Charity is the pure love of Christ (Moroni 7:47). It is the motivating power behind the Atonement. It is the reason our Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth. It was out of love, for us. Charity is the crowning Christlike attribute, it is the motivation of God. As we develop charity, it builds loyalty unto the Lord, for our motives will line up with His. All other Christlike attributes follow as we strive to develop charity. When asked what which of the commandments was the greatest, Christ Replied to “love the Lord”.

As we learn to love the Lord, we will show our love by keeping his commandments. Not just by obeying them. But by “keeping” his commandments, keeping includes earnestly seeking His commands and correction out, and then joyfully obeying Him.

This is probably the hardest of all things Christ has asked us to do. It is Jesus Christ basically saying. “do everything I want you to do.” It will be hard, but rarely are good things easy. Think of what Christ went through to prove His charity, He gave His very life for us. I would suggest that the best way to keep His command to love the Lord would be to develop charity.  Once we have it our motivates will  be the same as His, thus this command would become natural and instinctive to love others also.

Being difficult is not reason to give up, or not to try. We must strive to develop this Attribute. After all without it, we can not become like Him! Without gaining this attribute we would never grow up to be like our Father, because charity is His overarching motive in all things. Without it, we fail at our purpose in life. As Paul put it.

 

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
1st Corinthians 13:2

 

How can I develop Charity?

Mormon taught his son Moroni the following about charity.

 

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.
Moroni 7:48

The first thing one should do, when trying to cultivate an attribute of Christ is and always should be to pray. As we strive to be like Jesus Christ it makes sense that we should turn to Him for help. He has given us the Spirit to guide us unto Him, and to help us use the atonement to become like Him. Charity is a gift of the Spirit. Here are three things that I’ve found focusing on help me have the spirit and develop charity: Forgiveness, Friendship, and service.

Forgiveness has two parts, the first is when we receive forgiveness. And the second when we forgive others of their wrong doings. When we repent of our sins we partake of the divine gift of the atonement. The atonement is the noblest act of charity in the history of the world. As we partake of the atonement we will feel His love.

We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19

As we taste and partake of Christ’s ultimate act of Love, the atonement. We will feel His love stronger in our life. And, we develop a greater capacity to love Christ. And, with the greater capacity to love Christ, we will also gain a greater capacity to love others. When we also seek and receive forgiveness from others, it allows them to have the opportunity to forgive us, and by so doing builds a capacity to love.

The second half of forgiveness, is when we have the chance to forgive others. We receive a glimpse  of how the savior feels. We may feel that this person has wronged us, and hurt us, and may not deserve our forgiveness. We can look at them and say, “But your actions caused my pain” or “Because of you I was hurt”.

In my mind, I can see this happening.

Christ standing in front of us. Rubbing his nail marks in His hands and with tears in His eyes looking at us. As we plead for forgiveness, we realize what we’ve done to Him, the blood that was shed, the crown of thorns on His head. I can see us falling on our knees hang our heads down and weeping. I see Him with the nail scared hands putting his arms around us and saying.

 

“Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”
Matthew 9:2

I am thankful when Christ has a chance to forgive me, he always loves me enough to look past the pain I caused him. If we want to discuss being wronging  by the actions of another, we need to think no further than Christ. To atone for my actions, Christ bled and died! He suffered for all the wrong things I’ve ever done.

With every valid excuse to extract justice, instead His bowels are filled with compassion and love towards me. So when someone asks us, even pleads unto us for forgiveness, we have a chance to truly show this Christlike attribute and do as Christ would do. Frankly forgive them.

 

Friendship

When I think of Christ, and how he acts to us, I am reminded of a verse of my favorite hymn. Reverently and Meekly Now.

“At the throne I intercede;
For thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as thy friend,
With a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore,
Prayerful, watchful evermore,
And be constant unto me,
That thy Savior I may be.”

Jesus Christ is our True friend. He is always there for us. He commanded us to become like Him. And, that means becoming a true friend. I think this quote from Elder Marlin K. Jensen, hits the topic on the head.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism.’” That thought ought to inspire and motivate all of us because I feel that friendship is a fundamental need of our world. I think in all of us there is a profound longing for friendship, a deep yearning for the satisfaction and security that close and lasting relationships can give. Perhaps one reason the scriptures make little specific mention of the principle of friendship is because it should be manifest quite naturally as we live the gospel. In fact, if the consummate Christian attribute of charity has a first cousin, it is friendship. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul slightly, friendship “suffereth long, and is kind; [friendship] envieth not; … seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; … [friendship] never faileth.”

“Our Savior, shortly before His Crucifixion, said to His disciples: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends.” Having been so richly blessed by Christ’s friendship, I pray that we will now be to others what He is to us: a true friend. At no time will we be more Christlike than when we are a friend.”

~Marlin K. Jensen

To read his full talk on Friendship click here.

I think Robert D Hales perfectly stated the value of Friendship.

 

 

Service

Service may be last that I address, but it is not the least. To start let us consider the words of King Benjamin.

 

16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God. 17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
Mosiah 2:16-17

When we serve others not only do we have a chance to serve the Lord, but we have a chance to act like He acts.

It is only when we love God and Christ with all of our hearts, souls, and minds that we are able to share this love with our neighbors through acts of kindness and service—the way that the Savior would love and serve all of us if He were among us today.
When this pure love of Christ—or charity—envelops us, we think, feel, and act more like Heavenly Father and Jesus would think, feel, and act. Our motivation and heartfelt desire are like unto that of the Savior.

Elder M. Russell Ballard

To read his full talk click here.  

When you willingly serve others, you gain a love for them. I learned on my mission that as I served people with pure intent, my love for them increased. I went from struggling to even tolerate my companions, to truly loving them.

I learned that if I did not love someone, I should serve them! The empathy I gained while serving would remove my walls and prejudice, and I would soon notice I loved them. He may hate me, but he is my brother, and I have learned to love him. Service is unique as it allows you to both serve the Savior, and act like the Savior at the same time. Soon people will feel your love, and they will desire to love you also.

 

Conclusion

By forgiving, be friends and serving others, we will develop charity. Others will feel His love through our actions and our love. And by so doing we gain a glimpse into understanding God. We will learn that love is the most powerful force in the universe. No amount of hate or fear come close to the power of feeling that someone loves you. Once you truly feel God’s love you will desire to always live up to His love. You will learn that these three expressions of love, are three ways that you can show that you love Him.