Charity and Sacrifice Talk- LDS
Jan 29, 2019
-How perfectionists and slackers both ignore the atonement and focus on 'self'.
-A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit are required for Charity.
Raw Transcript
one thing I have learned in life is that
love or charity is much more a verb than
a noun
much more what we do than what we feel I
would argue that our feelings of love
come from our actions and the actions of
those who love us the Lord uses love as
a verb he told his disciples if ye love
me keep my Commandments and to Peter he
said Simon son of Jonas lovest thou me
he saith unto Him yay Lord thou knowest
that I love thee he saith unto Him feed
my sheep the scriptures are very clear
about the importance of love or charity
Moroni said wherefore my beloved
brethren if you 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 Moroni 7:46
Peter professed and above all things
have fervent charity among yourselves
for charity shall cover the multitude of
sins that's good to know
1st Peter 4:8 Nephi wrote behold the
LORD hath forbidden this thing wherefore
the Lord God hath given a commandment
that all men should have charity which
charity is love and except they should
have charity they were nothing that's in
2nd Nephi 26 30 and Paul in his first
epistle to the corinthians is stated and
now abideth faith hope and charity these
three but the greatest of these is
charity so the greatest thing that we
can attribute we can develop is the
attribute of love or charity now in
mortality Jesus gave us many examples of
how to live with love and charity one
great example is that he loved those who
were not loved
he sat an8 with the sinners when those
preaching righteousness would have
nothing to do with them
it was president Kimball who gave a
definition of charity as love the sinner
hate the sin and of course we are all
sinners Jesus also stopped at Jacob's
Well and asked a Samaritan woman for
water despite the objections of his own
disciples John 4:9 says then saith the
woman of Samaria unto Him how is that
how is it that thou being a Jew ask us
drink of me which am a woman of Samaria
for the Jews have no dealings with the
Samaritans and then we have several
parables and teachings from Christ about
the Samaritans who were hated among the
Jews as sinners and as lesser than them
is not the chosen people you had the
parable of the Good Samaritan of course
where it was the Samaritan above all
else whether it was priesthood holders
or other Jews that actually held out the
man that was on the side of the world
helped out the man that was on the side
of the road and of course when we think
about the commandment to love your
neighbor from Christ we think about
where he comes from Jesus lived in
Galilee Galilee is north of Jerusalem
and is surrounded by Samaria and by
Samaritans and so love your neighbor
takes has a little bit more of a meaning
when you understand that his neighbors
were the Samaritans other examples of
love and charity and his teachings
include the parable of the prodigal son
who came back made all the mistakes but
who was loved by the father when he came
back or the lost sheep you know being
the one that needed to be found by the
shepherd
Christ was accepting and loving to all
his ire was directed at those who judged
and excluded through a false filter of
righteous superiority Jesus saw all men
and women for who they really are sons
and daughters of God and his brothers
and sisters
John chapter 5 is the allegory of Jesus
as the vine and his disciples are the
branches and basically showing how Jesus
as the vine is the source of strength
and the branches then are drawing from
the vine for that strength Jesus then
goes in and ties the allegory of the
vine directly to the principle of love
and charity in John 15 9 he says as the
father hath loved me so have I loved you
continue ye and my love and then in
verse 12 he says this is my commandment
that you love one another as I have
loved you Lehigh does the same thing in
his famous vision he partakes of the
fruit something similar to the vine is
The Tree of Life in in Lehigh's vision
he protects to the fruit which is the
love of God the greatest gift and then
desires others to partake of it he
accepts the love of God and then loves
others similar to how the disciples
might be the branches to the vine they
accept the love of Christ and then are
to go out and to love others but the
greatest example Jesus gave of love
crowned by his atoning sacrifice was his
willingness to live a life of sacrifice
and therefore a life filled with love
and charity he sacrificed his own
desires because he loved the father he
sacrificed his own needs because he
loved us elder Tanner equated sacrifice
with love when he said I quote if we are
to have this love of which the Savior
spoke in which he emphasizes as being
the most important thing in life it must
begin in the home and there and then
carry into our daily lives sacrifice for
one another make one another happy
