D&C 64:1-4

64:1-4 - DJR reminds us to "feel the tenderness and compassion of the Savior in verses 1-4 as He forgives sins and encourages efforts to improve and do better." It's always amazing to me that DJR can always take anything said or done by the Savior and only see it as completely merciful and loving. I don't know why I struggle with that concept as much as I do, but I think I'm going to try to make a more concerted effort to see everything that same way. The Lord says that he wants the elders, any I assume by extension, us, to "overcome the world; wherefore I will have compassion upon you." I love the IM's explanation of this phrase which quotes Smith and Sjodahl as noting, "John, in his First Epistle, says: 'Whatever is born of God overcometh the world,'; and, 'who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?' What he wants to say is that as long as we follow our desires to conform to the habits and customs of the world, the commandments of God are hard; but when we overcome that desire and do not conform to the spirit of the world, the His commandments are not difficult, and, if we really believe that Jesus is the Son of God, we shall not take any notice of the world, which is in rebellion against Him. In this revelation the Lord, making use of an expression by the disciple whom He loved, tells the Elders of the Church that they should not conform to the world in their worship, in their life, in their amusements. Some had failed in this respect." This is really short but I'm out of time, it's been quite a wild night.