The Pure Love of Christ

"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" (Moroni 7:47).

Yesterday in class we talked about how charity is sometimes thought of in the same way as the Atonement. It seems like a inanimate object that is a bit untouchable. Something that is just there. However, we talked about how, in actuality, Christ is the embodiment of charity. He is made of charity, because charity is the pure love of Christ. 

When charity is acting upon us to do something, it is actually Christ's love acting in our lives. We feel His love work within us and we choose to go out and show this love to someone else. 

If you take verse 45 in chapter 7 of Moroni and replace the word charity with Christ it gives us another perfect understanding of how Christ really is. Just try it. 

When I think of the word "charity," I am reminded of the phrase: "Charity never faileth." Because it doesn't. Here, again we can replace charity with Christ. "Christ never faileth" is also very true. 

If we apply these things in our lives we will have a better understanding of the power of charity. 

Revelation

This week we discussed the story of the brother of Jared and the revelation he received from the Lord in behalf of the Jaredites. The Jaredites were preparing to cross the "great waters" and so the brother of Jared asked the Lord how they would steer the barges they had built, how they would breathe in the said airtight barges and how they would be able to have light as they traveled across the water.

The Lord answered each one of these questions differently. From the answers He gives, however, we can learn to recognize the personal revelation that we receive.

In relation to the question on how the Jaredites would breathe as they crossed the water, the Lord gave them a direct answer, giving them the exact directions they would need to bore a hole and stopper in both the top and bottom of the barge. This way, they would always have the air they needed available. Sometimes, the Lord gives us exact answers to our questions.

As for the light, the Lord gives the brother of Jared the option to choose. Agency is another way that the Lord answers our questions. Often, He can see that we are smart and able enough to choose the right way or figure out the right answer. Sometimes, like with brother of Jared, we have to do some extra work in preparing our choice before we get the help we need.

With the last question, the Lord tells the brother of Jared that they don't need to worry about how they will steer the barges. The Lord promises that He will steer them. Our answers from the Lord can be like this as well. This is where our trust in the Lord comes into play.

 If we give the Lord the reins, (or helm, per say) He will guide us where we need to go. We need only to trust in Him and follow His precious guidance. Personal revelation is how the Lord communicates with each and every one of us, His sons and daughters. If we learn to recognize better his answers to our questions, we will come closer to Him.

Fasting and Tithing

Fasting and tithing. Both are two huge commandments. Both are feared/dreaded by many. Both are extremely important to salvation.

We do not, as God's children here on earth, understand His reasoning for all of the commandments given to us. It is hard to see how doing certain hard things can make us better. This week in class, however, we learned more about how both of these commandments really do have a lot to do with our spiritual growth in this life.

We have the opportunity to let our spirits rule our flesh when we fast. The spirit does not need to eat or sleep. Our bodies (flesh), however, needs both of these things and more. Fasting is an opportunity where, instead of the flesh making decisions, the spirit decides what will happen. Going without food for a long time is not easy, our bodies groan and growl, demanding that they be fed. We learn self-control and have the opportunity to become closer to our Heavenly Father during this time.

When we pay tithing we are showing that we love God more than we love money. We do this as we give back some of the material wealth that God has blessed us with. He does not care about the amount of money. If we give what we have then He will be satisfied. He does not need our money to build His kingdom here on earth. If our hearts are thankful and open as we pay our tithing then we will receive more blessings than we are able to hold.

In short, we should not look at these two commandments as times to suffer. They are beautiful opportunities that God has given us so that we might be better. I am grateful for the law of the fast as well as the commandment to pay tithing. As we study and live these commandments to the fullest, we will be blessed with a greater understanding of God's plan. I am looking forward to fast Sunday and I can't wait to pay my tithing!

One by one

There are few words that are as powerful as a few written about Christ's appearance in 3 Nephi 11. Three words, to be exact. "One by one" is how the Nephites approached Christ. Each of them had a sacred, face-to-face, personal experience with Jesus Christ. Even though Christ is not with us here on earth, we can have the same relationship that they had. Christ is our Savior. He knows each of us personally. He atoned for each one of us, one by one, and so knows exactly how we feel when we are going through hard times. He is, by the way, the only one that truly understands us.

I remember reading this chapter with investigators and members on my mission. I always, however, stopped the reading at this verse that we could talk a little more about how the Nephites came up to Christ one by one. We would explain that Christ's church is a church of individuals. To illustrate this, we would often talk about how the saving ordinances, like baptism, are done individually. We could easily get a large pool and baptize a whole hoard of people at the same time. Both the investigators and members, when we described this to them, would agree that the idea of mass baptism was a bit strange. It is an interesting way to look at it, but it does make a point. Christ knows us all, individually. "One by one" is His way.

This "one by one" phrase is something that we need to remember today. It can be hard to feel that Christ loves each one of us individually. Prayer and study is a good way to feel Christ's love for us. It can help us feel, every last one of us, that He is our personal Savior.

Stripling Warriors

We have heard of the word stripling as way to describe the young sons of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. For a long time I thought it meant strong or warrior. It turns out that stripling means young boy. In fact, when I looked it up in a dictionary it gave an example of stripling being used in a sentence with the word mere before it as an adjective. Just so we understand, the stripling warriors were like a bunch of deacons, teachers and priests going up against the seasoned lamanite warriors to fight to the death.

They are a great example to us because of their amazing faith. It is hard to imagine having that much faith when you are going up against all odds. But these young boys knew they had God on their side and they knew that with His help they would win. 

Although this is a relatively well-known story, I don't think we put in the amount of study that it deserves. It is more than a good story to tell young Primary kids. It is something we should emulate every day in our own lives as we go to fight battles against enemies even more deadly than the lamanite warriors. 

We need the kind of faith that the young stripling warriors had. Like these warriors had their moms to teach them in the ways of the Lord, we too have parents and leaders to help us understand better the commandments of God. 

May we all do our best to emulate these faithful young stripling warriors as we wage our own battles against the evils of today. 

Nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy

Alma 36 is filled with scriptures that can help us understand the pain and sorrow of sin. On the other hand, we also learn about beautiful and clean repentance can be.

This chapter is where Alma the younger is recounting the story of his conversion to his son, Helaman. Alma describes how his sins were great because he was leading members away from the church. It was not a good time for the church, or for Alma's father.

Alma was eventually reprimanded by an angel of God that came to visit him. While Alma lay paralyzed, unable to even speak, he was being racked with the eternal torment of his sins. When Alma describes this we can related how terrible we feel when we sin. He cries out in his mind unto Christ, asking for mercy. When this happens, Alma describes to his son that he was no longer harrowed up by the memory of his sins.

Repentance comes through true sorrow. It is not just when we feel bad because we did something wrong, it is when we truly recognize that we have erred in the Lord's sight and need His help to repent.

From all of this we get this beautiful scripture, "...there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy" (verse 21).

What would you give to know God?

In the well known story of Alma and sons of Mosiah and their missions among the Lamanites we can learn much about missionary work and its role in the gospel.

One of the things that we talked about in class this week had to do with the king of the Lamanites. There is a part where the king tries to kill Ammon. Ammon defends himself and then holds the king at swordpoint. The king then offers Ammon half of the kingdom if he will spare his life. Here we can see that the king saw his life as equal to half of his kingdom.

Later, when the king is being taught by Aaron, the king desires to know God. He prays and says that he will give up everything to know God. It is interesting to see how knowing God, according to the king, is worth giving up everything.

As we talked about this concept during class, I could see how we could apply that same principle in our own lives.