Day #7 - Seeking After the Good
Y'all, it has been a real treat to be seeking out opportunities to strengthen charity and patience. Charity and Patience happen to be two of my favorite attributes that are perfectly exemplified in our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Charity is often defined as "the pure love of Christ." I would like to add that charity is the perfect love of Christ. Elder Maxwell, a well known brother of the LDS church stated that "Without Jesus' sublime character there could have been no sublime atonement!" Elder David A. Bednar, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, shares that the character of Christ is, in essence, Charity.
Christ faced numerous difficulties in his life. He was tempted, persecuted, and eventually tortured and crucified. The reason Christ is different from any of us is that he never yielded to any of these trials. He always turned outward, when the natural man in all of us would turn inward. Christ never once asked "why me?" But instead, he said, "thy will be done." He loved those that were difficult to love. He taught that we must pray for and love our enemies. Christ's life and teachings are what set the perfect example of Charity.
Moroni 7:45-48 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—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.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.
We see that charity does not just consist of selfless love, but it encompasses many other attributes; patience being one of them. Patience is not the easiest virtue to nurture. In fact, it is one of those things that we feel we should hesitate to pray for because our patience will then be tested. Christ is yet again the perfect example of the heavenly virtue of patience. Not only was Christ a patient person, but he was patient with Heavenly Father's timing. He never complained. He also never hesitated to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. But most importantly, he was patient with the imperfect people that surrounded him. That had to be quite frustrating to be a perfect immortal, surrounded by imperfect mortals. Yet, he loved them despite their flaws and weaknesses.
When we are faced with situations that try our patience or charity for others, think back to the perfect example of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Just remember how patient and loving he has been to you. As followers of Jesus Christ, we all need to emulate his example of perfect patience and charity.
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