Day 360

  • Principle: Charity Never Faileth

  • Book of Mormon Reading: Moroni 7:35 - 7:48

  • Rate yourself on charity.  Circle the number that best reflects you currently.  ( 0 = Doesn’t describe be 10 = I do this very well and it is descriptive of who I am.)

    • Suffereth long

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Is kind

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Envieth not

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Is not puffed up

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Seeketh not her own

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Is not easily provoked

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Thinketh no evil

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Rejoiceth not in iniquity

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Rejoiceth in the truth

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Beareth all things

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Believeth all things

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Hopeth all things

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

      Endureth all things

      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

  • Joseph B. Wirthlin said:

    • “Note that charity is given only to those who seek it, only to those who earnestly pray for it, only to those who are disciples of Christ. Before we can be filled with this pure love, we must start at the beginning with the first principle of the gospel. We must have ‘first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.’ [Articles of Faith 1:4.]” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 32; or Ensign, Nov. 1998, 26).

  • M. Russell Ballard taught:

    • “The Apostle Paul taught that three divine principles form a foundation upon which we can build the structure of our lives. They are faith, hope, and charity. (See 1 Corinthians 13:13.) Together they give us a base of support like the legs of a three-legged stool. Each principle is significant within itself, but each also plays an important supporting role. Each is incomplete without the others. Hope helps faith develop. Likewise, true faith gives birth to hope. When we begin to lose hope, we are faltering also in our measure of faith. The principles of faith and hope working together must be accompanied by charity, which is the greatest of all. According to Mormon, ‘charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever’ (Moroni 7:47). It is the perfect manifestation of our faith and hope.

      “Working together, these three eternal principles will help give us the broad eternal perspective we need to face life’s toughest challenges, including the prophesied ordeals of the last days. Real faith fosters hope for the future; it allows us to look beyond ourselves and our present cares. Fortified by hope, we are moved to demonstrate the pure love of Christ through daily acts of obedience and Christian service” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1992, 44; or Ensign, Nov. 1992, 33).

  • Neal A. Maxwell said:

    • “Unsurprisingly the triad of faith, hope, and charity, which brings us to Christ, has strong and converging linkage: faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, hope is in His atonement, and charity is the ‘pure love of Christ’ (see Ether 12:28; Moroni 7:47). Each of these attributes qualifies us for the celestial kingdom (see Moroni 10:20–21; Ether 12:34). Each, first of all, requires us to be meek and lowly (see Moroni 7:39, 43).

      “Faith and hope are constantly interactive and may not always be precisely distinguished or sequenced. Though not perfect knowledge either, hope’s enlivened expectations are ‘with surety’ true (Ether 12:4; see also Romans 8:24; Hebrews 11:1; Alma 32:21). In the geometry of restored theology, hope has a greater circumference than faith. If faith increases, the perimeter of hope stretches correspondingly” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 45; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 35).

  • Rober J. Whetten taught:

    • “Like faith, Christlike love is a gift of the Spirit, is granted upon the principles of personal righteousness and in accordance to our level of obedience to the laws upon which it is predicated. And like faith, love must be exercised to grow” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1999, 37; or Ensign, May 1999, 30).

  • Dallin H. Oaks said:

    •  “Charity, ‘the pure love of Christ’ (Moroni 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; italics added)” (in Conference Report, Oct. 2000, 43; or Ensign, Nov. 2000, 34).

  • Jeffrey R. Holland taught:

    • “The greater definition of ‘the pure love of Christ,’ however, is not what we as Christians try but largely fail to demonstrate toward others but rather what Christ totally succeeded in demonstrating toward us. True charity has been known only once. It is shown perfectly and purely in Christ’s unfailing, ultimate, and atoning love for us. It is Christ’s love for us that ‘suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not.’ It is his love for us that is not ‘puffed up … , not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.’ It is Christ’s love for us that ‘beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.’ It is as demonstrated in Christ that ‘charity never faileth.’ It is that charity—his pure love for us—without which we would be nothing, hopeless, of all men and women most miserable. Truly, those found possessed of the blessings of his love at the last day—the Atonement, the Resurrection, eternal life, eternal promise—surely it shall be well with them.

      “This does not in any way minimize the commandment that we are to try to acquire this kind of love for one another. … We should try to be more constant and unfailing, more longsuffering and kind, less envious and puffed up in our relationships with others. As Christ lived so should we live, and as Christ loved so should we love. But the ‘pure love of Christ’ Mormon spoke of is precisely that—Christ’s love. With that divine gift, that redeeming bestowal, we have everything; without it we have nothing and ultimately are nothing, except in the end ‘devils [and] angels to a devil.’ [2 Nephi 9:9.]

      “Life has its share of fears and failures. Sometimes things fall short. Sometimes people fail us, or economies or businesses or governments fail us. But one thing in time or eternity does not fail us—the pure love of Christ. …

      “Thus, the miracle of Christ’s charity both saves and changes us. His atoning love saves us from death and hell as well as from carnal, sensual, and devilish behavior. That redeeming love also transforms the soul, lifting it above fallen standards to something far more noble, far more holy. Wherefore, we must ‘cleave unto charity’—Christ’s pure love of us and our determined effort toward pure love of him and all others—for without it we are nothing, and our plan for eternal happiness is utterly wasted. Without the redeeming love of Christ in our lives, all other qualities—even virtuous qualities and exemplary good works—fall short of salvation and joy” (Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 336–37).

  • Additional Study:

    • Aileen H. Clyde, “Charity and Learning”, October 1994

    • Love One Another, Hymns No. 308

    • When We’re Helping, Children’s Songbook No. 198b