Keywords

God's Love, Divine Love, Repentance, Atonement of Jesus Christ

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Some of my family and friends have separated themselves from the gospel. Their reasons vary. However, they often share a common concern: if God loves all his children, all the time, everywhere, and no matter what—why can’t I feel it? In response to this question, I wrote this essay. In doing so, I found President Russell M. Nelson’s conference talk on divine love to be an important resource. President Nelson states that “while divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring, and universal, it cannot correctly be characterized as unconditional.” In grappling with the concept of conditional love and hoping to comfort loved ones who struggle to feel God’s love, I suggest here that the reason we cannot feel God’s love is not because he loves us less but because we cannot access it.