Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. SmithSmith, Joseph F. (Joseph Fielding)
Religion
Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith
Smith, Joseph F. (Joseph Fielding)
Latter Day Saint churches
CHARITY THE GREATEST PRINCIPLE. Charity, or love, is the greatest
principle in existence. If we can lend a helping hand to the oppressed,
if we can aid those who are despondent and in sorrow, if we can uplift
and ameliorate the condition of mankind, it is our mission to do it, it
is an essential part of our religion to do it._--Apr. C. R.,_ 1918, p.
4.
LOOK FOR GOOD; NOT FOR EVIL. Change the focus of your view, and of
your eye, from watching for evil to watching for that which is good,
that which is pure, and leading and prompting those who err into that
path which has no error in it, and that will not admit of mistakes.
Look for good in men, and where they fail to possess it, try to build
it up in them; try to increase the good in them; look for the good;
build up the good; sustain the good; and speak as little about the
evil as you possibly can. It does not do any good to magnify evil, to
publish evil, or to promulgate {319} it by tongue or pen. There is no
good to be obtained by it. It is better to bury the evil and magnify
the good, and prompt all men to forsake evil and learn to do good;
and let our mission be to save mankind and to teach and guide in the
path of righteousness, and not to sit as judges and pass judgment upon
evil-doers, but rather to be saviors of men.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1913, p. 8.
ESTIMATE MEN BY THEIR NOBLE DEEDS. One fruitful source of apostasy
from the Church comes from an inclination on the part of those who
apostatize to consider the small, mostly unintentionally committed
errors of its officers, rather than the broader and more important
labors which enter into their experience. Young men so inclined
turn from the infinite truth of the gospel, and the mighty plan of
salvation, the eternal purposes of God, to carp and cavil upon the
insignificant actions and the imperfect achievements of men, judging
the inspiring magnitude of the former by the disagreeable and tiresome
detail of the latter. Many of the serious annoyances of communal life
among the Saints would be obliterated entirely, if men would search for
the great and noble aspirations actuating their neighbors, rather than
for the imperfect sidelights that lay bare their puny shortcomings.
Those who wish to advance in the world will avoid soul-destroying,
mind-narrowing thoughts, and devote the days allotted to them, which it
will be found are none too numerous, in studying the greater, nobler,
and grander subjects that tend to build character, provide happiness,
and create harmony with the mighty purposes of the Church and its
founder, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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