Charity Never Faileth

I love church. 

It's like a breath of fresh air every week. 

I know two weeks ago I talked on the "This is Sunday" post about something similar.

Well, here I am talking about it again. 

Why?

Because it's THAT good. I really like to try and include what I learn from church on my Sunday blogs. I think we all have so much we can learn from each other. 

You guessed it. We talked about charity. Charity isn't just helping the old lady across the street or helping a homeless person around the holidays. It should show in everything we do. Charity is about being forgiving, being tolerant of others, it is resisting the impulse to be offended, it is being there for someone, it is looking for the good in others, and most of all, it is treating others with the pure love of Christ. I was looking for some quotes from the talk to post, but I ended up wanting to post the entire talk! I don't think anyone is perfect in this. The teacher for the lesson today began by telling a story about a woman who always looked at her neighbors wash hanging outside. She criticized that she didn't know how to clean and that her wash was so dirty! One day, she looked out the window to see her neighbors wash clean. "She finally got it right!" Her husband kindly informed her that he had gotten up early to wash the windows that morning. It was not the clothes that were dirty, but rather her windows.

 Want to know what I think a huge portion of the problem is? I think we (yes, I'm definitely included in that) are much more patient with ourselves than we are with others. We make excuses for why we act the way we do. After all, we had a good reason to be rude. We were tired, hungry, got fired, whatever reasons we have. On the other hand, when someone else is rude to us, we assume it is the core of who they are. Maybe we need to make less excuses for ourselves and be more understanding of others. Elder Packer gave a talk about something similar to this. He used the example of getting so mad when someone cuts us off in traffic that it's as if they had insulted everyone in your family line. 

I think a lot of the time pride gets in the way of us being kind to others. I'll be honest. There are times when I have thought (mostly in my younger days) "oh, I don't want to be nice to her. Then she'll be all clingy and want to spend everyday with me and yadda yadda yadda." Really? That's so selfish to let my wants get in the way of making someones day. A friend can change a life. How many lives could we touch if we were just willing? Pride makes you stagnant. There's no progression. When you are humble, you are open to change and wanting to improve. 

No matter the circumstance, Christ knows what we're going through. We suffered for our pains and afflictions. The atonement allows us to become better. More than that, we are never alone. 

"You cannot bear all things now. Nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along."

D&C 78:18

(p.s. sorry if that's not an exact quote, I'm going off of memory)