The Pure Love of Christ

Yesterday my youngest daughter turned five years old, and at the end of the day I asked her what her favorite part of the day was. She could have said the cake and ice cream, or the presents we gave her, or playing with the Legos that a neighbor gave her (and which she insisted on building when she was supposed to be in bed). But instead, she said that it was blowing out the candle, and then she added that she also really liked when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her because, as she said, “I felt loved.” It was a reminder to me that though they may beg loudly for more treats and more time watching movies and more trips to Wendy’s, what our children really want most is to feel loved. One of our most important jobs as parents is to help them feel our love and the love of their Father in Heaven. President Nelson highlighted this important truth as he taught young adults about five years ago. He gave them a list of five truths that he wanted them to know, and this was the third: “God loves every one of us with perfect love. More than anything, our Father wants His children to choose to return home to Him. Everything He does is motivated by His yearning desire. The entire reason we are on this earth is to qualify to live with Him forever…. Because the Father and the Son love us with infinite, perfect love and because They know we cannot see everything They see, They have given us laws that will guide and protect us.” As parents we must give our children rules for their protection and help them learn the commandments of the Lord. But if we do that without showing them that our motivation is love, then we have missed the mark. What matters most is that they understand His love for them and that “God’s laws reflect His perfect love for each of us. His laws keep us spiritually safe and help us to progress eternally.”

                My daughter’s name is Charity, and she is a reminder to us of the love that should be present in our home. We have an elderly neighbor who always quotes this scripture from Mormon when he sees her: “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 7:47). She certainly does a good job of sharing that love, but we don’t always do well at having love in our home with the chaos that sometimes exists. What strikes me is that of all the people in the Book of Mormon to teach us about charity, it was Mormon who lived in a time full of hatred and war. He lived among a people who had turned wicked and rejected the Lord, and yet Mormon still showed incredible love for them: “Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts” (Mormon 3:12). He sought to love them despite their wickedness and despite the fact that he lost faith that they would ever change. Interestingly, this verse shows that Mormon followed his own counsel 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; that ye may become the sons of God” (Moroni 7:48). He prayed with all his heart to be filled with love for a people who were surely very hard to love. And he succeeded, despite his whole civilization being destroyed, at developing this love: “I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear. And I am filled with charity, which is everlasting love” (Moroni 8:16-17). He showed that no matter what those around us do, we can love them and serve them and be filled with charity, the pure love of Christ.