Charity

Charity is defined as The pure love of Christ, the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection.  It is never used to denote alms or deed of benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive.

Moroni 7:46 teaches that without charity, you are nothing and that charity never faileth.

Our faith will not be necessary anymore once we see and know the Savior face to face.

Our hope will be fulfilled because we will be rewarded for our good works and our hopes will be made manifest.

Charity will ALWAYS be needed.  It will never fail.

The other thing is charity and love never fail.  When we show love and charity at all times, it always succeeds.

Moroni 7:47 teaches that it is the pure love of Christ

Moroni 7:48 teaches that we should pray to be blessed with charity.  I have noticed that whnever I get a new calling, the Lord fills my heart with love for those taht I am called to have stewardship over.  That love is amazing and it drives all that I do for those that I serve.

Also, when I struggle with someone, I pray for the Lord to open my heart to love that person as He does.  It works every time.

Moroni 7: 45 says, " And ^acharity suffereth long, and is ^bkind, and ^cenvieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily ^dprovoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."  

Sis Aileen H Clyde in General conference talk, Charity Suffereth Long, taught, "Now, understanding charity or being charitable is not easy. And our scriptures have not indicated that it would be. Even “charity suffereth long” requires our thoughtful interpretation. The “suffering” that may come from loving is the result of our great caring. It comes because another matters to us so much.

She also says "to avoid that kind of suffering, we would have to avoid what gives us life and hope and joy - our capacity to love deeply."  

This really changed my perspective.  I always thought suffereth long meant to be patient.  It does, but it also means that we may have to endure a lot of sadness and heart ache for a long time.  It really increased my understanding of charity suffereth long.  

In Elder Cooks' talk, Charity: Perfect and everlasting, he defines charity as "The Lord said that charity is “the pure love of Christ,” ¹ that which is “most joyous to the soul,” ² “the greatest of all the gifts of God,” ³ “perfect” and “everlasting."  

He references 1 Nephi 11:22-23 which is Lehi's dream of the tree of life where he shows us that the fruit is the love of God which is the most joyous to the soul.  Why hadn't I ever associated the Tree of life Fruit with Charity?  What a great correlation.  Charity, when possessed, shows our devotion and our determination to follow Christ.  

Moroni 8:17 talks about Charity being everlasting love.  I love this.  

And Mosiah 18:8-9 says that when we have charity, we bear each other's burdens, mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort.  I like this too.  It reminds me of ways that true charity is expressed.  

He also says, "All of our divine attributes seem to flow from and be encompassed by this one. ⁵ All men may have the gift of love, but charity is bestowed only upon those who are true followers of Christ."  I really like this too.  It is a reminder of the importance of developing the attribute of charity.  

Finally, he said, "Her love for others increased. She seemed to even forgive others in advance. She learned how to cause them to feel her love. She learned that love shared is love multiplied.

Finally, she learned to love herself more, being more kind, gentle, and long-suffering. She stopped her struggle for self-esteem and started loving herself the way God loved her. Her image of herself became His image of her."  

I love this because it reminds me that when we have charity, we love others more.  It changes who we are and how we see others.  I need to work on being more forgiving and more loving in my life.  And he also talks about how our esteem changes and grows because we see ourselves as He sees us and we see others as He sees them.  This is something I would love to have continuously.  The more that I am in tune with the spirit and understand how He sees me, the more confident I am.  And the less I read my scriptures and draw near unto Him, the less confident I am.  Something I am always wishing I was more of.  I always want my children to grow up with a good confidence and a good understanding of who they are.  Yet I know I struggle with that, and would be better if I would continuously draw near unto Him.  

I really enjoyed studying charity.  In Spanish, the word charity means the love that never ceases to be and in Micronesia, the word love translates into the power to change lives (Sis Barbara Smith, the Bond of Charity).  I love this too because charity truly never ends and it does have the power to change lives.  I have been blessed to watch how love and charity has changed lives.  Kindness and love can and do change who we are and how we treat others.