Charity

Our Christlike attribute for this change is charity and love. Our goal is to not only study this important attribute but more importantly develop a greater capacity to love and serve others as Christ did . In order to do this we must take the time to identify weaknesses that we need to overcome in our lives and also qualities we need to develop in our lives. It is a process of purifying and cultivating. We must remove disobedience, selfishness, laziness, pride, etc. from our lives and at the same time cultivate faith in Christ, hope, love and charity, virtue, knowledge, patience, humility, diligence, and obedience. Preach My Gospel says the following in regards to developing Christlike attributes:

“Christlike attributes are gifts from God. They come as you use your agency righteously. Ask your Heavenly Father to bless you with these attributes; you cannot develop them without His help. With a desire to please God, recognize your weaknesses and be willing and anxious to improve.”

In Ether 12:27, 28 we read:

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.

As we humble ourselves before the Lord and come unto Him, He will communicate to us what we need to remove from our lives. He will also help us to cultivate the qualities we need to become more like the Savior. The key however is what we do after we pray. As we prayer to have more charity and love we must follow the counsel of Elder David A. Bednar in regards to prayer:

“I long have been impressed with the truth that meaningful prayer requires both holy communication and consecrated work. Blessings require some effort on our part before we can obtain them, and prayer, as “a form of work, . . . is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings” (Bible Dictionary, “Prayer,” 753). We press forward and persevere in the consecrated work of prayer, after we say “amen,” by acting upon the things we have expressed to Heavenly Father.”

In other words, as we kneel in prayer to ask for more love and charity, we need to get up and put it into action by demonstrating and showing more love and service to others. Do we consistently show love to our companions by serving them? Do we truly love our investigators by being bold and confident in inviting them to repent by extending invitations to make and keep commitments with the Lord ? Do we look for opportunities to demonstrate our love for the bishop, ward leaders, and ward members by serving them? Do we seek to love and serve all by going about doing good?

In order to help each of you develop more love and charity this week, I would like each of you to answer the following two questions and study the related scriptures found in the Attribute Activity on page 126 of Preach My Gospel:

1. Do I feel a sincere desire for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people? (Mosiah 28:3)

2. When I pray, do I ask for charity—the pure love of Christ? (Moroni 7:47–48)

I would like you to record in your study journal your thoughts and feelings in regards to answering these two questions. I would then like you to share with me in next Monday´s letter two things you are going to do to develop more love and charity in your life. Please also feel free to inlcude any thoughts, feelings or insights in regards to developing more love and charity.

Our love for our Heavenly Father, His Son and all of God´s children is the key to succes in this work. We show this love by the following the Savior´s example of service.

We love you and pray for your success,
Presidente May