Passions properly bridled will facilitate oneness with the Lord, Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the Seventy said March 2 during a BYU-Idaho devotional assembly."Alma taught his son … to 'bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love' (Alma 38:12)," he said. "… God does not want us to extinguish the passionate yearnings of our hearts. He wants us to fulfill them, but He wants to teach us how to find their full expression. That is exactly why He gave us the bridle of the gospel — so we can be filled with the fire of our God-given passions without being destroyed by that fire."Elder Hafen, who served as president of Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) from 1978-85, went on to explain how the Lord's commandments can be a bridle helping lead Latter-day Saints to true fulfillment and satisfaction."Do you think God gave us the commandments because He doesn't want us to experience the deepest satisfactions of which the human soul is capable" he asked. "Is the gospel a wall built around joy and fulfillment to keep us out? The prophet Jacob said, 'Do not … labor for that which cannot satisfy' (2 Ne. 9:51). Remember that."The problem is not that the world's way is too satisfying. The problem is that the world's way isn't satisfying enough. It cannot satisfy. It doesn't have the power. It is a tragically cheap imitation of the real thing. The real thing is full of authentic, bridled, eternally committed love and passion."See the full story on ldschurchnews.com.
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