#3 Charity

In life we all get confronted with situations where we know we are right and the other person is simply wrong. We all have experienced difficult people who appear to make our life harder and less enjoyable and to whom we'd just love to say: (insert words of condescension) 

Today I've been asked how I dealt with difficult people like that on my mission, how I could stand not just telling them what I really thought of them. The answer is Charity.

At the beginning of my mission I definitely wasn't full of charity, in fact the smallest things got me angry and upset and I simply couldn't understand how people could reject a message as beautiful and precious as ours. How could they not listen?  I was irritated by the fact that we learn that they're our spirit brothers and sisters who decided to come to this earth with us. And then it hit me. They are our brothers and sisters. And just because they are a little lost doesn't mean that we have the right to criticize or judge them. And once I realized that, my eyes have been opened and I caught a glimpse of how our Father in Heaven sees all of his children. And all of the sudden I didn't see them for the things they were doing wrong. I tried to see their potential. I gave them the benefit of a doubt. 

I always thought that charity meant to do something for someone else. To serve and care for others. To help those who are in need. But in that very moment, I learned that Charity indeed was the pure love of Christ. That while it meant all those things, it was a state of mind ( or heart). 

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.

                                                                                                                   -Moroni 7:45

Let's be honest. It is super hard to love everybody. It is hard not to get upset when someone actually upsets you. It's hard not to judge someone who obviously seems to be doing something wrong. But especially this Christmas Season, let us all try a little harder to love each other more. Let us all be a little bit nicer to each other. Let us help those, who are in need of our comfort. Let us be better people. Let us see people for who they are and not what they do. 

#howdoyoushowlove?