Filled With Charity

I am impressed by how much some of the final chapters of the Book of Mormon, written or recorded by Moroni, focus on love. He was all alone amidst a people full of hate, and yet he left us powerful invitations to be filled with the love of Christ. He wrote this, addressing the Savior, in his abridgement of the Jaredite record, “And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men. And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.” All the Savior did was motivated by pure love, and He invites us to be filed with the same. As Moroni hid alone from his enemies and recorded the words of the Lord, he prayed that the Gentiles would also develop charity. Despite the fact that the Lamanites had killed his father, he still wrote of “my brethren whom I love” (Ether 12:33-38). Notwithstanding the hatred around him by those who sought to kill him—and the fact that he was writing the story of another nation that was also filled with hate—Moroni was filled with charity and was able to invite us to be the same.   

                Moroni also recorded for us a powerful testimony of his father about love. Mormon taught, “And if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.” He then gave us a summary of charity similar to Paul’s: “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” All of those descriptions of what real love is were in stark contrast to the evil and hatred of the Lamanites that Moroni was trying to escape. Mormon continued, “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—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” (Moroni 7:44-47). Both Moroni and Mormon were indeed filled with the pure love of Christ, just as Mormon declared: “And I am filled with charity, which is everlasting love; wherefore, all children are alike unto me; wherefore, I love little children with a perfect love; and they are all alike and partakers of salvation.” He taught us how the remission of our sins “bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God” (Moroni 8:17, 26). No matter what the world is like around us—even when all “have lost their love” like the Nephites before their destruction—we can through meekness and the power of the Holy Ghost be filled with the love of God (Moroni 9:5). That love can endure in us through diligence in prayer. This is Mormon’s powerful invitation to us: “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” (Moroni 7:48). As we earnestly pray for love and strive to “love God with all [our] might, mind and strength,” He will give us His grace to become “perfect in Christ” and His love like Moroni and Mormon (Moroni 10:32).