LESSON 4 My Love Kept for Jesus This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. John 15:5
Meditation Thoughts If suddenly upon the street, My gracious Savior I should meet, And he should say, As I love thee, What love hast thou to offer me? Then what could this poor heart of mine Dare offer to that heart divine? His eye would pierce my outward show, His thought my inmost thought would know; And if I said, I love thee, Lord, He would not heed my spoken word Unless my daily life should tell That verily I loved him well. If on the day or in the place, Where-in He met me face to face, My life could show some kindness done, Some purpose formed, some work begun For his dear sake, then were it meet Love s gift to lay at Jesus feet. If Suddenly Upon The Street #320 The Hymnal, 9 th Printing, November, 1971, Copyright 1956, HERALD PUBLISHING HOUSE, Independence, MO 2
My Love Kept for Jesus Note Pages. You are encouraged to use the Note Pages as you read the lesson and when you attend group class meetings. The more you write down the easier it is to remember. The object is to help you understand how you can and will be Kept for the Master s Use. You will find the Note Pages at the end of the lesson. If you need more Note Pages, you can copy the ones provided or make your own. Refer to page 4 of the Preface for detailed information concerning the John 15:5: This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. PRELUDE: MY TESTIMONY TAKE MY LOVE, MY LORD, I POUR AT THY FEET ITS TREASURE STORE. TAKE MYSELF AND I WILL BE EVER, ONLY, ALL FOR THEE. Have you considered what it means for us to keep our love for Jesus? If we keep it for Him, what are we to keep it away from? What follows is my testimony. To keep your love for Jesus is to keep yourself for righteousness, peace, joy and life and away from hurt, fear, doubt and, as you will see, even death. From the time I was very young my parents taught me to pray for my future companion Pray that he would grow and be protected spiritually, mentally, and physically. That he would walk in the ways of the Lord and work in the kingdom of God; and that I would too, so I would be a fit companion. This was an effective tool for me as I was growing up. I didn't have to worry about the drama around me, who liked me, who didn t. I knew that the Lord loved me and that He was preparing me, and my future companion, for work in his Kingdom. As I aged through my teens and early twenties, this helped me develop dear friends with whom I shared the Kingdom of God, not placing on these friendships the pressure of a marriage commitment, just commitments to the Kingdom. My father always said, You fall in lust but you grow in love. I remembered the advise of my father and the commandment of the scriptures to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:38, 3 Nephi 6:11). This was my thinking, Will my friendship with this person prepare them to be a better worker in God s kingdom, no matter who they marry? You see, being out in the mission field I knew how important it was for there to be many Kingdom homes. I wanted everyone to have a successful Kingdom home. This also kept me from being too lonely as I moved into my twenties without a companion. I just continued my prayers for the one I had prayed for all my life and centered my education and my work on building the Kingdom of God. My love kept for Jesus was infinitely better than trying to build a home without Him. 3
When I was older and I was pondering and praying more seriously about a companion, the Lord opened the scriptures for me, as he often does to answer my prayers. The scriptures He gave me were on affection. I learned that after God had given mankind their agency, He commanded them to love one another and choose Him their father (Genesis 7:40). However, in this prophecy of the time of Noah, the people are without affection, and they hate their own blood. They were people who would not hearken to the gospel, but still called themselves the sons of God without coming into covenant. They bragged that they were eating and drinking, marrying and having mighty children of great renown. They thought they had it all. They were lifted up in the imagination of their own hearts attributing this to themselves and denying God. But the Lord says that under this façade of happiness, they were only evil continually, the earth was full of violence. The meaning of the Hebrew word translated violence meant: wrong, cruel, damaging, unjust, unrighteous oppression. They were lying to themselves. Again, they lacked affection. What s more, Noah s daughters had sold themselves. They gave themselves and their affections to the worldly, prideful sons of men. While reading this, it struck me that they were not on the ark when the rains came. Instead, they perished in the Flood because they would not hearken to the word of the Lord. (Genes 7&8 [IV], Doctrine & Covenants 36) The apostle Paul describes a similar situation where the people are described as covenant breakers without natural affection, and the Lord gives them up unto vile affections (Romans 1:18-32, 2 Timothy 3:3). So it makes a difference whether our affections are the natural ones God gave us retained in godliness or vile affections of wickedness. It is very important where we place our affections and