Not a Comfortable god
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“It is a characteristic of our age that if people want any Gods at all, they want them to be Gods who do not demand much, comfortable Gods, smooth Gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, Gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds.
Talk about man creating God in his own image! Sometimes–and this seems the greatest irony of all–these folks invoke the name of Jesus as one who was this kind of “comfortable” God. Really? He who said not only should we not break commandments, but we should not even think about breaking them. And if we do think about breaking them, we have already broken them in our heart. Does that sound like “comfortable” doctrine, easy on the ear and popular down at the village love-in? … It is obvious that the bumper sticker question ‘What would Jesus do?’ will not always bring a popular response.”
Elder Holland’s point is excellent. God cares more about our spiritual progress than He cares about our comfort. Sometimes His commandments aren’t easy, but if they didn’t stretch us, they’d have no power to strengthen us.
As Joseph Smith once said: “A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.”
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