Last weekend at Stake Conference, one of the major themes was temples and family. With the temple, I was pondering the meaning of the word Sacred. After doing some research found that the root meanings include "dedicated," "holy," and "binding." It is derived also from words that mean "to make holy or consecrate." The word sanctify is derived from different words with a similar meaning as this.
Service is derived from roots meaning "to perform work on" as well as "obedience" (which as a side note is derived from a similar root as audience meaning "to listen and perceive"). When I think of service, I also think of sacrifice. While sacrifice in a general sense means "something given up for the sake of another," its roots come from the same word a sacred.
The temple is a sacred place where we make covenants, are sanctified, and perform service. Temple work is a culmination of all these things and the climax of charity. We know that every soul will have an opportunity to hear the gospel, whether it is in this life or in the spirit world. They will have a chance to accept or reject it, but in order to gain exaltation, they must have sacred ordinances performed. We are able, by proxy, to do this work for them and to seal our families together for eternity.
I think this is one of my favorite pieces of the gospel. It is one of the reasons I know that the truthfulness of the gospel has been restored on the earth. Temple work is not new and is mentioned in the New Testament by Paul. It is sacred, though, and personal. The experiences we have in the temple are between us and the spirit. For these reasons, it is difficult to express the emotional and spiritual value of it, but for me it is somewhere where peace, joy, and love meet.
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