whether we love as God commanded (see below for the How-To) or if instead we confuse carnal desire for love. Here are the scriptures the Lord gave me: 1. Romans 12:9-10: Let love be without dissimulation (without hypocrisy, sincere). Abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another; 2. Colossians 3:1-2: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3. Alma 17:69: Yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest, let it be in the Lord; yea, let thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord for ever; counsel the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good. This is an important understanding that if we place our affections on the Lord we will have the love that is abiding, the Godly love that is forever. We need to be careful what we do, where we go, even what our thoughts are, that our affections may be placed on the Lord forever. This testimony helped me when people would say, Oh, you won t find a companion in church; you ll have to go to parties or the bar. I knew that was wrong and definitely not the place to find a companion whose first love would be God. Choosing God as our first love makes all our other love, forever love. I understood that if my husband loved God more than anything, I would know that his love for me would be the forever love we talk about in the lesson. 4
This testimony of God keeping me as I learned to keep myself for him culminated in an experience I had with the Lord while I was living in France, still unmarried, working as a nanny and finishing my bachelor s degree. God told me to pray for my future companion, that he was in serious danger. I prayed, not knowing anything of what was going on. It wasn't until years later when I had met and married my husband that we put together the testimony. You see he had been in a serious car accident just a few hundred miles away in Germany. God preserved him and had inspired me to pray for him at his moment of great need. It was also a time of great spiritual danger in his life and the Lord rescued him for His kingdom s sake. Putting God and His Kingdom first helps us love with the greatest love, the pure love of God. Think about your own testimony of your love kept for Jesus or begin that testimony today as you follow the steps below to the pure love of God. I. LOVE IS OF GOD (1 John 4:7) The scriptures declare both that God is love (1 John 4:8) and that all things were created and made to bear record of [Him] (Genesis 6:66). Even more explicitly, Jesus gave us a commandment to bear record of Him by observing to do the things He did (Matthew 26:25). From these three scriptures, we can see that anything that is not what Jesus would do, that does not bear record of God, cannot be love, since God is love. This is the first thing we all must learn about love. We often hear about love in the context of intimate human relationships. Again from the scriptures we find that God ordained marriage (Doctrine & Covenants 49:3a) and just as all things were created and made to bear record of [God], so marriage is a likeness, meant to bear record of Him. Just as we are called to come into covenant with Christ, those who marry are called to come into covenant with their spouse. The oneness of marriage cannot be achieved outside of this covenant, just as our oneness with Christ is not achieved outside of a covenant with Him. Paul explains that he is speaking concerning Christ and the Church when he says, For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:30-32. In a marriage, the man is to be in the likeness of Christ, the bridegroom and the women in the likeness of the righteous, sanctified church, Christ s Bride (Ephesians 5:23-24). This is what we are helping each other grow into in a loving marriage. That is why other combinations are an adulteration and do not bear record of God as He ordained. Our marriage covenant is to be a living example to our children of the purpose of our lives; what we are working and living for. We are preparing and looking forward to the coming of Jesus Christ (Alma 19:23). If what we are doing, thinking, and feeling does not bear record of God, it is not love as God defines it in scripture. What else could it be? It may be pride, wickedness, selfishness, selfcenteredness, etc. Ask yourself, Am I just trying to get what I want from someone or something and calling it love? If the answer is yes, then this is not love at all! This is what the scriptures call carnal desire and we are told that it leads to our fall (Doctrine & Covenants 5
