Sabbathought: How do you spell JOY?

True JOY is surely spelled like this:

J esus comes first
O thers next
Y ourself third.

This is a plausible summary of the first and great commandment, and the second, which is like unto it. But it is easy to get things mixed up or out of order.

Some twenty-five years ago I conducted an informal survey among the fifteen different religion classes I taught that year. I asked each class, What is the first and great commandment?

The first and fastest answer to that basic question in twelve of the fifteen classes was, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

As if that was not bad enough, many of the teenage seminary students displayed how well they had been taught their self-esteem lessons in Young Men's and Young Women's classes, firesides, previous seminary classes, and at home by adding, "And you can't really love your neighbor until you first learn to love yourself."

Thus the first and great commandment was perfectly subverted into, Thou shalt learn to love thyself so that thou can truly love thy neighbor.

Love for God was lost in the process because His "unconditional love" for us is all that really counts on that score. (More on this false idea later.)

I am not making this up, and I do not exaggerate.

Perhaps it may be clear to you why I am so concerned to try to "concentrate all [my] influence to make popular that which is sound and good and unpopular that which is unsound," in the clear words of Joseph Smith.

Now you know why it is important to know and teach good doctrine, so that the roots will have a fighting chance to produce the fruits of eternal life.

Elder Gene R. Cook taught, "When your priorities are out of order, you lose power," meaning the power of God in your life.

Most of those students in those classes twenty-five years ago---some of them adults in Adult Religion and Know Your Religion classes---had it wrong, had it upside down. They cheerfully and recklessly spelled JOY as YOJ, or OJY. The truth was no longer visible. It had got lost in a fog of "the precepts of men", adopted by these "humble followers of Christ" (see 2 Nephi 28:14).

Can you see why it is vital for them (and all of us) to "come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved"?

There are many other examples.

In 1986 when this "survey" was conducted I felt sure that in another quarter century the doctrinal landscape would be vastly improved among us. I'm not sure that it is. We have a lot of work to do.

Remember, the word "elder" means, "defender of the faith." It still needs defending. We are in a battle for the souls of men and women, and we must be "valiant in the testimony of Jesus" (see D&C 76:79), even the true and living Christ, in order to prevail.

Our chief weapons in the battle are "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (see Ephesians 6:17), "the blood of the Lamb, and . . . the word of [our] testimony" (Revelation 12:11).

We cannot invent our own Christ in our own image. And we must not invent our own gospel. We must be true to the restored gospel, and that will require us to do our homework.

Best wishes for a lovely Sabbath.

Steve