God our Father is a God of Love.

I’m reading a webcomic with my son, where a group of characters conflict and learn to work together. Two of them joined the group at different times and are both afraid of hurting the others in the group and afraid of being hurt. They get stuck together and choose to help each other; they bond to each other in the sense of, they each care how the other is doing. They have not said they’re friends, but they’re committed to each other’s survival. Their actions speak for them.

The fans of this webcomic call these two “bros” (long O, rhymes with “toes”). It’s short for brothers, and means the kind of close friends that the best brothers are: people who will fight for each other and sometimes with each other, but who have each other’s back. They defend each other and enjoy their time together. Bros don’t have to be blood relatives; there’s an emotional connection and an intentional commitment.

Some fans go so far as to ship them with each other, by which they mean dating each other. Shipping is wish fulfillment; these fans imagine signs of physical attraction, living together and sharing everything, including a bed.

Our society associates love with eros, erotic attraction. But attraction is not commitment. These two are committed to each other’s survival and wellbeing. It’s far deeper than wanting to sleep with someone, and may be completely separate.

God loves us in the sense of permanent commitment. He wants what is best for each of us and for all of us. In order to love God, that is, commit to Him, we need to love His children. I realized that true prophets love us. They’re not perfect, obviously, but in order to become true representatives of God, they needed to commit; learn to love, the kind of love that gives time and energy to our survival and well being. It’s the kind of love the best parents have for their children and for each other.

This commitment to our well being is why God trusted Nephi the son of Helaman with sealing power. God knew by Nephi’s previous actions that Nephi had committed his life to doing things God’s way: love men and women enough to persistently help them do better. Even when those men and women tried to kill Nephi, even when they stubbornly refused to listen and attacked people Nephi had committed to, Nephi kept going.

My son pointed out Jonah, a prophet who refused to go teach, taught reluctantly, and wanted God’s wrath to torch the people he taught, as worse than foot-dragging; Jonah did not love the people he was sent to teach. There is a character in the webcomic who is an official representative of Light, supposedly good, who will not listen and does not care about the lives of others. He’s like Jonah in that he wants justice without mercy.

God’s commitment to us, and therefore our mandate in trying to help each other, includes loving us enough to forgive our mistakes. The best leaders, like God, not only allow us to try again, but help us do so.