By President Gordon B. Hinckley
Excerpt
“The other card which I have is what we call a temple recommend. It represents a credit card with the Lord, making available to me many of His greatest gifts. The bank card is concerned with things of the world, the recommend with things of God.”
Intro
December 13, 2025. 6:00 PM. Proxy Endowment at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.
As the sky deepened into winter color and the temple stood illuminated against the dusk, I carried more than a recommend in my pocket. I carried a reminder. President Gordon B. Hinckley’s words returned clearly and quietly, teaching not just what a temple recommend is, but what it represents. Not a formality. Not a routine. A sacred trust.
Notes from President Gordon B. Hinckley
President Hinckley offered a simple but unforgettable comparison.
He held up two cards.
One was a bank credit card. Useful. Valuable. Governed by contracts and conditions. Issued temporarily. Revocable if misused. Owned ultimately by the bank.
The other was a temple recommend.
A different kind of credit entirely. A credit card with the Lord.
Unlike financial credit, eligibility for a temple recommend is not based on wealth, status, or means. It is based on consistent personal behavior, moral worthiness, and the goodness of one’s life. It is concerned not with money, but with eternity.
He reminded us that a recommend is not permanent. It must be renewed. Worthiness must be maintained. And sometimes, he cautioned, we rush people to the temple before they are truly prepared.
So sacred was this matter in earlier times that Presidents of the Church personally signed every recommend themselves.
Perspective (Direct Quotes)
“I hold before you two credit cards. Most of you are familiar with cards such as these.”
“The other card which I have is what we call a temple recommend. It represents a credit card with the Lord, making available to me many of His greatest gifts.”
“Eligibility for a temple recommend is not based on financial worth. That has nothing whatever to do with it. It is based on consistent personal behavior, on the goodness of one’s life.”
“The temple recommend which you carry, if honestly obtained, is certification of your moral worthiness.”
“What a unique and remarkable thing is a temple recommend. It is only a piece of paper with a name and signatures, but in reality it is a certificate that says the bearer is honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous.”
“It makes one eligible for an exclusive and remarkable privilege—the privilege of entering that House which says on its wall, ‘Holiness to the Lord—the House of the Lord.’”
“Live worthy to serve in that house. Keep it holy.”
Practice (Today, Not Someday)
Today I ask myself:
Am I treating my temple recommend as a privilege or as a routine?
Am I living in a way that quietly honors what it certifies?
Worthiness is not proven at the interview table alone. It is practiced daily in private choices, honest dealings, clean thoughts, and deliberate restraint. Today, not later. Now, not eventually.
Final Reflection
Standing before the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, I was reminded that holiness is not accidental. It is cultivated. A recommend is renewed on paper every two years, but it is renewed in the soul every single day.
The Lord does not rush holiness. He invites preparation.
Pocket I’m Keeping
“Entering the temple is a privilege to be earned and not a right that automatically goes with Church membership.”
Link to the Talk
Keeping the Temple Holy – President Gordon B. Hinckley https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1990/04/keeping-the-temple-holy?lang=eng
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