2:2a-b). So, in consuming the gifts of God, His creation, on our own lusts we contribute to the downfall of others and ourselves (Galatians 5:13-21). We even have to be careful not to pray with this consuming lust (James 4:3, Mormon 4:94, Doctrine & Covenants 46:4b)! This is not love. II. LOVING AND KNOWING GOD ARE LIFE ETERNAL So what does it truly mean to love someone forever? Is our interaction in the lives of others lifting them so they can live eternally? Consider this: To love someone forever is to lift them to the redemption of Christ so that they might have eternal life, and live joyfully forever (Alma 10:27-30). To love someone forever is to lead them into life eternal by receiving Jesus Christ and choosing to love Him by coming into covenant with Him and loving as He has commanded us to (Genesis 7:40, Doctrine & Covenants 36:7b, & 85:41). What does love have to do with eternal life? We will consider two scriptures together: 1John 4:7-8: Beloved, let us one another; for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and God. He that loveth, knoweth God; for God is love. John 17:3: And this is life, that they might thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Taken together, these scriptures show us that eternal life means knowing God and we must love one another if we are to know God. Are we loving by helping everyone who is in our sphere of influence know God and His Son Jesus Christ? Are our actions, our words, our thoughts bearing record of God and His purposes? Are we denying ourselves of all ungodliness and loving God with all our heart, soul, might, mind, and strength? (Moroni 10:29, Deuteronomy 6:5, Luke 10:28, Doctrine & Covenants 59:2a). Are we leading others to this love, this knowledge of God and His Son Jesus Christ? III. LOVE TAKES ACTION Does loving with our whole selves just mean that we get a chest-burning feeling when we care for God and others? Let s take a look at how God loves us. For God so loved the world, that he gave his Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish; but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) This scripture tells us that God s love is not just a feeling He has for us, it is the action of sending his Son. 6
When Alma writes a prophecy of Jesus coming in Alma 5:18-28, he gave us a detailed picture of the love of God in sending Jesus in the flesh and the love of Jesus as our intercessor, our savior. Five of the reasons that Jesus came in the flesh are revealed here. Look for the phrase that he as you fill in the blanks from the following scripture and list the five reasons below. Alma 5:21-23: 21 And this that the word might be fulfilled which saith, He will take upon him the and the of his people; and he will take upon him, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people: 22 And he will take upon him their, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. 23 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God according to the flesh, that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions, according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me. Five reasons Jesus came in the flesh 1. (21) that he may 2. (22) that his 3. (22) that he may 4. (23) that he might 5. (23) that he might The above reason is love in its purest form. One of the many beautiful expressions of Christ s love for us is found in God s words through the prophets Isaiah and Joseph Smith: And now the year of my redeemed is come, and they shall mention the loving kindness of their Lord, and all that he has bestowed upon them, according to his goodness, and according to his loving kindness, for ever and ever. In all their afflictions he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence saved them; and in his love, and in his pity, he redeemed them, and bare them, and carried them all the days of old. (Doctrine & Covenants 108:10a-b, Isaiah 63:7-9) 7
This pure love of Christ is not just a feeling or Jesus saying, I love you. He showed us that real love is investing yourself, in action, for the benefit of others. Love means you are willing to bear other people s burdens, make their burdens light. It means you mourn with those that mourn, and help those in need. It means you will come into covenant through faith, repentance and baptism. It means you will stand as a witness for God at all times, in all things, and in all places even until death. (Mosiah 9:39-41) This is part of our covenant with Jesus, which is a covenant of love. A line from songwriter Don Francisco s lyrics reads, Love is not a feeling, it s an act of your will. IV. WE LEARN HOW TO LOVE BY KEEPING GOD S COMMANDMENTS Here we could have a problem, because sometimes we, as humans, think we are being loving when we are either serving our own desires or misguided rational. Remember even our affections should be placed on the Lord forever. How can we know how to really love others? Scripture clarifies what love is This is love, that we walk after the commandments (2 John 1:6). Here we have some very cutting and clear scriptural teaching. Look closely because these verses say that if we do not do righteously, we do not love our brother (1 John 3:10). The way we can know if we truly love the children of God, is if we love God and keep His commandments (1 John 5:2). God s commandments are His expression of His love to us. He knows we need help knowing how to love Him, others, and ourselves. Our obedience to His commandments is our expression of our love to Him and His creation. 