I had a strange epiphany about 5 minutes ago as I was reading preach my gospel....Let me rewind. I guess that the epiphany has been 3 days in the making. I was reading John 14:21
( He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him) and I was wondering why love was associated so strongly with obedience and keeping the commandments. I decided tonight to investigate this matter further so I pulled out my worn and beaten copy of preach my gospel. to the side of one of the scriptures listed under obedience I had written "Love is the ultimate motivator. The more we feel love, the more likely we are to obey. Now the next part is going to show how much of a nerd I am so I apologize if I lose any of you. I am a psychology major, and as a psychology major we learn a lot about positive reinforcement and what motivates us as humans. Research and common sense I might add show that people are more motivated by positive encouragement rather than criticism. look at a school or treatment center setting. Children are more likely to do what you ask and continue to do what you ask, when they know that you care and when the praise they receive is equal to or greater than the task they have performed. This is another testimony to me that the scriptures are true and that EVERYTHING denotes that there is a God. Why would he give us an example and a guide in the scriptures and then not have it modeled anywhere in our everyday dealings?
