How to respond when people believe differently than you. Ep. 161

Sharing your beliefs with friends and family can be daunting. In this episode, Dave throws around a few ideas that might make things a bit easier for you.

“The Virtue of Kindness” by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (April 2005): https://bit.ly/3H08gZc

Video transcript and notes: https://bit.ly/3nfX03s

Notes:

— You can win all the arguments in the world, but “if ye have not charity, ye are nothing … charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.” (See Moroni 7 & 1 Corinthians 13)

— I love that D&C 121 mentions having charity “towards all men and to the household of faith.” Sometimes, Latter-day Saints can be the most hostile towards members of their own faith with whom they disagree. But charity is not just for those outside of your community. It’s for everyone.

— I also love that D&C 121 is conscious of the effect our words have on others. We’re taught to express love to those whom we reprove, “lest he esteem thee to be his enemy.” We’re taught elsewhere (in the New Testament) to love our enemies, but D&C 121 points out that we shouldn’t be going out of our way to make new enemies. If our interactions are driving people away from the gospel of Jesus Christ, perhaps we’re doing something wrong. Our interactions should minimize the risk of creating enemies from those we disagree with. Thanks to Hugh Spackman for pointing this out.

— It’s also worth acknowledging that in addition to Christ’s sharp reprovals, there were also times when one might have expected him to respond with harshness, but instead he simply stayed silent. For example, see Matthew 27. Thanks to Roseanne Service for bringing this point to my attention.

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