"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
Doth not behave unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
After reading these scriptures I am going to seek to develop and pray for the gift of charity. Charity is the highest form of love. If I have charity then I will have the same love for others that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for all people. If I had the gift of charity I would show love for others the same way that Jesus Christ showed love to others and they would be able to feel my love for them. Having charity is a gift given by God who truly seek it and live a life that is worthy to be able to receive this gift. I will probably never receive this gift in this life but I might as well start striving for it now.
I have a friend that joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a young adult. She was totally disowned by all her family, thrown out of her house and told never to contact them again. Having come from an abusive family she had a hard time knowing what it was like to be loved and especially what the perfect love of charity would feel like. One night while saying her prayers and pleading again to feel the love that her Heavenly Father had for her, the most wonderful feeling of love come over her. For a short time she knew what it felt like to have such a perfect love like her Heavenly Father possessed. Having never felt real love from her family and then being rejected by them, this experience helped her realize what charity really is and she felt that wonderful love our Heavenly Father had for her and has individually for each one of us. This made an incredible difference in how she related to her husband, family, friends and the children (18 months to 12 years old) that later became her stewardship to be responsible for at Church. I could feel that very special love she had for each child in the primary every Sunday and during the week when she would teach, interact and work with the children. What a wonderful inspiration she is to me and I am so thankful that she shared her experience with me to help me learn more about charity.
Charity is defined in the Bible dictionary as "the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds or benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive."
What impressed you in your reading this past week?
Our reading July 24 -30 is 2 Corinthians Chapters 9 through 13, the Book of Galatians which is 6 chapters and Ephesians chapters 1-3.
4 comments:
Kathy I also like I Corinthians 13, especially the parts you mentioned. I remember when I first learned a good lesson about those exact verses. I was 18 years old and newly engaged. We were both looking at scripture to be used in the message that would be presented at our wedding. We were both also drawn to anything scriptural that spoke on love, marriage and relationships. I came from a divorced family and so I never really had a clear picture of what a good Christian marriage was supposed to look like. I figured scripture would be a good place to begin looking up things on how we were to conduct ourselves inside the confines of our marriage. I read those verses one night in my devotional time and thought this will be a good test to see how much he, (my then future husband) should treat me. I played out a few scenarios in my head and thought about how "he" should act and respond - according to 1 Corinthians 13. I even began praying that night that God would make him into this type of a man. As I was praying and re-reading the passage, God spoke to my heart and said, "This is written for YOU as well." I was young and just learning how to apply scripture to my life, God showed me a valuable lesson that night and I thank Him for the insight.
Sorry, I forgot to include this in my first comment. You know I like to hear Wayne's view on stuff once in awhile. I was wondering if I could get his take on I Corinthians 12:12 - 26, it's the part where Paul is talking about the body and it's members. I'd appreciate it.
Wayne's view on 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 is that Paul is likening the physical human body to the body of Jesus Christ's Church. Just as eyes, ears and all members of the physical body are necessary - all the individual members of Christ's Church are necessary. We should all be one using our individual gifts to work together in doing what Jesus Christ would have us do to carry on with His work, while loving and supporting each other.
"If you haven't any charity in your heart you have the worst kind of heart trouble" to cure it help people, let's unite for one good cause, be a volunteer"save lives"!
mawaddainternationalaid
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