Charity (Lesson 30)

When a person is baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he or she covenants to take upon himself or herself the name of Jesus Christ.  In other words, we (speaking of all baptized members collectively) promise to become a disciple of our Savior—to follow and serve him by by serving others (see Mosiah 2:17).  By joining the Savior’s spiritual family (see Mosiah 5:7), we also accept His charge to become “even as [He] is” (3 Nephi 27:27) as we press forward along the strait and narrow path of our mortal journey.  In order to achieve this goal, we must search out His attributes, incorporate them into our everyday behavior, and strive to make them our own.  Of all the attributes personified by the Savior, President Ezra Taft Benson declared that the “final and crowning virtue of the divine character is charity” (Ensign, Nov. 1986, 47).

Charity is the attribute of Christ that encompasses and empowers all the others.  However, when the word charity appears in a lesson or talk, what first comes to mind for most people seems to coincide with the first dictionary definition of the word: “generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless” (dictionary.com).  Examples such as the parable of the Good Samaritan, giving a generous fast offering and other kind acts of service to the afflicted, sick, and poor are discussed.  All these things are, without question, good and appropriate.  But if we leave the definition of charity only at this level, we miss out on the deeper meaning of this important attribute.

Elder Marvin J. Ashton taught, “Charity is, perhaps, in many ways a misunderstood word. We often equate charity with visiting the sick, taking in casseroles to those in need, or sharing our excess with those who are less fortunate. But really, true charity is much, much more” (Ensign, May 1992, 18-19).  In one of his letters to the Corinthians, Paul declared, “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. … Charity never faileth” (1 Corinthians 13:2, 8).  Mormon echoed the same sentiment: “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” (Moroni 7:46).  The three important points made by these prophets concerning charity are 1) if we don’t have charity, we are considered “nothing,” 2) charity is the “greatest” attribute of all, and 3) charity never fails.

How is it that if we don’t have charity, we are nothing?  To understand why both Paul and Mormon make this bold statement, we need a clearer definition of the word charity.  I have a book called The Layman’s Parallel Bible that shows a side by side comparison of the King James translation of the Bible to the translations found in the Modern Language Bible, the Living Bible and the Revised Standard Bible.  Interestingly, these other three translations change the word charity in 1 Corinthians 13 to love.  While this is a good start toward a proper definition, the Book of Mormon offers an even deeper characterization.  Mormon doesn’t replace the word charity in his sermon, he defines charity as “the pure love of Christ” (Moroni 7:47).

This definition given by Mormon, and no doubt understood by Paul, is why these two men thought so highly of the attribute.  Something is considered pure if it is not contaminated or diluted by any corrupting substances.  The pure love of Christ is uplifting, strengthening and cleansing; it is no respecter of person and always seeks the betterment of others.  President Benson added that the “pure love of Christ differs greatly from what the world thinks of love. Charity never seeks selfish gratification. The pure love of Christ seeks only the eternal growth and joy of others” (Ensign, Nov. 1986, 47).  On the other hand, love spoken of or depicted in mainstream music, movies, literature, or art of society, lacks such pureness and leaves much to be desired.  Paul and Mormon considered someone deficient in the pure love of Christ to be “nothing” because of their selfish, inward focus.  A selfish person might think he has everything, like a dragon hoarding a cavern full of gold, but as Elder Neal A. Maxwell testified “in the arithmetic of appetite, anything multiplied by zero still totals zero” (Ensign, May 1999, 23).  Those without charity are nothing because, in the end, all their worldly somethings mean nothing in the eyes of God.

Perhaps the reason charity is the “greatest” of all the Christ-like attributes is because what it can do for the person who has obtained it.  When viewed in terms of its scriptural definition, real charity is much greater than a donation to a person or a cause.  Elder Ashton explained, “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” (Ensign, May 1992, 19, emphasis added).  A great Book of Mormon example of this concept is Enos.  He describes a time during a hunting excursion when he felt the need to cry “unto [God] in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul” (Enos 1:4).  After praying throughout the day and into the night, he received forgiveness of his sins and a cessation of his guilt.  Having acquired charity for himself from God, Enos then began “to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites” and “did pour out [his] whole soul unto God for them” (Enos 1:9).  When he had received a satisfactory answer from God concerning this prayer, Enos felt a need to pray “unto [God] with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites” (Enos 1:11).  This example shows how the proper acquisition and use of charity raises and lifts a person away from a myopic, inward focus, allowing him to see the spiritual vistas God offers to him and to others.  This scriptural transition personifies President Howard W. Hunter’s statement that an “old axiom states that a man ‘all wrapped up in himself makes a small bundle.’ Love has a certain way of making a small bundle large” (Ensign, Nov. 1986, 35).  Viewed in this way, Enos had truly become a giant.

Finally, Paul and Mormon state that charity never fails.  One way of understanding this concept has to do with how we use the pure love of Christ that we have acquired.  As shown in the example of Enos, after God was charitable to him by forgiving Enos of his sins and Enos began to acquire the attribute of charity, he then used this gift to “love [his] neighbour as [himself]” (Mark 12:31) and stretched further to “Love [his] enemies” (Matthew 5:44).  Again from Elder Ashton: “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” (Ensign, May 1992, 19).

When we use charity in this manner, it becomes easier to be charitable in the ways I mentioned in the second paragraph of this post, but it is more than that—charity helps us to shed the “natural man” skin of selfishness and become “a saint” (Mosiah 3:19) by emulating Jesus.  In this manner, as Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained, we come to realize that the “reason charity never fails and the reason charity is greater than even the most significant acts of goodness … is that charity, ‘the pure love of Christ’ (Moro. 7:47), is not an act but a condition or state of being. Charity is attained through a succession of acts that result in a conversion. Charity is something one becomes. Thus, as Moroni declared, ‘except men shall have charity they cannot inherit’ the place prepared for them in the mansions of the Father (Ether 12:34)” (Ensign, Nov. 2000, 34, emphasis in original).

No wonder Mormon exhorted his listeners to “cleave unto charity” (Moroni 7:46).  As we cling to the pure love of Christ and incorporate this attribute into our very souls, it will help us to see ourselves and others in the way that our Father in Heaven and our Elder Brother see us: “as flawed and imperfect mortals who have potential and worth far beyond our capacity to imagine” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Ensign, May 2012, 76).