1 John 5:3 tells us plainly that to love God is to keep His commandments. And since we serve God by serving our fellow beings (Mosiah 1:49), keeping God s commandments is how we love anyone, whether it be our parents, our spouse, our children, our friends, our neighbors, our church family, our brother or sister. Fill in the blanks for the following scripture from the book of John: John 15:9-10 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love. If ye keep my, ye shall in my love; even as I have my Father's commandments, and in his love. Finally, we should never give up hope because we may not have kept God s commandments in the past. Know that keeping the commandments is not grievous (1 John 5:3). This is so beautiful. The word teaches us that sin is transgression (breaking) of the law (1 John 3:4) and unfortunately by the law we are all condemned, because we have all transgressed or broken it (Romans 3:23, 5:12). There is no way to save ourselves, not even in further keeping of the law (Romans 6:1-15). But that is where the love of God comes in! If we choose TODAY (by our agency, since God will not force Jesus on us) to come to God in covenant we can be saved by His mercy and grace through the atonement of Jesus Christ. As many as will do this are no longer under the law that condemns us. However, it is also important to remember that we are not above the law either. 8
As Paul explains, the law teaches us what sin is (Romans 3:20). We have to keep the commandments to truly turn from sin. Practicing the commandments will teach any person, no matter how fallen, how to love the way God ordained. And God will help you! The scriptures tell us that the commandments contain prophecies and promises that will ALL be fulfilled (Doctrine & Covenants 1:7)! Think of it this way. As we fulfill the promises by doing what God says, even when it doesn t make sense, we are then able to watch as God gives us good gifts in return. This process means that we get to learn what loving looks like by watching Him move in our lives while we practice loving others ourselves! Jesus said, I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do (John 14:31). Our love for God and for our fellow man, and even for ourselves can only be expressed through an act of our will. That act is keeping the commandments. See also Mosiah 2:7-11. V. EVERLASTING, PURE LOVE Moroni 8:18, 7:52, and 2Nephi 11:107 teach us that charity is the word for this everlasting love: the pure love of Christ. Please fill in the blanks below. Moroni 7:52: "Wherefore, unto charity, which is the of all, for all things must fail; but charity is the of Christ, and it endureth for ever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be with them. This scripture presents an eternal reason for learning to Love as God has commanded; everything else will fail. Moroni gives us some excellent advise: Moroni 7:53: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, unto the Father with all the energy of, that ye may be with this love which he hath bestowed upon all who are true of his Son Jesus Christ, that ye may the sons of God, that when he shall appear, we shall be him; for we shall see him as he is, that we may have this hope, that we may be even as he is pure. Amen. Charity is the pure love of God, which is above all (Doctrine & Covenants 85:38c, Colossians 3:14); which prevents a multitude of sins (1Peter 4:8); which is the first of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22); without which we are nothing and our works are worth nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2-3, Moroni 7:50-51, 2 Nephi 11:107-108, Doctrine & Covenants 16:4); without which we can not know God (Doctrine & Covenants 76:8b), or enter into the Kingdom of God (James 2:5). It is clearly the most important destination of the whole gospel path. But how do we get that kind of love? 9
We are given the steps, which are familiar to us as the Doctrine of Christ, in the following scripture. [fill in the blanks] Moroni 8:29: The first-fruits of is ; and baptism cometh by, unto the the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth of sins; and the remission of sins bringeth, and of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart, cometh the visitation of the, which Comforter with and, which love endureth by unto, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God. It is through our obedience to the commandments in covenant and the receiving of the Holy Spirit that we receive that perfect love. Diligent prayer is how that love endures in us. VI. PRACTICAL STEPS FOR ESCAPING LUST AND GAINING THE LOVE OF GOD IN OUR LIVES. Peter sets out in steps how we keep our love for Jesus by keeping the commandments of God in proving His promises. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:4). Continuing in 2 Peter, please fill in the blanks. 2 Peter 1:5-7: 5 And besides this, giving all, add to your ; and to virtue, ; 6 And to knowledge ; and to temperance, ; and to patience, ; 7 And to godliness, ; and to brotherly kindness,. This same pattern is found in Doctrine & Covenants 4:2 and 104:11i. The wonderful promises for our love kept for Jesus are a fruitful knowledge of our Lord (Doctrine & Covenants 104:111i) and entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:11). Remember diligence needs to be applied to each step. 10
