Talk Preparation Guide for "The Love of God"

In his inspiring talk, "The Love of God," Elder Benjamin M. Z. Tai of the Seventy shares profound insights on how we can experience and share the love of God in our lives. Through personal stories, scriptural references, and teachings from modern prophets, Elder Tai invites us to draw closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by cultivating faith, repentance, and Christlike attributes. This guide will help you delve into the key themes of his message and prepare a meaningful talk for Sacrament Meeting.

Topics

Exercise Faith to See God's Love

Elder Tai emphasizes that faith is essential to perceiving God's love, even amidst life's distractions and temptations. By exercising faith, we gain assurance of God's presence and concern for us.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

When we exercise faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, we receive clear assurance of Their reality and of Their concern for us.

Key Points:

Faith allows us to see beyond distractions and temptations.
Exercising faith brings assurance of God's reality and love.

Experiences:

Recall a time when your faith helped you feel closer to God.
How has exercising faith changed your perspective during challenging times?
Share an experience where faith brought clarity to a confusing situation.

Partake of the Love of God

The love of God is symbolized by the tree in Lehi's vision, and it is available to all who seek it. Elder Tai explains that through Christ's Atonement, we can experience God's love and joy.

We learn that this tree represents "the love of God," and like Lehi, we too can receive a joyful witness of God when we invite Him into our lives.

Jesus Christ embodies Heavenly Father’s love for us.

Key Points:

Lehi's vision of the tree symbolizes God's love.
Christ's Atonement enables us to experience divine love and joy.

Experiences:

Describe a moment when you felt God's love profoundly.
How has partaking of God's love influenced your relationships?
What practices help you consistently feel God's love?

Cultivate Christlike Attributes

To help others feel God's love, we must develop Christlike qualities such as humility, charity, and patience. Elder Tai encourages us to love and serve others as Christ did.

To help others feel God’s love, we need to cultivate in ourselves Christlike attributes such as humility, charity, compassion, and patience.

Key Points:

Christlike attributes enable us to share God's love.
Serving others is a way to emulate Christ's love.

Experiences:

When have you seen Christlike attributes make a difference in someone's life?
How has serving others helped you feel closer to God?
What steps can you take to develop more Christlike attributes?

Repent and Forgive to Feel God's Love

Elder Tai highlights the importance of repentance and forgiveness in experiencing God's love. Through these actions, we can draw closer to Him and feel liberated from burdens.

We can consistently experience God’s love when, through the grace of Jesus Christ, we repeatedly repent, frankly forgive, strive to keep His commandments, and selflessly serve others.

Key Points:

Repentance and forgiveness are crucial to experiencing God's love.
These actions help us remove burdens and draw closer to God.

Experiences:

Share a time when forgiveness brought peace into your life.
How has repentance helped you feel God's love more fully?
What challenges do you face in forgiving others, and how can you overcome them?

Acting on Promptings to Share God's Love

Elder Tai encourages us to act on spiritual promptings to share God's love with others. By doing so, we become instruments in His hands to bless those around us.

If we consistently pray and ask on the behalf of others, God will show us the people we can help. And if we act promptly, we can become the means through which He answers their prayers.

Key Points:

Acting on promptings allows us to share God's love.
We can become instruments in God's hands by serving others.

Experiences:

Describe an experience where acting on a prompting blessed someone's life.
How do you recognize promptings from the Spirit?
What can you do to be more responsive to spiritual promptings?