Sunday Update - #37

Joseph Smith #37 Charity: the Pure Love of Christ was taught by guest teacher Sharon Pringle.

The lesson was built around several stories that told of the tender compassion with which the Prophet Joseph always treated his fellow man. Member or nonmember, anyone who came to him seeking aid was treated with dignity and kind generosity. Thoughtless of self he would minister to the temporal and spiritual needs of others, becoming to his people a perfect example of Christlike love and service which served to motivate those who watched him to do likewise. He claimed that anyone who really loved the Lord would not be content to serve only those closest to him, but would be eager to reach out to all mankind to succor the poor and the needy and strengthen the weak and the fearful. Charity is the most Christlike of all the virtues that we need to acquire if we are to be worthy to return and live with our Heavenly Father. We were invited to remember times in our lives when we had been blessed with this pure love through the ministrations of someone else. We were urged to seek opportunities to show true charity to others and to be prepared to seek this spiritual gift of charity through earnest prayer.