I am not one that waits for a New Year to set sooo many
goals that I rarely ever accomplish one. However this year I will be setting
one goal. This goal has been one I have wanted to reach for quite some time.
Today while I was studying I felt I needed to study a
section of preach my gospel (a manual we as missionaries study from so that we
can teach the doctrine clearly.) about obtaining Christ like attributes and I
flipped open to charity.
Charity is something I have written about before. However
today... My eyes were opened to something new.
This is my time to learn how to love. Not as the world loves, as Christ loves.
Have you ever been hurt? Let down? Miss lead? Used? Have you
ever had an irreplaceable friendship broken? Have you ever felt like it was
impossible to give of your love again?
How are we supposed to keep giving our love to people who
don't value it, that don't protect it?
I know that I eventually just lock everyone out and become
hardened to such a great commandment. I have a tendency to push others away as
I get close to them, to run before it's possible to be let down.
I don't know why I do this. I was raised in a home based on
teachings of love and kindness. My home was a refuge growing up from the world
around me.
I am me. Me is a socially awkward, do what I want when I
want kind of girl. I enjoy my alone time, being in large group situations
actually makes me want to vomit, my nickname when I was little was "re
run" I found my favorite out fit and I wore it every day until it was no
longer... wearable. I love animals more than I love being with people. My
backyard is the mountains where most of my time is spent. Driving in the car
alone is my favorite time to connect with my best friend; it’s my escape time
to talk with my Savior as if He were sitting next to me. I have never felt
alone in life because I always know Jesus Christ is with me.
Growing up I knew who I was. I knew what I wanted and
NOTHING COULD STOP ME!
Then reality hit. And it hit hard. Going to school made it hard
to be me. The me I wanted to be wasn't generally accepted as "normal"
to others. I lost site that Me is who God wants me to be. I had many friends
turn their backs on me, and lost the confidence in people that I once had. Love
became so much different than what my childhood self-thought it should be.
People tried to change me; I was broken down and lost. Life at times isn't
always the happily ever after we see in fairy tales and sometimes is more like
the part when belle and her horse Philippe get lost in the forest full of
wolves. That scene is what my life became. I was surrounded by wolves that in
my mind I felt sought after my destruction.
I lost who I once, that tender loving full of brightness,
hope, and kindness to all little girl. I remember when I was little I had this
wonderful friend Jordan Yates the two of us though we could make wings out of a
bunch of stray bird feathers and sticks that we could fly. To us, nothing would
get in the way of that... except for gravity. What about jumping off of play
sets holding giant black trash bags? The wind would just HAVE to come catch the
bag perfectly and carry us away right??? That is when the wind never came. What
about umbrellas... we could jump off of the top bunk and float off to space
right!?!?!? Again gravity and inside out umbrellas were our worst enemy. But in
our bright imaginations these things could become reality... No matter what we
were told, we knew we could accomplish taking flight.
Life got hard. I lost a lot of friends, to death, betrayal,
graduation from high school moving on and many others things. My heart was
getting more and more hard to open.
To many people wasted energy on trying to break their way in
and to smash down my walls forcing me to change myself rather than finding an
opening and helping me light the way.
My twentieth year is when things began it was a year full of
a lot of change.... I found me some friends that I keep close. I made
friendships that didn't last longer than a few months... and I finally realized
my family is the ones who never leave and the ones I should cleave to. I
started finding who I was again. I realized I needed Jesus Christ’s; He is the
only one who can light the way. I realized I had a great need for the atonement
but had not a clue how to use it. My twenty first years came when I decided
that I was going to find myself in Christ... I pushed everything aside and I
came on a mission. Where I have am becoming found.
The scriptures have taught me that with God nothing shall be
impossible and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I
have connected the dots, and found healing through the Atonement.
Just a few days ago that I came to reality. I was sent to
earth to be changed by God. Not to be changed by man. God loves me for all of
my perfect imperfections. Every little bit of me he created. He knows how to
restore my broken pieces to better than original. He knows how to fortify my
foundation and to lift me when I am weak and not yet ready to stand on my own.
His tender hand is here guiding me, showing me things I never knew were
possible. He is teaching me who His son Jesus Christ is; He is teaching me of
His love...
This is the place Christ is showing me how to love again.
Love is an action. Love isn't a passive feeling, when you
love someone you do kind things for them. You don't just tell... you show. It
is the greatest show and tell ever. You can love your mom, dad, brother,
sister, pets friend any one you meet... BUT HOW!?
How do you let go of the fear that one might not love you in
the same way you love them? How do we let go of the fear love will fade and let
you down? How do you let go of all doubt and let love in??
