Daily Inspiration Quote by Brigham Young

“Love the giver more than the gift” is less a Hallmark sentiment than a power move wrapped in piety. Brigham Young wasn’t speaking from the sidelines of private devotion; he was building a people, a church, and an economy in the desert, where loyalty wasn’t abstract. It had to be practical. In that context, the line functions like a moral lever: it shifts attention away from material reward and toward the relationship that authorizes the giving in the first place.

The intent is disciplinary as much as devotional. By asking followers to prize the giver, Young quietly demotes the gift to something secondary, even suspect. Gifts can be counted, compared, demanded. They create entitlement. The giver, by contrast, is a source: of provision, guidance, salvation, community standing. If you “love the giver,” you don’t just accept what you receive; you accept the hierarchy and the obligations that come with it. Gratitude becomes a form of allegiance.

The subtext is also an inoculation against transactional faith. Frontier Mormon life required sacrifice; people were asked to consecrate property, time, and autonomy. A community can’t survive if members treat blessings like payments. Young’s phrasing nudges believers toward a posture where devotion remains intact even when the “gift” feels delayed, unequal, or painful.

It’s rhetorically efficient: a simple comparative (“more than”) that moralizes desire. Want less. Attach more. And, crucially, attach to the one who gives.