Melinda Brown, author of An Endowment of Love: Embracing Christ’s Covenant Way of Living and Loving, recently shared a shift in perspective that will transform our experience in the temple. She suggests that we put on “lenses [that] are specially honed to focus on developing a loving relationship with the Lord.”
To do that, we need to first recognize the lenses we’re currently “wearing” when we view the temple and metaphorically take them off. On the Magnify podcast, Melinda points out that even growing up “surrounded by people who absolutely love the temple” can impact our perspective. For example, if we’ve always heard that temple worship is the most amazing thing in the world, but then we don’t feel that way right away, we might feel confused or misled.
On the other hand, hearing from those who haven’t had great experiences in the temple can also impact our perspective.
Whatever your situation, Melinda has three ideas to help you take off your old lenses and start to see the Lord’s love in the temple more fully.
1. Go with an Open Mind
Approaching the temple with an open mind allows us to see how everything about the temple points to God’s love.
“Our Father in Heaven is completely invested in our happiness. His great plan is all about love. Every ordinance, covenant, and commandment is designed to promote happiness, goodness, and eternal glory. And not only later, but also right now,” Melinda writes in her book.
When we experience the temple through this lens of love, we leave with the desire to share even more of Christ’s love with everyone around us.
“Feeling [God’s] love will always be an encouraging factor in loving that way outwards to others,” Melinda explains. “He loves us so perfectly and infinitely, no matter what.”
2. Study the Temple Outside the Temple
A new perspective can take time to understand. Melinda shares that we may need to devote personal study outside the temple to help us really see the many ways God’s love is manifest inside the temple. “You could study for hours on end not in the temple about the temple because it’s all through the scriptures,” Melinda says.
To better see the temple through the lens of love, try studying Christlike principles and attributes as well as the five temple endowment covenants.
Then, when we attend in person, we can choose one of these attributes or covenants to ponder at a time. Melinda has found this to be a helpful way to see more of the love that is inherent in temple worship.
3. Recognize Divine Law as Divine Love
To see more of God’s love in the temple, Melinda explains that we need to see God’s love as one and the same with the divine laws He sets.
“If we’ve grown up with this metaphor in the forefront of our minds of God as judge, the temple might feel like a courthouse, which to me seems really scary,” she explains. But if we learn to recognize divine law as divine love, we will see the temple as a place where a loving Father in Heaven waits for us to visit.
Melinda recommends approaching the temple as you would when “going to visit a really loving, gentle grandparents’ home.” With this perspective, we know that we are always welcome in the temple, and we will want to visit even more often.
With this small shift in perspective to see through the lens of love, we can make our temple experience even more meaningful. We can live our covenants more expansively and, as President Russell M. Nelson has said, “better comprehend the joy of [Jesus Christ’s] gospel.”
Learn more from Melinda about seeing the temple through the lens of love on the Magnify podcast.
More articles for you:
▶ How to feel at home in the house of the Lord
▶ Former Salt Lake Temple matron shares 3 insights on finding Christ in the temple
▶ The general conference quote that changed how I approach the temple
