Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
Elder Clark G. Gilbert · Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles · Sunday Afternoon Session
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Disciples of Jesus Christ keep truth and love together. That often starts with holding back a quick reply and listening first, so that what we teach later comes from love.
Skip the Dostoevsky Grand Inquisitor reference and the story about the Ensign College devotional; give principles three and four a single sentence each and spend the time on the first two.
Before Sunday
This Sunday: Elder Gilbert's "Teach Truth with Love"
On Sunday we'll discuss Elder Clark G. Gilbert's October conference talk, "Teach Truth with Love." He shares five ways to stand for truth with love and says that some of us need more conviction while others need more charity. Please read or listen to the talk before class if you can. Ponder this: when you disagree with someone you love, which do you tend to let go of first, truth or love?
Pick one opening
Elder Gilbert says it takes courage to stand for truth, and it takes even more courage to stand for truth with love. Think of a time you saw someone do both at once, maybe a parent, a leader, or a friend. What did they actually do or say that let you feel both the truth and the love?
Elder Gilbert says it takes courage to stand for truth, and it takes even more courage to stand for truth with love. Think of a time you saw someone do both at once, maybe a parent, a leader, or a friend. What did they actually do or say that let you feel both the truth and the love?
Elder Gilbert tells about a friend who had once been faithful and was now attacking the Church. Elder Gilbert was frustrated because he knew his friend knew better, and he answered with an angry retort. He said he may have won the debate, but he lost the Spirit and failed to help his struggling friend. He concluded that he had stood for truth that day, but without love and without charity.
A stake president asked Elder Gilbert to visit one home. When they arrived, five people were waiting, each with a different concern. Elder Gilbert wanted to jump in, but the Spirit kept prompting him to wait. He listened for almost two hours and missed his next meeting. When he invited them to stake conference that evening, every one of them came.
Teach this first
Elder Gilbert teaches that holding back the urge to respond, and listening until we understand someone's struggles, builds common ground. Then we can teach truth from a place of love. What looks like hostility may be hidden pain or regret that we cannot see.
Elder Gilbert said that resisting the impulse to respond right away built common ground, which later allowed him to teach from a place of love, just as "we love him, because he [loved us first]."
Ask the class
If time remains
Loving others does not mean surrendering our values. The Savior showed love to the woman taken in adultery and also told her to "go, and sin no more," so loving God first strengthens our love for others instead of limiting it.
Ask the class
Counsel together
Last 3–5 minutes
This week, pick one person you sometimes disagree with. In your next conversation, listen until you understand what they are carrying before you answer, and pray to know what to say.
Your witness: Share briefly how the Savior has kept truth and love together in the way He treats you, or a time when listening first opened a door that arguing could not.