April 2015 Visiting Teaching Message
The Attributes of Jesus Christ: Without
Guile or Hypocrisy
Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share.
How will understanding the life and roles of the Savior increase your faith in
Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring
attributes of the Savior.
Understanding
that Jesus Christ is without guile and hypocrisy will help us faithfully
strive to follow His example. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “To beguile is to deceive or lead astray. …
A person without guile is a person of innocence, honest intent, and pure
motives, whose life reflects the simple practice of conforming his [or her]
daily actions to principles of integrity. … I believe the necessity for the
members of the Church to be without guile may be more urgent now than at other
times because many in the world apparently do not understand the importance of
this virtue.”1
Of
hypocrisy, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency,
said: “None of us is quite as Christlike as we know we should be. But we
earnestly desire to overcome our faults and the tendency to sin. With our heart
and soul we yearn to become better with the help of the Atonement of Jesus
Christ.”2
We
know “we will be judged according to our actions, the desires of our hearts,
and the kind of people we have become.”3 Yet as we strive to repent, we will become more pure—and
“blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Additional Scriptures
From the Scriptures
Little
children are without guile. Jesus Christ said: “Suffer the little children to
come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. … And he
took [the children] up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them”
(Mark 10:14, 16).
Christ
also ministered to the children in the Americas after His Crucifixion. He
commanded that the people bring their little children to Him and “set them down
upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; …
“…
[And] he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little
children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. …
“And
as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and … they saw
angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came
down and encircled those little ones about, … and the angels did minister unto
them” (3 Nephi 17:12, 21, 24).
Consider This
What
can we learn about being without guile from little children? (see Guide to the
Scriptures, “Guile,” scriptures.lds.org).
Notes
1. Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Without
Guile,” Ensign, May 1988, 80, 81.
2. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Come, Join
with Us,” Ensign, Nov. 2013, 2
3. Handbook 2: Administering the
Church (2010), 1.2.1.
