Brothers and sisters, I would like to compare our physical and spiritual health in a discussion about
receptors. Our physical health depends on hormones and their receptors. Hormones, such
as thyroid hormones, insulin, and many others, are substances produced in glands and then
transported in the bloodstream to specific cells, and they stimulate those cells by interacting
with specific receptors. Illness can occur when either the gland does not produce enough
hormone or the receptor is dysfunctional. You can imagine that the signs and symptoms
of an illness can be similar in either case. Hormone and other treatments can resolve or
mitigate the illness in many situations.
There is a type of receptor dysfunction that is eternally consequential: the inability
to sense God’s love and feel His Spirit. God’s love is infinite and perfect. There
has never been nor will there ever be a deficiency of God’s love. The apostle Paul said:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . .
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus."
But what do you do if you do not feel the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
I know with certainty that the problem is not with Their love. The problem is with your
receptors for Their love. If you have dysfunction of your receptors for God’s love, you can
lose your way and succumb to dangers such as hopelessness, helplessness, and loneliness.
If you experience dysfunction of these receptors, God’s influence in your life is minimized.
With complete dysfunction, you will not sense Their love or Their caring concern for you.
The prophet Mormon described this condition in his people. He lamented:
"For behold, . . . they are without Christ and God in the world. . . .
They were once a delightsome people, and they had Christ for their shepherd; yea, they were
led even by God the Father.
But now, behold, they are led about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or
as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything
wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they."
Without Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and Their influence in our lives, we have no shepherd.
Without Them, there is no sail—meaning there is no power. Without Them, there is no anchor—meaning
there is no stability, especially in times of storm. Without Them, there is nothing with
which to steer—meaning there is no direction. No power, no stability, and no direction are
all consequences of dysfunctional receptors for Their love.
In my experience, receptor dysfunction for God’s love happens slowly and imperceptibly
over time—not all at once. I will relate an embarrassing experience that I did not
tell my wife for years. I learned for myself that I was vulnerable. Because I suspect you
might be at risk too, I will share my cautionary tale. It highlights this warning by the Savior:
"But there is a possibility that man may fall from grace and depart from the living God;
Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation;
Yea, and even let those who are sanctified take heed also."
After I finished medical school, my wife, daughter, and I moved to Baltimore, Maryland,
for further training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. At that time the training years were brutal,
time intensive, and exhausting.
Toward the end of my first year, I was weary. Because interns worked every day and every
second or third night, I worked every Sunday and was able to attend church only about half
the time. Our ward met in a suburb of Baltimore at 2:30 in the afternoon. We lived across
the street from the hospital and had only one car. Some Sundays I could finish my work
and join my wife and daughter as they left for the meetings at 2:00 p.m. Other Sundays
I could not.
One Sunday I could tell that if I really hurried with my work, I would be able to go with my
wife and daughter to church. But then I had this thought: If I slowed down a little bit
and waited, I would not get home until after my wife and daughter had departed. Then I
could skip church and take a nap. It mortifies me to say that I did exactly that.
I walked home at 2:15 and laid down on the couch. But I could not sleep. I was profoundly
disturbed. I had always loved going to church. I had always felt a burning testimony of Christ’s
living reality. But on that day the intensity was not there.
It was not so hard to figure out why. I had stopped consistently doing some personal,
private acts of devotion. My routine was that I would get up in the morning, say a prayer,
and go to work. Sometimes there would be no distinction between the end of the day and
the beginning of the next. I would work through the night and the next day, come home late
that second day, and fall asleep without a prayer and without reading anything in the
scriptures. The following day the cycle started again. I had allowed my receptors for God’s
love to become dull, so that the things of the Spirit were less urgent and less important.
With this realization, I got off the couch, knelt on the floor, and pleaded with God for
forgiveness. I begged for help. As I did, a plan formulated in my mind and heart to
change the pattern of behavior.
I began with simple reminders to myself. On my daily to-do list, I started including morning
and evening prayers. I brought a paperback Book of Mormon to my cubicle in the hospital
and included scripture reading on that to-do list. Some nights the scripture reading was
short, just a few verses before midnight. Sometimes my prayers were offered in unusual
locations. But I read the scriptures daily. I prayed daily. My plan included a commitment
that I would never miss an opportunity to partake of the sacrament. Never.
