So, I have a couple of minutes before I need to leave for institute and I wanted to just take two seconds to share something I realized today.  

The lesson for institute tonight is on 1,2, and 3 John in the New Testament and as I was reading in 1 John, I realized that, at least to me, the overall theme of John's first epistle is that in order for us to truly love God, we have to love others and keep his commandments.  It's really just that simple.  John said over and over that it's not enough for us to just say we love God, because if we say we love Him, but then hate our brothers or fail to keep His commandments, then we're liars.  So, in my mind, I saw this little circle of love:

And what I learned/realized is that if any part of this circle is broken or missing, then we really don't know or love God and that would be really sad, because He loves us so much.  John says in 1 John 4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us." And in 1 John 4:8-10, John goes on to teach:

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might alive through him.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

In the atoning sacrifice of our brother and Savior, is the purest love of our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Father loved us enough to send his Son, to suffer and bleed and die, so that we might have the opportunity to return to Him and all He asks in return is that we keep his commandments and love one another.  This gives me a renewed desire to love and lift others.  It gives me a renewed desire to be a better friend, a better daughter, a better person, so that others might see the love of our Father and our Savior in the way I treat others.