860 --> 00:04:13.860 to those of us who know people who are part of that community 00:04:13.860 --> 00:04:19.200 and love them. Basically he's talking to everybody, right? To 00:04:19.200 --> 00:04:22.700 be clear, and I know I say this a lot, but to be clear, I am not 00:04:22.700 --> 00:04:26.720 here to judge you and how you live your life. I'm not here to 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.900 tell you that your opinion is wrong, that your opinion doesn't 00:04:29.900 --> 00:04:33.620 matter, that you're a sinner, or anything else in that realm. 00:04:33.620 --> 00:04:39.200 That is not my job. How you live your life is between you and 00:04:39.200 --> 00:04:42.280 your heavenly Father. That's between you and God, not between 00:04:42.280 --> 00:04:46.120 you and me. I am here to talk about things that are important 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:49.840 to me and about the doctrine that has been given to us, and 00:04:49.840 --> 00:04:53.200 that's all. I'm not here to judge you. You live your life 00:04:53.200 --> 00:04:57.100 however. You need to back to what President back to President 00:04:57.100 --> 00:05:02.640 oaks. He again. A little bit later, quotes President Nelson, 00:05:02.640 --> 00:05:05.940 and he talks about how keeping God's laws will help us to 00:05:05.940 --> 00:05:10.980 become more like God, and how it will keep us safe as we progress 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:14.940 throughout this life, and we get ready for eternity, for 00:05:14.940 --> 00:05:20.420 exaltation. And we talk about that because, as President oaks 00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:24.740 says that is the destiny that we desire for all that we love. We 00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:27.980 want everyone to succeed and everyone to be able to we want 00:05:27.980 --> 00:05:30.980 to be able to all live together as a great big, happy family 00:05:31.340 --> 00:05:33.980 when this life is over. And that's why we talk about these 00:05:33.980 --> 00:05:38.060 things, and that's why we try to push for eternal progression and 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:42.040 for exaltation. And he continues. He says, because of 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:45.880 that love, we cannot let our love supersede the commandments 00:05:45.880 --> 00:05:49.900 and the plan and work of God, which we know will bring those 00:05:49.900 --> 00:05:53.200 we love their greatest happiness. So we cannot let our 00:05:53.200 --> 00:05:58.960 love of others supersede our love of God and His 00:05:58.960 --> 00:06:04.920 commandments, because that the love that we feel now is 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:08.700 different than the love that we feel as an eternal being. We 00:06:08.700 --> 00:06:11.520 will have a greater understanding then than we do 00:06:11.520 --> 00:06:15.780 now, and so we need to trust in our Heavenly Father and put our 00:06:15.780 --> 00:06:22.280 love in him first, our love and our trust, he says, but there 00:06:22.280 --> 00:06:25.700 are many we love, including some who have the restored gospel, 00:06:25.700 --> 00:06:29.060 who do not believe in or choose not to follow God's commandments 00:06:29.060 --> 00:06:32.600 about marriage and the law of chastity. What about them? And 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:34.700 there's a part of me that wishes that we were all sitting 00:06:34.700 --> 00:06:38.600 together and we were talking about this, so that I could put 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:41.260 that question out there. I could look at you and I could ask the 00:06:41.260 --> 00:06:44.740 question and hear what you have to say. What about them? What 00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:47.500 about them? What about the people who don't believe what we 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:52.240 believe, or who choose not to follow God's commandments? What 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:56.800 about them? There are lots of really good people who choose, 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:01.260 who make other choices. Don't believe in don't believe in the 00:07:01.260 --> 00:07:03.660 plan of salvation. Don't believe in the same things that we do. 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:07.920 So what about them? The first thing that I want to remind us 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:12.840 all of is that God will never take away our agency, our 00:07:12.840 --> 00:07:18.120 ability to choose. He will not take our ability to choose our 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:22.220 own path away from us. You can choose to do whatever you want. 