From http://www.lds.org

This message can help members who may feel separated from Heavenly Father or from those around them. What would help those you teach understand what a breach is? Maybe you could bring pictures of different kinds of breaches.

• How does Sister Marriott define breach?
• What can cause breaches in our relationships with God and others?
• Invite members to search Sister Marriott’s message for suggestions about what we can do to repair breaches in our lives. Give members time to write down what the Spirit prompts them to do to draw closer to God and others.

Abiding in God

Sister Marriott speaks of God’s everlasting love and quotes Jeremiah 31:3 and Moses 6:34. She asks: Do we trust Him enough to abide in Him and walk with Him?

Elder Christofferson explains that ‘everlasting love’ is a more accurate description than ‘unconditional’ love:

‘There are many ways to describe and speak of divine love. One of the terms we hear often today is that God’s love is “unconditional.” While in one sense that is true, the descriptor unconditional appears nowhere in scripture. Rather, His love is described in scripture as “great and wonderful love,”  ^{(Doctrine and Covenants 138:3)} “perfect love,”  ^{(1 John 4:18  Moroni 8:16)} “redeeming love,”  ^{(Alma 5:26)} and “everlasting love.”  ^{(Jeremiah 31:3).} These are better terms because the word unconditional can convey mistaken impressions about divine love, such as, God tolerates and excuses anything we do because His love is unconditional, or God makes no demands upon us because His love is unconditional, or all are saved in the heavenly kingdom of God because His love is unconditional. God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever, but what it means for each of us depends on how we respond to His love.’ (Elder D Todd Christofferson, General Conference October 2016).

Sister Marriott suggests some ways that we can abide in God’s love:

• We are here on this earth to learn and grow, and the most important learning and growing will come from our covenant connection to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
• We need to know that Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation is that we obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel and gain eternal life and thus become as God is.
•  We can lose our trusting connection to God if trials drive us to distraction instead of sending us to our knees.

• Some things matter; some things don’t. A few things last, but most things won’t.

• It is now, with our mortal limitations, that the Father asks us to love when loving is most difficult, to serve when serving is inconvenient, to forgive when forgiving is soul stretching. 

See John 15:4, John 15:10, D&C 88:22

Definition of ‘abide’

 

How do we repair that breach?

• Only the Savior’s Atonement can cleanse us of our sins and close that gap or breach. (See Jacob 4:11)
• Sacrifice of our personal agendas is required to make room for the eternal plans of God. 
• Drawing near unto the Father can mean learning of His truth through the scriptures, following prophetic counsel, and striving to do His will more completely. (See D&C 88:63)
• When we give our heart to the Father and the Son, we change our world—even if circumstances around us do not change. We draw closer to Heavenly Father and feel His tender acceptance of our efforts to be true disciples of Christ. 
• Mormon tells us to pray with all energy of heart for this love and it will be bestowed upon us from its source—Heavenly Father. (See Moroni 7:48)

‘When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him—when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life—you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do.’ (Elder Russell M Nelson, General Conference, April 2017)

See: The Infinite Atonement