*Develop righteous communications
*Avoid lying and anger*Have Christlike feelings
Calling communications a "priceless gift," Elder L. Lionel Kendrick counseled Saturday afternoon to develop Christlike communications.
In his address, Elder Kendrick of the First Quorum of the Seventy first established the importance of communication. "Our communications are at the core of our relationships with others," he explained.
"If we are to return home safely to our Heavenly Father we must develop righteous relationships with His children in mortality."
Each person will be held accountable for what he says, Elder Kendrick cautioned, and no communications is without consequesnce. "This includes the slight slips of the tongue, the caustic communicatios that canker the soul, and the vain, vulgar, and profane words which desecrate the name of Deity."
Elder Kendrick also cautioned Chruch members about certain kinds of un-Christlike communications that destroy relationships. "One of the major ways that Satan uses to retard the development of righteous relationships is in the use of gossip, rumor and slander on his communication network. Perhaps the more common un-Christlike communications are those of lying, blaming, criticizing and anger."
Elder Kendrick touched upon each of these un-Christlike communications.
Lying, he said was introduced by Satan in the Garden of Eden and is a serious sin.
"The scriptures teach us that 'lying lips are abomination to the Lord' (Proverbs 12:22), and that 'he that lieth and will not repent shall be cut out' (D&C 42:21)," he quoted.
Blaming is a condemning communication. "It has been from the beginning and iwll be until the end that the natural man will have a tendency to rationalize and to blame his behaviors on others or upon certain circumstances," Elder Kendrick explained. "When we attempt to place responsibility for our choices on others, we are respoding in less than a Christ-like manner."
Negative criticism, unlike positive criticism, is intended to hurt and often to defame and destroy and should be avoided, Eldre Kendrick continued.
And finally, anger. "Anger shows a lack of self-control and an inability to relate in a righteous way to others. It is a senseless substitute for self-control," he explained.
Elder Kendrick urged members to strive for Christlike communications.
"The real challenge that we face in our communications with others is to condition our hearts to have Christlike feelings for all of Heavenly Father's children. When we develop this concern for the condition of others, we will then communicate with them as the Savior would."