The Love of the Savior is My “Why”
Elder Ricardo P. Giménez
General Conference April 2025
Key Pinpoints
Invitations
Russell M. Nelson continuously extends invitations to us! Not surprisingly, he has invited us to study and ponder the messages shared at the last two conferences.
In April 2024, he said, “I hope you will repeatedly study the messages of this conference throughout the coming months.” Then, in October 2024, he said: “I urge you to study [the speakers’] messages. Use them as a litmus test of what is true and what is not during the next six months.”
Why I Do What I Do
Pondering over this and all the invitations we had received, I recalled something that I learned and decided long ago. I am trying to do these things which are essential to me because I love Him; I love our Savior.
This is the real and most powerful reason why I do what I do, and then connected with this is my love for you, my fellow brothers and sisters.
Invitation to the World
I hope you will consider my words as a sincere invitation to seek to understand the opportunity to link everything we do with our love for the Savior.
Doing this will help us understand the real “why” behind everything we do as disciples of the Savior. This will help us strengthen our covenantal connection with God, understanding His divine and eternal truths—His eternal and absolute truths that will never change. Eternal truths like “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Traditions can Help But Add the WHY!
Do we do things out of tradition?
In a spiritual sphere, we have the opportunity to go beyond just doing things or achieving goals by understanding why we are doing them.
Church activities or traditions and appropriately doing them is a good thing, when we connect them with the “why,” we will be blessed to understand the reason.
It won’t be just doing good things or doing them right; we will also get them right.
Goals and Tasks Can Build Connection
Set a goal to read the scriptures, offer sincere prayers, or prepare an activity for your family or ward, is the real goal simply to accomplish these tasks?
Or are these actions the means, the tools at your disposal, to achieve the true goal?
Is the purpose merely to hold an activity because we have done it for many years and then check the box that we have completed it? Or, once again, are these the means we use to learn, to feel, and to connect with the Savior?
Why Pray, Read, Attend Church or the Temple?
I invite you to open your hearts and minds to the opportunity and blessing of understanding why we have activities, goals, traditions and how we practice our religion. It is to form a connection with the Savior. When you connect with Him, You are IN!
Christ-Centered Traditions
President Oaks said: “As we enter this new year, let us prepare for an Easter celebration of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. … No matter what others believe or do, we should celebrate the Resurrection of our living Savior by studying His teachings and helping to establish Easter traditions in our society as a whole, especially within our own families.”
As you can see, it is not just an invitation to have traditions. Instead, we use these traditions as a means to learn more about the Savior and remember His Resurrection.
Whatever the Problem, The Answer is Jesus.
“Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.”
And then he extended this invitation: “Learn more about His Atonement, His love, His mercy, His doctrine, and His restored gospel of healing and progression. Turn to Him! Follow Him!”
Check off list or Lifelong Discipleship?
Is President Nelson’s invitation a “check off to-do list,” or is it more than that?
is he inviting us to consider the aspects of these eternal truths and principles as an opportunity to understand the “why” and connect the Savior’s covenantal love for us with our lifelong discipleship journey?
What is Your Why?
When we accept the invitation, understanding the “why” behind it, we will have more opportunities to become closer to the Savior.
We will begin to understand that because I love the Savior, I want to learn more about Him by studying the words of the living prophets. And because I love my fellow man, I will share the teachings of prophets, seers, and revelators with others, starting with my loved ones.
Connect Love with the Savior. Listen Carefully
I hope you can feel and see the importance of connecting our actions with our love for the Savior.
Don’t be mislead or influenced by all the wrong voices. The Holy Ghost will testify the truth of all things!
The love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for us and connecting our love for Them as the reason to follow Them.
Jesus and Covenants
God the Father and His Son came and spoke with Joseph Smith to restore Jesus Christ’s Church and to initiate the dispensation of the fulness of times.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the means established by Heavenly Father to access covenants that enable us to return home.
Thus, we need more than just a personal relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son; we require essential priesthood ordinances through which we make covenants with Them.
Testimony
With all the energy of my soul, I bear witness to the reality and divinity of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He loves you.
He knows what is happening in your life. His arms are wide open, extending the invitation “Come unto me, … and I will give you rest.”
I love the Savior, and my love for Him is my “why.”
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