My topic is Christ like love brings peace to the soul. Christ like love is Charity. The Bible dictionary defines Charity as “The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection: the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds or benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive.” Preach my gospel goes into farther explanation by stating that “It includes God’s eternal love for all His children… We are to seek to develop that kind of love. When you are filled with charity, you obey God’s commandments and do all you can to serve others and help them receive the restored gospel. Charity is a gift from God.” A comparison of Moroni 7:47 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is almost identical, but here’s a break down of charity: suffereth long, kind, envies not, vaunteth not itself or is not puffed up (humble), seeketh not her own (unselfish), is not easily provoked (slow to anger), Doth not behave itself unseemly( which I interpret as modesty and integrity), thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in truth (and therefore righteousness), beareth all things (patience), believeth all things (faith), hopeth all things, endureth all things, and finally “Charity never faileth”.
To quote Preach my Gospel again, it states “The prophet Moroni said that we should “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love.” As you follow this counsel and strive to do righteous works, your love for all people will increase, especially those among whom you labor. You will come to feel a sincere concern for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people. You will see them as children of God with the potential of becoming like our Heavenly Father, and you will labor in their behalf. You will avoid negative feelings such as anger, envy, lust, or covetousness. You will avoid judging others, criticizing them, or saying things about them. You will try to understand them and their points of view. You will be patient with them and try to help them when they are struggling or discouraged. Charity, like faith, leads to action.”
Mary N Cook of the general young women’s presidency related a story of walking up the Wan Chai Gap in Chine with her husband. She said the climb was steep, difficult, and the worst in summer’s heat. She found one day that their usually walk seemed more like punishment than exercise, and felt she’d never reach the top. Then she states “I made an interesting discovery that day. When I looked down, my vision was limited to a narrow stretch of pavement. Trudging along, I saw the same narrow view of pavement, pavement, pavement. But when I looked up, I had a gorgeous view ahead of me. I saw trees with bright yellow flowers. I saw birds flying and singing melodious songs. I saw tai chi students rhythmically opening colorful fans as part of their exercise routine. Soon we reached our goal.” She compares this to life: “Because I was contributing, my self-confidence improved, and I found life to be more interesting and fulfilling as I looked to the Lord. Just as I saw the trees, flowers, birds, and people along the path when I looked up on Wan Chi Gap, looking to the lord helped me see new opportunities for my life.” Charity is the Lord’s way of contributing and essential when looking to the lord. For the Strength of Youth states, “as you devote yourself to serving others, you will draw closer to Heavenly Father. Your heart will be filled with love.” When we are filled with charity we are able to see clearly the needs of others over our own and to become a mirror/window of His love. John H Groberg explained “When filled with God’s love, we can do and see and understand things that we could not otherwise do or see or understand. Filled with His love, we can endure pain, quell fear, forgive freely, avoid contention, renew strength, and bless and help others in ways surprising even to us.”
We can not share the love of God without ourselves feeling god’s love for us and this is the ultimate peace described by the Savior in John 15:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.” In her book, A Heart Like His, Virginia H Pearce lists several qualities that allow us to help ourselves and others feel God’s love along with those qualities that don’t help. Imagine the growth, unity, and peace that would result from surrounded by those who were always “supportive, encouraging, inspiring, nourishing, nurturing, comforting, compassionate, understanding, patient, long-suffering, good humored, willing to cut [you] some slack and extend the benefit of the doubt, willing to talk and listen openly and honestly, trusting and accepting/nonjudgmental when we counsel, guide, teach, mentor, pray and fast with, empower, validate, acknowledge, [and] withhold judgment.” However we are human and therefore our charity faileth, so we are often the opposite: irritated, critical, discouraged, annoyed, self-absorbed, angry, indignant, or filled with self-pity, hostility, or bitterness. Some words that describe the receiving of charity are the same as when we feel god’s love for us: “acknowledged, accepted, noticed, validated, cared for, supported, encouraged, uplifted, motivated, inspired, comforted, healed, nourished, nurtured, changed, more confident, and more able.” We can not possibly have peace with each other with out charity and the qualities of behavior that facilate it. Peace cannot dwell in our homes, our communities, our wards and stakes, our businesses, and the world with out this pure love for those we share our existence with. Virginia H Pearce observed that “If charity is in fact “the pure love of Christ,” than there is no sense of one person being more elevated than another, because we are all needy before God, all dependent on Him; and with that paradigm, we ought to behave with a kind of mutuality, reciprocity, and equality toward one another, rather than an attitude of “Big-me – Little You.” Charity creates unity and unity is peace as demonstrated by the people of Enoch and in 4th Nephi. President Henry B. Erying taught “If we are to have unity, there are commandments we must keep concerning how we feel. We must forgive and bear no malice toward those who offend us. The Savior set the example from the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” We do not know the hearts of those that offend us. Nor do we know all the sources of our own anger and hurt. The Apostle Paul was telling us how to love in a world of imperfect people, including ourselves, when he said, “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.” And then [paul] gave solemn warning against reacting to the fault of others and forgetting our own when he wrote, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then shall we see face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
Peter demonstrates that charity is developed through the two lesser virtues, hope and faith (I say lesser because Paul states that Charity is greater than faith and hope). “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” If we all worked to develop our faith and hope then charity would naturally come and the peace in our own lives would be significant. And that multiplied by those whose lives we touch is a large circle of peace that extends for beyond ourselves.
Elder Uchtdorf stated that “Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough and uneven surfaces we may encounter at the time… The scriptures say that there must be opposition in all things. So it is with faith, hope and charity. Doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellow men lead us into temptation, which can cause us to forfeit choice and precious blessings. The adversary uses despair to blind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul and deadens the heart… Hope [and faith and charity] on the other hand is like the beam of sunlight… It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion and of fear.”
Now charity itself never fails but we as imperfect beings do. We fail to keep our lives in alignment with the Savior and since charity is a gift of the spirit, we fail charity. When we fail charity we fail, we fall into discouragement and despair. Charity brings progress spiritual and otherwise. Virginia H pierce states “one of the remarkable qualities about God’s love for us is not only do we experience it as validating and affirming, but it also produces growth and change in us. It literally moves us forward, toward Him and our own eventual exaltation. It is a sculpting, correcting and purposeful kind of love.” Progress is part of an eternal law resulting in peace and happiness. The third that fell in pre-mortality were punished not by the lack of a body but the lack of progress that came with that body. Spiritual death would have punished us with a lack of progress with out the atonement bringing around the resurrected body that we needed for eternal progression. A lack of charity removes our progression by taking us in opposition to the Lord and his teachings resulting in isolation and regression to the natural man.
Jacob stated “Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.” (Jacob 2:17) Are we familiar with each other or even your home and visiting teaching families? Are you familiar with your own family members? Charity is not in regarding their physical needs and state but in the emotional, and spiritual needs and state. The Lord is aware of all of our physical states, but he is the most concerned about our spiritual states – the eternal part of us. This is his work and his glory – not just to clothe the naked and feed the hungry – but to clothe and feed them spiritually.
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