- Today I declare from this pulpit what has been said here before: that no love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child. When Isaiah, speaking messianically, wanted to convey Jehovah’s love, he invoked the image of a mother’s devotion. “Can a woman forget her sucking child?” he asks. How absurd, he implies, though not as absurd as thinking Christ will ever forget us.
Elder Holland discusses three examples of a mothers love and share how we can find the love of the Savior in each one. First he talks about a friend of his that had fallen away from the church and was about to die. She expressed her concern about dying away from the church and how her when she gets to the other side, she knows that her mother will be so disappointed in her. He shares that he believes the love of that mother will meet her when she passes and express great love as she has never known for her daughter. He speaks of the broken heart of this child and mother and reminds us to think of the Savior.
- I need not remind us that Jesus died of a broken heart, one weary and worn out from bearing the sins of the world. So in any moment of temptation, may we “behold [our] mother” as well as our Savior and spare them both the sorrow of our sinning.
The second example is about a young man who returned from his mission due to same-sex attraction and how his mother for several years cried with him, held him, taught him, sought heaven's help with him as he struggled on how to deal with these trials in his life. He shares that this mothers love kept him continually seeking the Savior until he was able to handle his trials and find peace within himself. He shares that because of this mother, this young man eventually taught seminary and returned to the mission field to fulfill his mission from the Lord.
The final example is of a mother who helps her disabled daughter during a temple dedication wave the white handkerchief and shout the precious worlds only understood by this girl and God. He says the love this woman shows her daughter is a great example of the love that the Savior has for us.
Finally he closes with these worlds about mothers.
- To all of our mothers everywhere, past, present, or future, I say, “Thank you. Thank you for giving birth, for shaping souls, for forming character, and for demonstrating the pure love of Christ.” To Mother Eve, to Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, to Mary of Nazareth, and to a Mother in Heaven, I say, “Thank you for your crucial role in fulfilling the purposes of eternity.” To all mothers in every circumstance, including those who struggle—and all will—I say, “Be peaceful. Believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are. In fact, you are saviors on Mount Zion, and like the Master you follow, your love ‘never faileth.’” I can pay no higher tribute to anyone.
What a great tribute to the miraculous work that mothers do. I know that mothers are not perfect but they are on a different spiritual level than fathers. I see this in my family. We joke around our house that daughters come to dad to help them fix their problems, they come to mom to make them feel good about themselves. Although that might sound a little harsh, it really shows that there are two roles that need to be played and one doesn't overshadow the other. I thank God for the wonderful mother I have and know that I would not be close to the Savior unless I had her example my whole life.