PROVO — Citing the Savior's admonition in a three-word New Testament verse to "remember Lot's wife," Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Quorum of the Twelve described faith as building on the past but never longing to stay there and as trusting God has great blessings in store for each.
"Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant, and live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, trust and divine love transform your life today, tomorrow and forever," he said.
Elder Holland spoke at Tuesday's devotional at Brigham Young University, where he served as president from 1980 to 1989.
He referenced the biblical story from Genesis, where Lot and his family fled at daybreak from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot's wife ignored God's command to "look not behind thee" and — upon looking back — turned into a pillar of salt.
"It isn't just that she looked back — she looked back longingly," he said. "In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin."
Counseling his audience to not dwell on days now gone or yearn vainly for yesterday, Elder Holland reminded "the past is to be learned from but not lived in," drawing upon experiences as one looks ahead.
"We remember that faith is always pointed toward the future — faith always has to do with blessing and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives," he said. "So a more theological way to talk about Lot's wife is to say she did not have faith. She doubted the Lord's ability to give her something better than she had. Apparently she thought — fatally as it turned out — that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as those moments she was leaving behind."
Mindful individuals are sometimes hardest on themselves than with others, Elder Holland asked that in all situations — including relationships, marriages and personal lives — ancient wounds not be reopened, the same wounds the Savior died trying to heal.
"Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change — and improve," he said. "It that faith? Yes! It is hope? Yes! Is it charity? Yes! Above all it is charity, the pure love of Christ."
Elder Holland encouraged listeners to forgive and then do that which is harder to do — forget. And to forget again when it comes to mind again, remembered just enough to avoid repeating the mistake.
"Dismiss the destructive and keep dismissing it, until the beauty of the atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future, and the bright future of your family and your friends and your neighbors," he said.
"God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as he does about where you are, and with his help, where you are willing to go."
E-mail: taylor@desnews.com