"Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear"

I want to share some thoughts that I had while reading the talk entitled "Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear." This talk was given by Elder L. Tom Perry, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon church).

Here is a link to his full talk: http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/perfect-love-casteth-out-fear?lang=eng

The main idea of Elder Perry's talk was that members of the Church should be anxious and willing to help those who are not of our faith to understand us better. He speaks of the visibility that our religion is receiving in many media outlets daily. 

One of the things he said that really stuck out to me was regarding stereotypes about the Church: "While the Church is becoming more visible, there are still many people who do not understand it. Some have been taught to be suspicious of the Church, to operate under negative stereotypes about the Church without questioning their source and validity." It is important to question stereotypes that we hear about other people or groups of people, especially when the stereotypes are negative. As fallen mortals, we often have a tendency to assume the worst of other people's intentions or acts. We are often suspicious. It is a truly divine quality to seek out and recognize the good which is most certainly there in each and every person on Earth.

My invitation to those who are not Mormons is this - please talk to me about my beliefs! If you have any curiosity regarding what I believe and why I believe it, I am more than willing to help you understand that. I would love to understand more about what you believe and why you believe it too. Whether you just have one simple question or you want to gain an in-depth perspective on why I choose to live my life the way I do, please ask!

My invitation to my fellow members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is this - help me in helping those not of our faith to understand us better. There is much that we can learn by having a two-way discussion about religious beliefs with friends outside the Church, and much that our friends will learn as well.

Elder Perry shares these three main points in his talk with regards to speaking to our friends outside the Church about our religion:

1. Be bold in our declaration of Jesus Christ
2. Be righteous examples to others
3. Speak up about the Church 

As we do these things in a spirit of Christlike love, we will bless the lives of our friends with greater understanding of our beliefs, and we will be strengthened ourselves. Talking to others about the convictions you have and your conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ does wonders for deepening your faith in the Savior.