Charity Never Faileth

Sorry, no pictures again. As I said in my last post I received a calling to be a relief society instructor. I am teaching tomorrow and I have been preparing for my lesson. My lesson is on Chapter 30 in the Gospel Principles book, it's titled Charity. When I first saw the title of the lesson I was a little worried about teaching and didn't quite know how I would make the lesson last the whole time. But as I am sitting here this morning reading over the lesson again and reading my scriptures and reading through some talks that have been given on charity, I don't know how I'm going to condense it to only 30 minutes!

I used to always think of charity as some huge acts of service, but it is so much more than that. Charity is the pure love of Christ, it is loving others unconditionally, like Christ loves us. I wanted to share a few quotes from some of the talks I've just been reading because they just really inspired me this morning and gave me a different perspective on charity. I've put the links to the talks below the quotes.

"Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again."

"Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other."
~Elder Marvin J. Ashton~
The Tongue Can Be a Sharp Sword

"Do we judge one another? Do we criticize each other for individual choices, thinking we know better, when in fact we rarely understand another’s unique circumstance or individual inspiration? Have we ever said, “She works outside the home.” Or, “Her son didn’t serve a mission.” Or, “She’s too old for a calling.” Or, “She can’t—she’s single.” Such judgments, and so many others like them, rob us of the good part, that pure love of Christ."

"We also lose sight of that good part when we compare ourselves to others. Her hair is cuter, my legs are fatter, her children are more talented, or her garden’s more productive—sisters, you know the drill. We just can’t do that. We cannot allow ourselves to feel inadequate by focusing on who we aren’t instead of on who we are! We are all sisters in Relief Society. We simply cannot criticize, gossip, or judge and keep the pure love of Christ."
~Bonnie D. Parkin~
Choosing Charity: That Good Part