We Shall Be Like Him

Paul wrote these famous words to the Corinthians about charity: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Mormon gave us essentially the same list of the attributes of charity—excluding “vaunteth not itself” and “doth not behave itself unseemly”—in his message to the Nephite believers: “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. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth.” Mormon added the teaching that without charity we are nothing, and then he continued with these words, “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 7:45-47). This is the only place we get the definition of charity as the “pure love of Christ” and this invitation that we should “cleave unto charity” but clearly the essence of Paul and Mormon’s message is the same. This scriptural repetition from these two prophets underscore the importance for us to seek to develop these attributes throughout our lives. If we are truly nothing without charity, it is no wonder that we have a witness in more than one book of scripture of the characteristics that we need to have in order to cultivate charity in our lives.

                The final verse from Mormon in this chapter is this powerful exhortation for us to also seek charity through prayer: “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” (Moroni 7:48). These words are not uniquely Mormon’s either for they are similar to the teachings of John in his first epistle to the Saints. He wrote, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-3). Both John and Mormon wrote about how love will help us to become pure even as the Savior is. John’s focus was on the love that God has for us, and Mormon’s was on the love that we develop through a gift from God as a follower of His Son. Both witness that to become even as the Savior is should be what we earnestly seek, and we should look forward to that great day when we shall see Him face to face. In that pivotal moment we will want nothing more than to be purified as He is pure, and if we have truly sought to develop the gift of charity in our mortal probation, the promise of Mormon and John is that we will indeed be like Him. For charity is the essence of who Christ is and so it should define us as well. How Mormon’s words came to be so similar to Paul’s and John’s—whether simply through the inspiration of the Spirit, through otherwise unknown words on the plates of brass available to all of them, or perhaps even a personal visit from the translated John to Mormon with some of the apostles’ words—is far less important than injunction for each of us to seek charity with all our heart. Whether in the first, fourth, or twenty-first century, the need to earnestly pray for and diligently cultivate charity in our lives is the same.