The scriptures I am about to share changed my world. I have
read them so many times before, the beautiful thing about scripture, they
always say the same thing... however they reach you in different ways in
different stages of life.
Here is the first set, these come from the Book of Mormon.
"46 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—
47 But charity is the
pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of
it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my
beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye
may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true
followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that
when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that
we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."
IF YE HAVE NOT CHARITY YE ARE NOTHING. We are told time and
time again to be filled with Christ like love. AKA Charity. Pure charity never
faileth. All things of the world at some point will fail. But the love of
Christ, pure love... There is no end to it. It is an eternal concept.
Charity is the pure love of Christ. Christ is full of Charity;
the perfect example of Christ’s charity toward us is when he gave his life on
the cross. No one took Christ life from him; he gave it, so that he could overcome
it, paving the way for each and every one of us to have eternal life. Great
love than this? Than this man that gave his life for us? I think not. Think
about someone you love dearly, who is special to you. Would you give your life
for them? I know that there is one friend I would give my life to fallow and
that is Jesus Christ. There is no life without Christ.
How do we become filled with this love for everyone???? Ask
and ye shall receive. Then act. Put the asking to the pavement and go out there
reach out and serve. There is no way to hate someone you are serving. I asked
my mission president once how I could make better friendships with those around
me, He told me "serve them"
It was asked of the Savior what the greatest command was.
His response is to love.
"36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto
him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first
and great commandment.
39 And the second is
like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
In order to love others it has been made clear to me through
this scripture that we must first love Christ, as we love Christ we will
understand our divine potential, who we truly are, we will find new confidence
in Christ. We are then told to love ourselves. In the godly way that he loves us. We will be more comfortable with
who we are as our faith in Christ increases and our love for Him blooms we
naturally have greater love for who we are and who we can become.
Then we are expected to love others. But before this step we must first know Christ and love him. To love anyone we must love Christ and who you are.
Then we are expected to love others. But before this step we must first know Christ and love him. To love anyone we must love Christ and who you are.
How do we show Christ we love Him?
There is a scripture for that :)
"17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may
learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow
beings ye are only in the service of your God."
It all comes back to showing simple acts of kindness. That
which we do for others is done to God. That which we don't do for others also
is not done for God.
When Christ came to earth He didn't come too ministered to.
He came to minister. He came to lift the broken spirits, to heal the sick and
to raise the dead in hopes that he would set an example for all of us. An
example that we could choose to follow or choose to ignore.
His love for us is perfect. Our love for ourselves and
others can be perfected through Him.
"16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid
down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoso hath
this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels
of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"
"7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of
God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not
knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 In this was
manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten
Son into the world, that we might alive through him.
10 Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out
fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him,
because he first loved us."
Fear and love like fear and faith cannot coexist.
My goal is to find greater love for my Savior, to serve Him
in all ways that I possibly can. My goal is to give my heart to Christ.
"15 ¶If ye love me, keep my commandments."
"37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of
me.
38 And he that taketh not his across, and followeth after
me, is not worthy of me.
39 He that findeth
his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find
it."
In all things God must come first. This is our time to take
up His cross and follow Him to happiness. To lose your life in Christ is
becoming found through the atonement. Lose yourself in Christ and find who you
truly are, find who you are and love yourself in Christ, there is a world
around us waiting to be given peace, not peace as the worlds gives it, peace
that Christ gives us.
Through Christ comes perfect love, through Christ comes
hope. Through Christ we are everything, without Christ we are nothing. We cannot
do anything without the help of our Savior.
"32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have
ye? For sinners also love those that love them.
33 And if ye do good
to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do even the
same.
34 And if ye lend to
them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend to
sinners, to receive as much again.
35 But love ye your
enemies, and do good, and blend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward
shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind
unto the unthankful and to the evil.
36 Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
37 Judge not, and ye
shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and
ye shall be forgiven:"
"43 ¶Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you,
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the
children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on
the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love
them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute
your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
No matter how hard it is we must love. ALL PEOPLE. Just as
our father in heaven loves all of us. None of us our perfect, and from time to
time we hurt others. It is crucial that we use the Atonement every day and
repent of the times we use or hurt another, to let go of the pain caused by the
past, to step into the future with a brightness of hope to let go of fear and
to let love in.
"As I have loved you, love one another"
It is my goal to learn how to love this year, to let go of
the past and to jump into a new future. To love myself through Christ and to
love others as Christ does. It is a time to see the world through new eyes. To
see the world as a place of hope. A place to grow and to learn to love ALL
PEOPLE.
It is a new year!!! LET US MAKE THE BEST OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!
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