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:26.720 You can not choose the consequences, because, as we 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:30.500 talked about just a minute ago, the rules were set. The rules 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:33.380 and the consequences were set before we came here, and we 00:07:33.380 --> 00:07:38.840 don't get to change them towards the end of the game, what we can 00:07:38.840 --> 00:07:42.940 choose is whether or not we're going to follow those rules, we 00:07:42.940 --> 00:07:46.420 cannot choose the consequences. President oaks says this. He 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:50.560 says God's doctrine shows that all of us are His children, and 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:54.460 that He has created us to have joy. Modern revelation teaches 00:07:54.460 --> 00:07:58.960 that God has provided a plan for a mortal experience in which all 00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:03.780 can choose obedience to seek his highest blessings or make 00:08:03.780 --> 00:08:07.320 choices that lead to one of the less glorious kingdoms. But get 00:08:07.320 --> 00:08:11.580 this, because of God's great love for all of his children, 00:08:11.820 --> 00:08:16.200 those lesser kingdoms are still more wonderful than mortals can 00:08:16.200 --> 00:08:19.740 comprehend. The Atonement of Jesus, Christ makes all of this 00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:23.120 possible as He glorifies the father and saves all the works, 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:27.380 all the works of his hands, so we can choose one of the lesser 00:08:27.380 --> 00:08:32.360 glories, and it will still be better than this life. That's 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:36.560 how much our Heavenly Father loves us. Those are all the 00:08:36.560 --> 00:08:39.320 reasons why we follow the commandments and why we choose 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:47.260 to love God. But how do we love our neighbor when their choices 00:08:48.340 --> 00:08:53.620 or challenges stare right in the face of the commandments that we 00:08:53.620 --> 00:08:57.400 are trying so hard to follow, how do we still show love for 00:08:57.400 --> 00:09:02.340 them? President oak says this quote, we seek to persuade our 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:05.220 members that those who follow lesbian, gay, bisexual or 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:08.760 transgender teachings and actions. And just as a side 00:09:08.760 --> 00:09:12.480 note, I would throw in all of our neighbors, maybe those who 00:09:12.540 --> 00:09:16.020 think it's weird that we don't drink, or maybe those who want 00:09:16.020 --> 00:09:21.380 to share some legal but still 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:25.040 Unknown: drugs with us. 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:32.780 Paisley: We PERS. We seek to persuade our members who follow 00:09:32.780 --> 00:09:35.360 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender teachings and 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:38.660 actions should be treated with the love our Savior commands us 00:09:38.660 --> 00:09:43.180 to show toward all our neighbors. Thus, when same sex 00:09:43.180 --> 00:09:45.700 marriage was declared legal in the United States, the First 00:09:45.700 --> 00:09:49.420 Presidency and Quorum of the 12 declared the gospel of Jesus. 00:09:49.420 --> 00:09:53.320 Christ teaches us to love and treat all people with kindness 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:57.460 and civility, even when we disagree, we affirm that those 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:00.540 who avail themselves of laws or court rulings are. Authorizing 00:10:00.540 --> 00:10:06.600 same sex marriage should not be treated disrespectfully. Treat 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:09.540 them with respect. We need to treat each other with respect 00:10:09.540 --> 00:10:12.180 and still love each other. We don't have to agree on 00:10:12.180 --> 00:10:16.080 everything in order to still love each other. We don't have 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:20.480 to agree on everything to be friends. He continues further. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.980 We must never persecute, never persecute those who do not share 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:29.360 our beliefs and commitments. Regretfully, some persons facing 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:32.360 these issues continue to feel marginalized and rejected by 00:10:32.360 --> 00:10:35.480 some members and leaders in our families, wards and stakes, we 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:41.800 must all strive to be kinder and more civil. There are some 00:10:41.800 --> 00:10:44.980 people in our congregations or who wish to be part of our 00:10:44.980 --> 00:10:51.220 Converse congregations, who don't feel welcome. We need to 00:10:51.220 --> 00:10:56.320 do a better job. They should not feel marginalized and rejected 00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:02.100 when they come to church. We love them no matter what how 00:11:02.100 --> 00:11:09.360 they choose to live is between them and God, not between them 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:14.580 and us. What is between us and them and us and God is how we 00:11:14.580 --> 00:11:19.260 treat them, and we will be held accountable for those actions. 