Diligence. We are to be diligent about our call. All are called (Doctrine & Covenants 119:8a). The Greek for the word diligence used in 2 Peter means being fervent, intent, purposeful, and determined in accomplishing, promoting, or striving after the work God has for us. Alma rejoiced over those that gave diligence and heed to the words that the Holy Spirit gave him (Alma 5:43). Alma rejoices when he finds that the sons of Mosiah were men of sound understanding because they had diligently searched the scriptures that they might know the word of God (Alma 12:4). In Deuteronomy we are admonished to be diligent in keeping the commandments (Deuteronomy 6:17, 11:13, 22, 28:1). Moroni tells us that perfect love endures by diligence in prayer (Moroni 8:29). So we find that the earnest hearing and application of the word of the Lord and earnest prayer are a part of keeping our love for Jesus. Think about how you can apply these steps in your life as we look at each aspect of this pattern. 1. Faith: Faith in Jesus Christ, as we learn in Alma 10:28, is the first step of our diligent path toward the pure love of God. Faith is often mentioned right alongside charity (1 Timothy 1:14 and 2 Timothy 1:13). In fact, the breastplate of the armor of God in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 is both faith and love. What is faith? Alma 16:143 describes it for us. And now as I said concerning faith: Faith, is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith, ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. See also Ether 5:6 and Hebrews 11:1. 2. Virtue: Virtue in this context means moral excellence, uprightness. So we add to our faith virtue, applying the promises in the commandments (Doctrine & Covenants 1:7) to our lives; i.e. Keeping the Commandments. Alma illustrates this in Alma 16:82: And now, as the preaching of the word had had a greater tendency to lead the people to do that which was just; yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them; therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God. The Lord tells us in Doctrine & Covenants 38:5c to practice virtue and holiness before Him. 3. Knowledge: To practice virtue is proving the promises and exercising our faith. As we prove the promises our faith becomes knowledge (Alma 12:113, 16:163) because God always keeps His promises. Alma uses the term experiment upon the word for proving the promises (Alma16:151, 203) and describes the process in Alma 16:140-173. There are some things about knowledge that it is important to remember; knowledge without charity can puff up, where charity edifieth (1Corinthians 8:1-3). In fact, remember that knowledge and faith are nothing without charity (1Corinthians 13:2). So we need to keep on the path to charity. Deuteronomy 7:9 tells us the most important knowledge we should have, Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. 4. Temperance: The next step is temperance. This means once you have knowledge you need to use self control or self-restraint. We are admonished to be temperate in all things (1Corinthians 9:25, Alma 5:39 &18:13, D&C 11:4b). In Titus 1:7-9, being temperate is paired with not being self-willed, not easily angered, sober, not a striker (bully, contentious person), not greedy or given to immoral gain, friendly and welcoming to strangers and guests, loving what is 11
good, just, and holy; holding fast to the word of God. In Alma 5:39 being temperate is paired with being humble, submissive, gentle, easily entreated, full of patience and long suffering, and diligent in keeping the commandments of God. 5. Patience: Patience is enduring in the Lord. Sometimes His promises aren t fulfilled in our timeframe but they are always fulfilled in the best timeframe. God is the giver of good gifts (Matthew 7:20, Luke 11:14, 3Nephi 6:23). Being patient is being thankful for what the Lord can and will do in any situation, if we will in faith leave everything in His hands. Psalms 37:7-9 gives a good illustration of patience and the promise it brings. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. This patience is important for a time of trial and perfecting that are necessary for us to be perfected, for us to be able to abide the ministering of angels and even God s presence (Doctrine & Covenants 67:3c). James describes this process in James 1:3-4 stating that the trying of your faith worketh patience and we need to let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Modern day revelation speaks of patience as endurance and we are admonished often to be patient in afflictions (Doctrine & Covenants 23:4b, 30:3c, 54:3, 66:5b). The Lord assures us He will be with us through all this to the end. Doctrine & Covenants 95:5 instructs us to bear affliction patiently, not reviling or seeking revenge. The key to patience is to rejoice and give thanks for what God can do in all things (Doctrine & Covenants 95:1a, Thessalonians 5:16, Romans 8:28). 6. Godliness: If we let patience have its perfect work, our actions of keeping the commandments of God over time become habits and we start to be able to act like God would in many circumstances. This is godliness. To obtain godliness, however, we must deny ourselves of ungodliness. We can t mix keeping the commandments with doing our own thing. We are admonished in Timothy to fight the good fight and lay hold on eternal life by following after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness; fleeing the things that drown men in destruction and perdition (1Timohty 6:8-12). Timothy uses an effective illustration of drowning, being completely swallowed up, in destruction. Jesus, when He told His disciples how to come after Him, He admonished them to deny themselves and take up their cross. They were to: 1) deny themselves of all ungodliness; 2) deny themselves every worldly lust; and 3) keep the commandments (Matthew 16:25-29). Paul restates this saying the grace of God teaches us to deny ourselves of ungodliness and worldly lusts. We should live soberly, righteously, godly, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-14). Being godly means being a peculiar people unto Christ, zealous of good works. 1 Timothy 4:8, godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 7. Brotherly Kindness: Once our habits and outlook become godly, we start to feel for others as God feels. Notice, the feelings come after the actions. We ll use a letter from the 12
