Mormon Church

God is perfect, and therefore, He does nothing out of ego. Every choice He makes is with our eternal well-being in mind.

Mormon beliefs center around the knowledge that God is literally the father of our spirits. Mormons teach that after He created our spirits, we lived for a time with Him in Heaven, where He taught us gospel truths. We used that time to develop our personalities, talents, and interests, which would come with us to earth. Our gospel knowledge, however, was shielded when we were born.

God created us for the same reason good earthly fathers choose to become parents, out of love. He created a family

and lovingly cared for us until we were ready to come to earth.

The purpose of our time on earth is similar to the reason children eventually need to grow up and move out of their parents’ home. When we live at home, we largely follow the pattern our parents create for our lives. When we’re on our own, we decide for the first time if we’re going to go to church when our parents aren’t making us do it, and if we’re going to attend the same church. We decide what values we want to have and how we will live.

When we left God’s presence, we had a symbolic veil pulled over our memories. We could no longer remember having lived with God; nor could we remember what we’d been taught. We were given families and a body, which opened up new opportunities for both learning and temptations. It was our responsibility-one we’d agreed to prior to our birth-to seek and find truth again. Once found, we are expected to live what we know.

We have a responsibility to find God again and to keep His commandments in order to be allowed to return to His presence. ”

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21, KJV of the Bible)

Because keeping the commandments is required of us, loving and worshipping God is an important part of the process. The highest level of obedience is that of love. When we love God with all our hearts, we naturally want to learn what is true and important and to do as He asks. Obedience that is done out of love, rather than from fear of punishment is a higher form of obedience.

God loves us and wants us to return safely home. He understands that our best chance of doing so is if we worship Him and love Him, because we will then put Him first, and that means keeping the commandments will be our priority. Focusing our lives around His teachings and our love for God helps us to make appropriate choices.

Joseph B. Wirthlin reminds us, “When we love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden. Obedience becomes a delight. When we love the Lord, we seek less for things that benefit us and turn our hearts toward things that will bless and uplift others.” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Great Commandment,” Liahona, Nov 2007, 28-31) You can see that if obedience isn’t a burden, we are far more likely to obey all the time, and not just when we want something from God or when we’re especially motivated.

Love is really the centerpiece of the gospel. Our love for God can increase our love for others and help us to lead a rich and satisfying life. In the same talk quoted above, Elder Wirthlin said, “Love is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the pathway of discipleship. It comforts, counsels, cures, and consoles. It leads us through valleys of darkness and through the veil of death. In the end love leads us to the glory and grandeur of eternal life.”

How can we develop love for God? In order to love someone, we first must know Him. We can devote time each day to reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon and studying what they teach us about Him. A scripture reading journal, in which we record or observations and thoughts as we study, can help us organize what we learn. This step helps us to gain knowledge.

The next step is to develop a personal relationship with God. This is done through prayer. Prayer is the means by which we talk with God, sharing with Him the details of our day, our fears, our successes, and our thoughts. We take time to thank Him for what we’ve received and, if we have need of something worthy, we can ask for it. When we have a problem and need some advice, we can seek it on our knees.

The answer to these prayers come through the Holy Ghost. They don’t always come right away and they don’t always come in complete form, but in small, periodic promptings as we’re pondering and quiet.

Richard C. Scott said, “Often when we pray for help with a significant matter, Heavenly Father will give us gentle promptings that require us to think, exercise faith, work, at times struggle, then act. It is a step-by-step process that enables us to discern inspired answers.

I have discovered that what sometimes seems an impenetrable barrier to communication is a giant step to be taken in trust. Seldom will you receive a complete response all at once. It will come a piece at a time, in packets, so that you will grow in capacity. As each piece is followed in faith, you will be led to other portions until you have the whole answer. That pattern requires you to exercise faith in our Father’s capacity to respond. While sometimes it’s very hard, it results in significant personal growth.

He will always hear your prayers and will invariably answer them. However, His answers will seldom come while you are on your knees praying, even when you may plead for an immediate response. Rather, He will prompt you in quiet moments when the Spirit can most effectively touch your mind and heart. Hence, you should find periods of quiet time to recognize when you are being instructed and strengthened. His pattern causes you to grow.” (Richard G. Scott, “Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer,” Ensign, May 2007, 8-11)

God created us because He loves us. He’s given us all the tools we need to be able to love Him in return, and to be able to live eternally in His loving presence someday.

Tags: creation, God, Prayer, why did God create man

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 11:00 am and is filed under Array. You can follow any responses to this entry through the http://mormonchurch.com/698/did-god-create-man-because-he-craves-worship/feed feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.