Accepted of the Lord

What is the difference between love and acceptance?

God loves all of His children with a perfect love (see 2 Nephi 26:24-25). That doesn’t mean that He’s happy with every decision we make. It means that He is committed to our happiness and growth.

Jesus said, “The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). And the Father endorsed this assertion. Several times, He has introduced the Savior as “my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; 3 Nephi 11:7).

When we love and respect someone, we naturally want to do things that please them. The Greek word euarestos (εὐάρεστος) means “well pleasing.” It appears multiple times in the epistles of Paul, where the King James translators usually rendered it as “acceptable” or “accepted.” For example:

• “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” (Romans 12:1).
• “We labour, that … we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

In an August 1833 revelation, the Lord explains the attitudes and actions which will please Him:

Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me.

Doctrine and Covenants 97:8

The attitude which pleases God is an honest, broken heart and a contrite spirit. Mormon underscored this point when he said, “None is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart” (Moroni 7:44). The Savior emphasized the same point when, shortly after His death, He abolished the formal sacrifices specified in the law of Moses:

Ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.

And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

3 Nephi 9:19-20

The actions which please Him are sacrifices, specifically any sacrifice which He asks of us.

Elder Erich W. Kopischke explained that most of those sacrifices are relatively small: accepting a calling, reaching out to those in need, performing community service, or doing temple work on behalf of our ancestors. He added that we “observe [our] covenants by sacrifice” when we worthily partake of the sacrament each Sunday and receive anew the promise that the Spirit will always be with us. “Having the Holy Ghost as our constant companion is the ultimate indicator of being accepted of God” (“Being Accepted of the Lord,” General Conference, April 2013).

Jacob referred to the Final Judgment as “the pleasing bar of God” (Jacob 6:13; see also Moroni 10:34). And pleasing it will be if we have followed a path of intentional humility, repentance, and sacrifice. At that time, we all hope to hear the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant … enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23). That will be the ultimate manifestation of God’s acceptance!

Today I will strive to please God by adopting an attitude of humility and by willingly making the sacrifices He asks of me.