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Elder D. Todd Christofferson offers a devotional at Brigham Young University on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Elder D. Todd Christofferson and his wife, Katherine Jacob Christofferson, greet a crowd at Brigham Young University on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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D. Todd Christofferson, an elder in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offered a devotional at the Brigham Young University Marriott Center on Tuesday.

Christofferson’s talk centered on the two great commandments outlined by Jesus: that his followers should first love God, and then second their neighbor.

“The first and great commandment provides the true paradigm for life,” Christofferson said.

Christofferson stated that the order of these two commandments is no mistake and that by loving God first and foremost, church members will better be able to love and understand their neighbors as fellow children of God, effectively following the second commandment.

Christofferson offered several ways in which listeners could keep the first commandment, the first being to renew their focus on keeping all of God’s commandments.

“As the Savior said it, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments,'” Christofferson said. “Jesus was fixed upon keeping each and all of His Father’s commandments and showed us what obedience to God means in real life.”

Another way Christofferson mentioned that listeners could put God first in their lives was to serve others. Christofferson mentioned the church’s recent humanitarian efforts to help the people of Ukraine as an example of Christlike service.

“I am confident that our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son are pleased with your individual kindnesses, however limited or insignificant they may seem in a vast world of need,” Christofferson said. “Every act and every offering matters. I am also confident that They are pleased with what we are doing collectively as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in association with others. As but one example, the aid to alleviate suffering arising in the current war targeting Ukraine is truly Christlike. ”

Christofferson recommended that church members read and study scriptures, participate in missionary service and live with a sense of accountability to God — not because they have to, but out of respect for their Heavenly Father.

“This is not a burdensome, weigh-you-down kind of accountability,” Christofferson said. “Rather, it is the acknowledgment of a wise, interested and caring Father who knows the path to fulfillment and ultimate joy.”

Christofferson stated that God commands his children to love him first because he knows how transformative that love can be.

“Love of God transforms us. Love of God transforms our love for each other. This love is requisite for our coming to know him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. It is the key to our becoming like him,” Christofferson said.

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