apostle Paul to the Romans to illustrate where we are in our walk with the Lord, prepared to truly have charity. Fill in the action words from Romans 12:9-21: 9 Let love be without dissimulation (without hypocrisy), sincere. that which is evil and to that which is good. 10 kindly one to another with brotherly love; in honor one another; 11 slothful in business; in spirit; the Lord; 12 in hope; in tribulation; instant in prayer; 13 to the necessity of saints; to hospitality. 14 them which persecute you; bless, and curse not. 15 with them that do rejoice, and with them that weep 16 of the one toward another. not high things, but (be in association with) men of low estate. wise in your own conceits. 17 to no man evil for evil. things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, him; if he thirst, him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. This is not a checklist but a condition of the heart brought in by the Holy Spirit, the Mind of God, dwelling within us because we followed the previous steps. 8. Charity: Finally, if we can sincerely allow brotherly kindness to guide our decisions and lives, then we will have charity. A saying I heard once goes, Watch your thoughts. They become words. Watch your words. They become deeds. Watch your deeds. They become habits. Watch your habits. They become character. Watch your character. It becomes your destiny. This is also true of eternal life, or getting to know God. It starts as faith in God, experimented on in our words and actions by coming into covenant and keeping His 13
commandments. Then as we patiently keep those commandments, those actions become the habits of godliness. Lastly, if we give place to brotherly kindness and continue in godliness, then loving like God loves becomes ingrained in our nature or character, which is charity. And this defines how we will spend eternity. How will we know we have charity? Because we will know as we are known. Let s look at the description of charity in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. If I Have Charity - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 I am long suffering, and I am kind. I do not envy. I do not vaunt myself (I do not lift myself up in pride), I am not puffed up; I do not behave unseemly, I do not seek my own; I am not easily provoked, I think no evil. I do not rejoice in iniquity, but I do rejoice in the truth. I bear all things, I believe all things, I hope all things, I endure all things. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. If, however, being human, we find ourselves today needing strengthening in any of these areas, each of us can go back through the steps diligently seeking God s word and beginning with faith that if God told us to do it, it is important to do it, and God will help us through (1Nephi1:65). We must believe in the One Eternal God and His Only begotten Son Jesus Christ, come into covenant and, taking it one day at a time, live that covenant. This is our love kept for Jesus. The end result is worth more than the whole world. Continuing testimony: I want you to know that it is the faithful love in action through prayers, teaching and example of people who love God and love me, that bring me into the light and love of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. In fact years ago I was searching for what I could do to make a difference for the Kingdom. I was led to the scripture in Alma 4:6 where the people gathered together and fasted and prayed often for the souls that knew not God. We started a weekly fast and prayer time. I thought I was doing this for my loved ones of the faith in places like Africa. It wasn t until I saw that in extending my love to others God was able then to touch my life with a greater knowledge of Him. He also touched the hearts and minds of my husband and my children. During the same period of time each of us, in separate places and in different ways, were inspired with the thoughts you read in this lesson. It was we ourselves that needed to know God. You see in loving the way God commands, our own knowledge and love continue to grow as well as supporting others. Let s do this together. One for all and all for one! Now, review your Note Pages sheet and writing down your reflections, answers and summary in the areas that are not completed. Implement your knowledge of those things that will aid you to be a woman Kept for the Master s Use. 14
If you need more Note Pages, you can copy the ones provided or make your own. Refer to page 4 of the Preface for detailed information concerning the Note Pages. 15
If you need more Note Pages, you can copy the ones provided or make your own. Refer to page 4 of the Preface for detailed information concerning the Note Pages. 16