We live in a throw away culture, we use something until it is
worn and then discard it and seldom look back. Based on stories in the daily news, it appears that some people in our world, feel that people (souls), like things, can be used until they tire of them or until they get old and then they too can be discarded or even destroyed.
It doesn’t require that one be a scripturian to know that Heavenly Father loves all of us and that we are precious in His sight and that He would have us all return to His presence by and by.
“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him…And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!” (D&C 18:10–16) Here the most intelligent being in the universe, the very being who created us, values us so highly that He doesn’t want to lose even one of us. He knows our value as no one else does. When you think of the intricacies of the body and spirit of man and the capabilities that we have been blessed with, how can a reasonable person doubt our value. We are reminded daily that we can’t replace or re-manufacture one single hair on our heads let alone a leg or an arm etc…“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” ( John 15:12) Our greatest challenge in this life is to value each other, to learn to love others as he loved us.
It seems that everyone loves a newborn, but we need to try to extend that love through all stages of man’s existence. We all have the same basic needs and one of the most important is love and affection. If we could only have the ability to see ourselves in others and want for them the same blessings that we enjoy, then and only then will the Lord’s compassion become evident in our own lives. Is that not the ‘golden rule’? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
Not only are the souls living on the earth today precious to the Lord but so are all the souls that have lived and all those who will yet live on the earth be precious in His sight. Alma, several hundred years before Christ was born, tried to explain that to his son Corianton in the following verses “Behold, I say unto you, is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul will be at the time of his coming? Is it not as necessary that the plan of redemption should be made known unto this people as well as unto their children?” (Alma 39:17–18)
Thus, we see, the importance of this great work for those who have preceded us to the grave. May the Lord bless us to turn our hearts and remember the promises made to the Fathers—that all souls shall be blessed with the Gospel of salvation, even life eternal.