Question
Dear Gramps,
During a conversation with my daughters about the relationship between Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Lucifer and ourselves, they asked me a question for which I have been searching for an answer for many months now. The question is, if we are all children of Heavenly Father, then Lucifer is our wayward brother and shouldn’t we love him too, like we are supposed to love all our brothers and sisters? It is a terribly difficult question to answer since I don’t want to diminish the beautiful love these girls have for all of Heavenly Father’s children, regardless of the life they live in mortality. But on the other hand, I don’t want them to become too comfortable with sympathetic feelings for the adversary and fall victim to his lies and treachery. What is an appropriate answer for them? Graciously Yours,
Rutheyi
Answer
Dear Rutheyi,
Thus saith the Lord concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power-
They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born;
For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;
Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come (D&C 76:31-34).
This scripture tells us that the sons of perdition, and Satan, whom they follow, are doomed to suffer the wrath of God for eternity. Would it be logical for us to love someone so wicked that God, Himself, refuses to forgive him? We are told to
lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing. (Moroni 10:30)
“Touch not” means to completely avoid. It is inconsistent with the principle of love for us to completely avoid the object of our love. Perhaps your daughters could reflect upon the counsel given in the 13th Article of Faith for guidance on how their love should be focused.
If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
Gramps