sacrifice is a constant theme in the
life and teachings of the mortal Messiah
overcoming the trials and tribulations
of this world by living a higher law of
love and charity
Jesus was in fact restoring a higher law
a higher law as part of his mission
living that higher law is what we call
sacrifice and his synonymous with love
when Adam and Eve were driven from the
Garden of Eden they were given a set of
laws as well as taught the gospel of
Jesus Christ they were to begin to till
the ground to labor for their food in
them and the Book of Moses states that
they had been commanded to build an
altar and offer sacrifices unto the Lord
in short they were commanded and taught
to sacrifice living the lower laws of a
new fallen world by living the higher
laws it was to be that living a life of
sacrifice would be the only way to point
them and to guide them back to the
presence of God this would require a
love of God family and neighbor the
ritual act of sacrifice pointed them to
the anticipated great sacrifice of
Jehovah it required them to participate
and it taught that it was through the
law of sacrifice that the atonement
could take effect in their lives to
better describe the concept of sacrifice
we can look at the word as it came to us
from the Greek New Testament - via Latin
that is Sasha
Vasari or sacrifice or e to make holy
above the entrance of every temple are
the words holiness unto the Lord as
members of the Covenant would bring
their sacrifices to the temple they were
committing themselves to holiness that
is to live a life consecrated or a life
set apart from this world they were as
the Savior did through his atoning
sacrifice making themselves and others
holy sacrifice was an act of love for
God and Allah of love for others one of
our hymns gives us an example of how we
can participate with the Lord in loving
others one of my favorite men of all
time President David all McKay taught us
all something about living a life of
love for others when he suggested a
modest one word change in the anthem
Battle Hymn of the Republic the original
words were as he died to make men holy
let us die to make men free the inspired
changed taught a significant lesson as
you know the phrase now reads as he died
to make men holy let us live to make men
free in other words let us do as the
Savior did follow his example and live a
life of love and charity to make men
free through the gospel of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ our brother has given each
of us the opportunity to live lives of
love and charity to grow and progress to
lift others to be happy and how was this
done it was possible only through the
love of our older brother
these poignant words by Jesus are
perhaps the greatest example on the
topic of love in Scripture an example of
how to live and bring down the blessings
of heaven are uttered by Jesus in the
Garden of Gethsemane I quote o my father
if it be possible let this cup pass from
me nevertheless not as I will but as
thou wilt even the Savior had to go
through the process of sacrifice with
all of its determination courage and
Trust in his father and in the eternal
principle of love and charity these are
words directed at each of us we too
might think act and live not as I will
but as thou wilt each week we are in a
sense partaking of his sacrifice and in
a smaller way committing to do the same
by taking upon us his name and
remembering his example always I think
that a Malachi speaks of what we offer
when we partake of a sacrament in aamna
1:26
he states I would that she should come
unto Christ who is the Holy One of
Israel and partake of his salvation and
the power of his return
yay come unto him and offer your whole
souls as an offering unto Him sacrifices
in the Old Testament including those
offered by Adam and other sacrifices
that were instituted with the law of
Moses were done away with when the
Savior offered himself a sacrifice for
sin for the consequences of the laws of
this world those sacrifices looked
forward to his sacrifice but always
required the participation of the
individuals or families but a certain
sacrifice has always been required by
God of man this is the time of Adam 2
today and that is the sacrifice of
ourselves by offering a broken heart and
a contrite spirit upon the altar of God
again that love or charity along with
humility to God as it states in Psalms
51 17 the sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit a broken and contrite heart now
if we go back further to the Hebrew of
the Old Testament we get the word Corbin
which is translated sacrifice it
provides an additional understanding of
the word sacrifice and how it ties to
love and charity Corbin literally means
an act of moving closer to God in the
great sacrifice that is often referred
to as the atonement God was moving
closer to us in fact condescending below
all of a fallen mankind it was the
greatest act of love that ever was and
ever will be in return he asks us to
love him and move toward him by
