I am a fortunate man. I have a wonderful wife, wonderful kids, great job, and I have a testimony of the gospel. But as fortunate as I am, my family and I have not had the perfect life. As many of you have, we've gone through some hard times - negative economy has affected, too. Along with that, we're in a constant battle of trials from other people - even from those that we believed were our friends. And I hate to even say this ... I find it interesting that most of our grief has to do with fellow church members.
With that in mind, I've been thinking a lot about Matthew 7:15-23 that talks about wolves in sheep's clothing. It initially refers to false prophets, but upon further reading you find that this applies to anyone that portrays themselves as righteous but has other motives. The ones that preach for money are easy to spot; but there are many other wolves to watch out for that I feel are much worse. I think anyone who justifies not being nice to people in the name of magnifying their church calling can be classified as a wolf. Or someone that only starts being nice to you because they want something, or when you're no longer useful they stop talking to you. Or parents that treat their children lovingly in public, but ugly and cruel in private.
I wish I could provide specific examples, it would make the point I'm trying to make much clearer; but I believe it would be inappropriate for this post. If you want those examples, send me an e-mail. But what I will say is that I believe that a wolf is anyone that places anything in priority above any person, and the ones that are in sheep's clothing are those that do so in the name of doing the Lord's work - which for me means anyone in church. I believe this is the meaning of verses 22 & 23. Christ's love is unconditional; and if we're going to return to Him, we have to be like Him. And there will be many church members that will be surprised in the end how far from the Lord's will they really were.
I've learned again this week that the ends don't justify the means. Heavenly Father won't care that you conducted the best church choir, paid the most tithing, taught the best Sunday School class, baptized the most converts on your mission, or anything of the sort. The Lord's gonna want to know how you treated those around you and if you were there for them, especially your family. I'll end with the words of President Uchtdorf that sums it up best:
"Brethren, when we stand before the Lord to be judged, will He look upon the positions we have held in the world or even in the Church? Do you suppose that titles we have had other than "husband", "father", or "priesthood holder" will mean much to Him? Do you think He will care how packed our schedule was or how many important meetings we attended? Do you suppose that our success in filling our days with appointments will serve as an excuse for failure to spend time with our wife and family?
"The Lord judges so very differently from the way we do. He is pleased with the noble servant, not with the self-serving noble."
So keep an eye out for those wolves ... and don't become one, either.