In a recent LDS Living video, Melinda Brown, author of An Endowment of Love, makes a special distinction between temple work and temple worship:

“Devoted love … turns what’s sometimes called temple work into what we might more accurately describe as temple worship. Worship is love, not labor.”

So, how can we feel a greater sense of devoted love and thereby more fully enjoy temple worship? First, Melinda says there is something we need to remember about God’s love.

We aren’t expected to generate feelings of devoted love in our temple worship out of nothing. In 1 John 4:19, we learn that God is the source of all love: “We love him, because he first loved us.” And Melinda Brown points out that the New Revised Standard Version of this verse has a more general application. It says, “We love because he first loved us.”

Have you noticed that it’s easier to love someone if they first make you feel loved? The knowledge that God loves us (and has always loved us) is the enabling force that makes it possible for us to love Him and others. Melinda puts it simply:

“Love begets love.”

If we believe that God is the source of an infinite well of love, then the closer we draw to Him, the better we’ll be able to worship with devoted love—both inside and outside the temple. Melinda suggests three ways we can draw closer to God:

1. Practice covenant commitments. 
2. Refresh our memories of sacred things. 
3. Refocus our attention on the Lord. 

Melinda adds that gratitude is an important part of the equation:

“When we start with love, temple worship is fueled by gratitude and feels like rejoicing. Gratitude always shines a light on love. It gives us something to celebrate. We feel drawn to the temple by our devotion, not out of duty.”

Watch the rest of Melinda’s video below for more insights on temple worship.

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Discover a new approach to temple worship

In An Endowment of Love: Embracing Christ’s Covenant Way of Living and Loving, author Melinda W. Brown invites us to join her in a unique approach to the temple that is specifically focused on developing a loving relationship with the Lord and learning His way of loving God and others.

Read the first chapter of the book here: How to feel at home in the house of the Lord

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