00:11:19.260 --> 00:11:22.880 The next quote was a long one, and I might break it up as I go. 00:11:22.880 --> 00:11:26.840 I tend to add things in here and there, but it needs to be shared 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:32.060 anyway. So here we go. President oaks said, meanwhile, we must 00:11:32.060 --> 00:11:36.260 try to keep both of the great commandments to do so we walk a 00:11:36.260 --> 00:11:40.900 fine line between law and love, keeping the commandments and 00:11:40.900 --> 00:11:44.260 walking the covenant path while loving our neighbors along the 00:11:44.260 --> 00:11:50.740 way. This walk requires us to seek divine inspiration. Seek 00:11:50.800 --> 00:11:56.260 divine inspiration on what to support and what to oppose and 00:11:56.260 --> 00:12:00.360 how to love and listen respectfully and teach in the 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:05.760 process, that's a lot. This walk requires us to seek divine 00:12:05.760 --> 00:12:09.900 inspiration, listen to the Holy Ghost on what to support and 00:12:09.900 --> 00:12:12.900 what to oppose and how to love and listen respectfully and 00:12:12.900 --> 00:12:17.760 teach in the process. Our walk demands that we not compromise 00:12:17.760 --> 00:12:22.760 on commandments but show forth a full measure of understanding 00:12:22.760 --> 00:12:27.020 and love our walk must be considerate of children who are 00:12:27.020 --> 00:12:31.700 uncertain about their sexual orientation, but it discourages 00:12:31.700 --> 00:12:36.560 premature labeling, because in most children, such uncertainty 00:12:36.560 --> 00:12:40.360 decreases significantly over time, and if you go To the 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:44.440 article on the church's website. There's actually a there's a 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:48.820 reference for that, so you can go look at that research report 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:54.400 on your own if you'd like to. Okay, sorry, where was I? Our 00:12:54.400 --> 00:12:57.460 walk. Must be considerate of children who are uncertain about 00:12:57.460 --> 00:13:00.720 their sexual orientation, but it discourages premature labeling, 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:03.360 because in most children, such uncertainty decreases 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:08.460 significantly over time. Our walk opposes recruitment away 00:13:08.460 --> 00:13:12.720 from the covenant path, and it denies support to any who lead 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:15.600 people away from the Lord. That's actually one of the 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:19.020 temple recommend questions in all of this, we remember that 00:13:19.020 --> 00:13:22.220 God promises hope and ultimate joy and blessings for all who 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:26.720 keep His commandments. We can love and teach at the same time. 00:13:27.020 --> 00:13:31.700 We can love and defend at the same time. We can protect our 00:13:31.700 --> 00:13:36.320 children from being recruited away from the covenant path, and 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.620 we can deny our support to those who try to lead others away from 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:45.340 the Lord protecting and denying support. However, do not give us 00:13:45.340 --> 00:13:51.940 permission and full rights to be jerks, to be haters. We don't 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:54.400 get a free pass to be haters just because somebody doesn't 00:13:54.400 --> 00:13:57.760 agree with the way that we keep the commandments we are still 00:13:57.760 --> 00:14:01.200 commanded to love. Remember, it's the second great 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:05.340 commandment to love our neighbors, President oaks, I 00:14:05.340 --> 00:14:08.520 think I mentioned this at the beginning, but President oaks 00:14:08.520 --> 00:14:11.700 gave this talk during the women's session. That was not an 00:14:11.700 --> 00:14:14.940 accident. Was not a coincidence. It was definitely done on 00:14:14.940 --> 00:14:18.780 purpose. And he closes by quoting President Kimball. And 00:14:18.780 --> 00:14:22.400 if you've listened to very many of my episodes. I've quoted this 00:14:22.580 --> 00:14:27.440 so many times I don't have it memorized yet, but it's not 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:31.640 going to be too much longer, I'm sure before it's memorized, he 00:14:31.640 --> 00:14:35.180 says, mothers and fathers and all of us are responsible to 00:14:35.180 --> 00:14:38.420 teach both of the two great commandments for the women of 00:14:38.420 --> 00:14:41.980 the church. President Spencer W Kimball described that duty. 00:14:42.640 --> 00:14:46.540 Described that duty in this great prophecy. Quote from 00:14:46.540 --> 00:14:49.960 President Kimball, much of the major growth that is coming to 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:52.540 the church in the last days will come because many of the good 00:14:52.540 --> 00:14:55.660 women of the world will be drawn to the church in large numbers. 