The High Status of Charity

The only pure love on the earth is the love that Christ gives. The definition of charity is that pure love of Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13 we learn all about charity and how it excels and exceeds all things. Verses four through eight read:

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Charity is a gift given to us from Christ and it is hard to understand, but for me, the best way to think about it is as pure love. Not letting anything get in the way of that love. Because charity never fails we can understand that Christ will never fail us. As long as we try our best to be faithful, hopeful, and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, Christ will help us when we seek after Him.

I really like the ideas spoken about charity in the book Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage by H. Wallace Goddard. He talks about how we can see charity in three different ways, the first is love from Christ, then love for Christ, and finally love like Christ. We must first understand that Christ has pure love for each one of us. He is the model for charity and when we can find and recognize when He actively shows this pure love we then in return can show Him the same love. When were practice and progress in loving Him as He loves us we can love other as Christ does. On this earth we will never quite reach the full pureness of love that charity offers, and the Lord in no ways expect us to, but we should do our best to try. 

In our marriages we must choose to show that charity towards our spouse. Goddard explains that charity is the mind of Christ and we must use it as a lens to see our spouses. As we choose to see one another in a certain way, just as Christ would, we are practicing charity in our marriages. As we see each other in that purest sense, we can allow our marriage to become what God wants it to be. This charity is not changing one another, but instead accepting one another in completeness just as Christ accepts each one of us. 

In Moroni 7:47 it says, "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."