Gospel Message Day 39

Charity

For this new topic, I'll start with a definition. From the scriptures, we get the simplest definition as "Charity is the pure love of Christ" (Moroni 7:47). While that is clear, I still love the scriptures that elaborate a bit more on it.

44 ...if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

 45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, 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.

 46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

 47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

 48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

Isn't that beautiful? So clear and straightforward--and causes me to want to do all I can to have charity! I think the general thing that I get about charity is that it is pure. Because something or someone pure does not envy. It isn't selfish. It has good, righteous thoughts. It loves things that are true. It has patience no matter what.

We often see charity as a verb, but I also see it as an adjective as well as a noun. Charity has the traits we should want, and is the way we should want to be described. In essence, charity is not just something we do. It is who we are. And we strive to be that way because of and with the aid of our Savior.