The Lord loves all people but cannot tolerate sin. Although Helaman 15:4 states that the Lord hated the Lamanites “because their deeds have been evil continually,” Samuel is an example of the many Lamanites who were taught the gospel message and gained God’s favor once they were converted.
Elder Russell M. Nelson addressed the subject of God’s love for those who sin: “Does this mean the Lord does not love the sinner? Of course not. Divine love is infinite and universal. The Savior loves both saints and sinners. The Apostle John affirmed, ‘We love him, because he first loved us’ [1 John 4:19]. And Nephi, upon seeing in vision the Lord’s mortal ministry, declared: ‘… Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men’ [1 Nephi 19:9; italics added]. We know the expansiveness of the Redeemer’s love because He died that all who die might live again” (“Divine Love,” Ensign, Feb. 2003, 24).