As I enacted my new course of action, the intensity returned, and my testimony burned
brightly again. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had not gotten off that
couch that Sunday afternoon. My life would have been very different. Instead, Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ became central to my life again. My receptors for God’s love
and my affinity for the Spirit improved.
The inability to sense God’s love can stem from sin or from not pressing forward on the
covenant path. The inability can also be due to physical or mental illness. For instance,
clinical anxiety and depression require professional help. God expects us to seek professional
help when indicated. Remember Captain Moroni’s rhetorically sarcastic question to Pahoran:
“Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we . . . do not make use
of the means which the Lord has provided for us?” Prayers in this situation may seem
somewhat insincere to God as they are manifestations of faith without works.
In my situation, absent mental illness, I followed a three-fold prescription for my
dysfunctional receptors for God’s love. The first is what President Russell M. Nelson
refers to as “increased purity, exact obedience.” This means repentance. If you are doing something
that is causing receptor dysfunction, repent. Repentance is a joyful process. Remember that
God does not really care who you were and what you did. He cares who you are, what you
are doing, and who you are becoming. As President Nelson said, repentance is not punishment:
"[The] feeling of being penalized is engendered by Satan. He tries to block us from looking
to Jesus Christ, who stands with open arms, hoping and willing to heal, forgive, cleanse,
strengthen, purify, and sanctify us."
If you feel that you have done something unredeemable or irreparable or you are too far gone, that
feeling is not coming from the Holy Ghost. It is engendered by faulty thinking or by
Satan.
The second is what President Nelson refers to as “earnest seeking, daily feasting on
the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon.” Feasting, not nibbling, on the words of Christ,
especially in the Book of Mormon, has the power to dramatically change receptors for
God’s love. Studying the words of Christ will put you “in a position to begin having
experiences with [God].” It did for me. This advice from Paul to Timothy applies to
you:
"From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness."
Third, I made sure that I would never miss an opportunity to partake of the sacrament
so that I could have the Holy Ghost with me. The Savior said to the Nephites regarding
partaking of the sacrament: “And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for
ye are built upon my rock.” If you do not, He said, then you “are not built upon my
rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods
come, and the winds blow, and beat upon [you], [you] shall fall.” Remember that He said
when rain, wind, and floods come, not if. They come, and they come to all of us. But
if we have partaken of the sacrament conscientiously and worthily, then the blessings come so that
we won’t fall.
An added insight about the sacrament comes from President Nelson’s remarks at the mission
leadership seminar in June 2019. After partaking of the sacrament, President Nelson said:
"I made a covenant as I partook of the sacrament that I would be willing to take upon me the
name of Jesus Christ and . . . to obey His commandments. Often, I hear the expression
that we partake of the sacrament to renew covenants made at baptism. While that’s
true, it’s much more than that. I’ve made a new covenant. You have made new covenants."
If we approach the sacrament with a broken heart and contrite spirit, the way we expect
a new convert to approach baptism, God renews the blessings of baptism for us, including
the cleansing effect.
President Nelson continued: “Now in return for which [God] makes the
statement that we will always have His Spirit to be with us. What a blessing!”
This is the three-part prescription for dysfunctional receptors for God’s love: repentance, scripture
study, and partaking of the sacrament to have the Holy Ghost with us. If we do not address
this dysfunction early on, we will end up “past feeling.” And that is spiritually
fatal.
Addressing our dysfunctional receptors for God’s love restores power, stability, and
direction in our lives. The prognosis when this receptor dysfunction is treated is excellent.
Give yourself an early Christmas present and get off the couch, like I did that Sunday
afternoon long ago. Make sure your receptors for God’s love are fully functional. Then,
as you continue doing those personal, private acts of devotion, you won’t slip back into
receptor dysfunction. I know that Jesus Christ “has all power to save every[one] that believeth
on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.” I know that our Heavenly
Father’s message to us is this:
"If ye will repent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine
Only Begotten Son;
Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy
through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my
rest."
This is my prayer for all of us. I pray that God will watch over and bless you and help
you throughout this Christmas season and throughout your lives, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.