Day 14 – April 23, 2011
Question: What is the pure love of Christ?
Read: Moroni 7:40-48
40 “And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?
41 “And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.
42 “Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.
43 “And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.
44 “If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.
45 “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.
46 “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—
47 “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.
48 “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.”
Ponder:
Have I felt a greater love for my Savior? I think as we continue to study the Scriptures and pray and grow closer to the Savior, our love for Him and our amazement and incredible feeling of debt to Him grows and grows. Can we lose that feeling and go the other direction? Absolutely. That’s why it’s so important to diligently create strong habits of daily personal scripture study, prayer, and meditation. Right now as I prepare for Easter, I can’t help but feel, once again, such a debt of gratitude to my Savior. That feeling can stay with me year round. Indeed, I need to be living in such a way that it will stay with me year round.
Have I felt his love for me? How could I help but feel His love for me? This brief two week exercise has been simply an extension, for me, of an ongoing effort to grow closer to my Savior. I have learned that feeling His love does not come automatically without effort on our part. Indeed, He does stand waiting for us to open the door.
Can I commit myself to live each day as Christ would live? I am trying to. This is very humbling, because I realize how far I am from being in that place of really living as Christ would live. Some days I feel Him so near as I serve others. Other days, I don’t do so well. Today we were privileged to escort Brent’s parents to the Lehi/Willow Park Stake Old Folks Party. Maybe we were a little premature in attending, but in the past they’ve advertised it as for people 60 and older (plus very young spouses – like me), but I think they’ve changed it to 65 and older, so we were the youngest ones there who were not serving. Anyway, there was a gentleman from our ward there who was sitting by himself. Though not active, he often comes to ward activities and generally others will sit by him, but this activity found him sitting alone. Brent wandered over and said hello to him, but we were sitting at a different table with Leo and Edna and several other women from our ward, and all the places were filled up already. So I watched him from across the room, and watched as he began to squirm and act more and more out of place and uncomfortable. The food was delayed until after the entertainment and the entertainment was worth making the serving wait, as far as I was concerned (Hinton from Jericho Road). But I don’t think this man thought so. He finally stood up and left the room, never to return.
As I watched him leave, I had the thought run through my head, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40) and in my mind’s eye, I wondered if the Savior had been sitting there, would He have been sitting alone as well? But the Savior was sitting alone, because nobody sat by this man. Now, I don’t think he left because he was sitting alone. I think he left because he was there for the food and nothing else. But still, would he have stayed if he had felt fellowshipped and felt like people were interested in him and loved him as Christ would have done? ….. there was a chance to serve the Lord, and it went unheeded.
I am trying to do better. I am trying to listen as Christ would listen. I am trying to respond to others as Christ would have me respond. But I still lack confidence to step outside my comfort zone and do it in some circumstances. But I’m going to keep trying.
Thank you Lori and Lesli for giving us this walk with the Savior for the past two weeks. I have been touched by it. But where much is given, much is expected in return … it is now my duty and expectation to move forward and share and give to others. I pray for the strength to do so.
No comments:
Post a Comment