A few more lessons on charity from Sheri Dew...
"I repeat: The healing power of charity, bestowed by our Father, made possible by the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and delivered to us by the Holy Ghost, can make it virutually impossible even to feel emotions common to the natural man. In fact, charity can drop-kick the natural man (and woman) right out of play."
"Now, becoming like the Savior--meaning, having our natures become like His--is not a quick or easy process. But we are admonished to "covet earnestly the bets gifts" (1 Cor. 12:31). The pure love of Christ is the best gift. It is to be coveted, sought after, and even craved. As we pray with all the energy we can muster to be filled with His love, our nature will gradually change, we will slowly become more and more like Him, and our actions and feeling will increasingly be manifestations of pure charity."
"So on those days when we're not ready to stop being offended about something, not ready to forgive someone, still determined to give someone the silent treatment , and so on, what we're actually saying is, "Wait! I don't want to become more like the Savior today. Maybe tomorrow when I' m able to let go of some irritation or injustice." Perhaps those are the times
when we need to pray the hardest, the times that make it clear that a change in behavior is not enough--that we must have a change in nature. As the Father applies the balms of charity to our hearts and souls, everything from emotional wounds to personality flaws can be healed and even transformed."
President Ezra Taft Benson described the process this way: "The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature" (in Conference Report, October 1985, 5).
-Sheri Dew, "If Life Where Easy Then It Wouldn't Be Hard"
I have been concentrating on charity so much because I know it can change any miserable situation in our lives. If we are struggling in our marriages--pray for the gift of charity, if we are having trouble being the mom we want to be--pray for the gift of charity, if we are having trouble making our home what we want it to be--pray for charity, if we are having inner turmoil--pray for the gift of charity. Remember, like Sheri Dew said, it is not a quick, easy process but over time we will each slowly change and become like the Savior. I have heard some say that it was a slow process until all of a sudden one day they noticed a
huge difference in themselves. It is a process that can lead to an event.
I was reading this last night and just loved it.