00:14:56.380 --> 00:14:58.900 This will happen to the degree that the women of the church 00:14:58.900 --> 00:15:01.620 reflect righteousness. And articulateness in their lives, 00:15:02.100 --> 00:15:04.620 and to the degree that the women of the church are seen as 00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:11.160 distinct and different from the women of the world. Thus it will 00:15:11.160 --> 00:15:14.700 be that female exemplars of the church will be a significant 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:18.720 force in both the numerical and the spiritual growth of the 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:24.860 church in the last days he stops quoting President Kimball there, 00:15:25.220 --> 00:15:28.280 and then he says this and starts quoting President Nelson, 00:15:28.400 --> 00:15:31.580 speaking of that prophecy, which you've heard this one before, 00:15:31.580 --> 00:15:34.640 too. Speaking of that prophecy, President Russell M Nelson 00:15:34.640 --> 00:15:37.220 declared that the day that President Kimball foresaw is 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:43.060 today. You are the women he foresaw. Little did. This is 00:15:43.060 --> 00:15:46.540 just President oaks now, little did we who heard that prophecy 00:15:46.540 --> 00:15:51.640 40 years ago realize that among those the women of this church 00:15:51.640 --> 00:15:55.360 may save, that among those the women of this church may save 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:58.840 will be their own dear friends and family who are currently 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:03.000 influenced by worldly priorities and devilish distortions, my 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.960 prayer and blessing is that you will teach and act to fulfill 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:12.780 that prophecy. It is not easy to find the balance between love 00:16:12.780 --> 00:16:16.560 and support and love without support. 00:16:18.899 --> 00:16:19.919 Unknown: That is such a 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:23.959 Paisley: fine line that I venture to say that most people 00:16:23.959 --> 00:16:28.039 in the world cannot see it. They do not understand the difference 00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:31.339 between being able to love and support someone and being able 00:16:31.339 --> 00:16:37.939 to love them without providing support. Honestly, I can't even 00:16:37.939 --> 00:16:42.879 see it sometimes. That's a really hard and fine line to 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:46.959 find. I can say, however, that I have made some progress in the 00:16:46.959 --> 00:16:51.039 last decade. I've made a lot of progress over the last decade. I 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:54.999 also think that I still have a really long way to go. I am 00:16:54.999 --> 00:16:57.519 thankful for messages like this from President oaks. 00:16:58.899 --> 00:17:02.699 Unknown: I He does such a good job of, 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.820 Paisley: it's probably the attorney in him, right? He does 00:17:05.820 --> 00:17:09.300 such a good job of laying down the law and saying, This is the 00:17:09.300 --> 00:17:16.800 law. It's not your job to enforce it. This is the law. God 00:17:16.800 --> 00:17:20.540 will enforce it. This is the law. You love people, whether 00:17:20.540 --> 00:17:29.600 they follow the law or not. And to me, these types of these 00:17:29.600 --> 00:17:36.260 types of talks, these types of, what's the word I'm looking for? 00:17:36.260 --> 00:17:39.020 We'll just go with talks. These types of talks really solidify 00:17:39.020 --> 00:17:44.500 that our lives are between us and God. The choices that I make 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:48.940 are between me and him. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is not 00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:54.280 just a one size fits all, generalized fixer upper. The 00:17:54.280 --> 00:17:58.900 Atonement of Jesus Christ is very personal. It is 00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:02.460 individualized, because Jesus knows our struggles. He 00:18:02.460 --> 00:18:07.380 struggled them so that he could know them, and that qualifies 00:18:07.380 --> 00:18:12.420 him to be our judge. Nobody else has struggled exactly the same 00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:16.020 way that I have, because nobody else has was brought up exactly 00:18:16.020 --> 00:18:20.660 the same way that I was with the exact same parents. My twins are 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:25.580 even different. I don't think that I bring them up 00:18:25.580 --> 00:18:28.640 differently, but I do because they're they're different, 00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:33.500 they're different kids, I'm different, you're different. The 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:36.380 Atonement of Jesus Christ is individualized and it is 00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:40.660 personal, and he suffered your struggles so that he could 00:18:40.660 --> 00:18:44.080 understand those struggles and truly be your advocate with the 00:18:44.080 --> 00:18:50.800 Father. That's a lot. Please go finish reading that talk on your 00:18:50.800 --> 00:18:53.140 own. Again, it's called two great commandments. I'll make 00:18:53.140 --> 00:18:56.200 sure that it's linked in the description. Thank you so much 00:18:56.200 --> 00:18:59.620 for choosing to spend your time with me today. I it's always, 00:18:59.860 --> 00:19:04.980 always appreciated. Keep learning, keep growing, keep 00:19:04.980 --> 00:19:09.240 trying be a little bit better every day and be of good cheer. 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:11.640 Thank you, everybody until next time you.