acquiring charity this is what is meant
by atonement being at one with God or
covenant to come together love is of
course not a one-way street so to speak
it is not only the part of the atonement
of the Savior to have charity but it is
also our part our choice our act
to follow the example of love for God
and others set by the Savior and to move
toward him David puts it plainly in
Psalm 73 28 but as for me nearness to
God is good this is the economy of God
sacrificed by us brings us closer to God
a broken heart and a contrite spirit and
the highest of all godly attributes
charity is the path back to our Heavenly
Father and away from this fallen state
it is the key that opens the door to
individual family and more broadly to
human progress and to elevating
ourselves above the fray of this
mortality with its baggage of lower laws
and lower consequences the Savior again
in asking us to follow his example of
love and ever adhering to his role as a
teacher gives us this personal teaching
in John 6:38 about sacrifice and how to
live when he stated I quote for I am
came down from heaven not to do mine own
will but the will of him that sent me
that of course is why all came down from
heaven all of us to do the will of the
Father
I would like to make what I believe is
an important point I talk on just about
any subject can produce a list of things
to do and not to do I have consciously
stayed away from that but charity and
the gospel are only secondarily about
two do's and primarily about our hearts
that is true charity and love toward
others produces good works this was the
Lord's primary message to the ruling
parties of his time focusing on a list
produces important acts but it is the
focus on our hearts and on love and
charity and on the hearts of others that
changes men and women a list alone can
show us what we are accomplishing but it
also gives us a constant reminder of
what we are not doing always falling
short of perfection
we might put ourselves in two categories
those who demand too much of themselves
and those who do not demand enough of
themselves they have a common issue both
types of people show a low tolerance for
pain one tries to ignore it while the
other tries to run ahead of it but both
reflect the prominence of self and
perhaps a lack of understanding the
atonement the issue at hand for both is
the readiness to offer the Lord a broken
heart and a contrite spirit and follow
the example of the Savior in loving God
our neighbors and all men and women
neither the perfectionist nor the
slacker knows that the course they
pursue is pleasing God and both lack in
an attitude of love and charity and
therefore are limiting their ability to
bring down the power and blessings of
heaven perfectionists can believe that
there is only perfect and not perfect
blemished and unblemished Nephi almost
certainly a perfectionist gives us a
glimpse of himself when he declares
notwithstanding the great goodness of
the Lord in showing me his great and
marvelous works my heart exclaiming Oh
wretched man that I am I am encompassed
about because of the temptations and the
sins which do so easily beset me
nevertheless
and this is key I know in whom I have
trusted and then he ties together this
trust and the blessings of a life filled
with love toward others by saying may
the gates of Hell be shut continually
before me because that my heart is
broken and my spirit is contrite though
he knows he falls short ultimately he
trusts in the Lord he partakes of the
fruit of the tree from Lehigh's vision
and understands that it is the love of
God and in turn his love for others that
waxes strong his confidence it was King
David in the twenty-third Psalm that so
eloquently described
his trusting in the Lord that brings him
not to say that his cup is half full but
that it runneth over
the message and example of our brother
is clear live a life full of love by
living a higher law through love toward
God and our fellow man this is how we
get closer to God and by helping others
do the same
through the enabling empower principle
of love when asked which is the great
commandment to the law jesus replied
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart and with all thy soul and
with all thy mind this is the first and
Great Commandment and the second is like
unto it thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself on these two Commandments hang
all the law and the prophets it has been
my experience that I as I have been put
into situations where I have had to
extend myself to sacrifice my self and
to bear the burdens of others and to put
my arm around them and to help them when
that opportunity arises I firmly believe
that that charity is required of all of
us and it is what enriches our lives and
these mortal laws this mortality that we
live in gives us the opportunity to
exert that and to develop that charity
and I say these things in the name of
Jesus Christ
LDS Mormon
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