Don't be fooled by the title. I don't plan on rambling on about some silly romance or chick flick or anything of the sort. :) The other day, my bestie and I were driving home from the temple and discussing what we had learned and realized while pondering in the baptistery. Obviously, For me it was that I needed to live up to my potential better. And one thing that I know my Heavenly Father expects of me is that I be a kind and loving servant, helping Him bless His other children. Which is not something I feel that I have been particularly good at lately. So, I decided in my scripture reading that week to read about charity. Wow! I learned so much from this! First of all, I now better understand what charity is. According to Mormon in his letter to his son (in Moroni 8:17), charity is in fact perfect and everlasting love. This means that it is absolutely, 100% unconditional. As most of you probably know, charity is typically described as the pure love of Christ. If you think about it, these two definitions are the same. Christ will never ever stop loving you and I no matter what we do. Likewise, if I want to be like Him, I must have unconditional love for those around me. That means no matter how irritated or hurt or jealous I get because of someone else, I should always look for the good in those people, because there is ALWAYS something good about everyone. Something else I learned about charity in my readings was found in 2 Nephi 26:29-30. This basically says that priestcraft is when people "set themselves up for a light unto the world" and do everything that they may gain something. The next verse helped me to realize that this is the very opposite of charity. If I do something to impress someone else or because I want something, I am too focused on myself. But rather, I should do things because I know it will help someone else. Lastly I read the classic verse about charity in Moroni 7: 45:
"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinkieth no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."As I thought about it, I thought, "Can I replace the word 'charity' with my own name? Am I kind? Do I suffer long and envieth not?" and it was a wake up call because I didn't really feel like I was particularly strong in any of those categories. so now as I walk through campus I try to think of how much Heavenly Father loves me and look and someone else and realize that He loves this perfect stranger too. If that perfect being loves him, why can't I? So rather than judging I have been trying instead to remember that and try to feel that love as well. I am no where near good at this. I still sometimes look at others and judge them based on their clothes, the people they are with, the things they are doing, but I am trying hard to ask myself, "are you being kind?" This is a hard thing to do but it has already made me a happier person. I have a long way to go, but I know that if I continue to try to see the good in others, I will better be able to see the good in life and be happier because of it. And isn't that what we are here for? :)
