Walking the Savior’s Path of Charity

In Chapter 20, Walking the Savior’s Path of Charity, Howard W. Hunter said, “The Savior has commanded us to love one another as he has loved us; to clothe ourselves ‘with the bond of charity.’  We are called upon to purify our inner feelings, to change our hearts, to make our outward actions and appearances conform to what we say we believe and feel inside.”

In Moroni 7:45 we read, “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.”  I especially love the pleadings and promises that follow in verses 46 and 47.  “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye 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— 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.”

In the lesson, President Hunter suggests that the Lord has a way of measuring the purity of our commitment and dedication much like a goldsmith, in ancient times, had a way of measuring the purity of gold.  A goldsmith used a touchstone which, when rubbed across gold, produced a mark that could be matched to a color chart to quickly and quite accurately determine the quality of the gold.  President Hunter said that one of the ways the Lord will measure our devotion to Him is by how well we love and serve our fellowmen.  He then uses the account of the young lawyer’s interaction with the Savior to teach us an incredibly valuable lesson. 

The young lawyer asks the Savior what he needs to do to inherit eternal life.  The Savior answered this question with a question of His own, “What is written in the law? how readest thou?”  This young man had been taught well.  He knew all the right answers to give.  He said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”  “Thou has answered right:” said the Savior, “this do, and thou shalt live.”  But the young man’s questioning of “Who is my neighbor?” reveals something about his heart.  And the Savior’s answer reveals what is expected of us if we want to be His true disciples.  It was in response to that question that the Savior taught the parable of the good Samaritan.  President Hunter said, “We all ought to be eternally grateful for that question, for in the Savior’s reply came one of his richest and most appreciated parables, one that each of us has read and heard over and over again.” 

I love Marion D. Hanks’ insight on this parable.  “Out of this powerful story known to all of you—this story of a traveler from Jerusalem to Jericho who was set upon, robbed, wounded, and left at the wayside by thieves—comes a basis for understanding who is the neighbor we are commanded to love and what our own status is as a neighbor to those in need.  You will remember that involved in the story were a priest (church leader or teacher) and a Levite (one of the tribe assigned to temple service). Both of them ‘passed by on the other side,’ neither stopping to help. Both were preoccupied or too busy with important assignments. Or both were too unimpressed, perhaps, with the ‘weightier matters’ of which Christ spoke. Christ joined mercy with just judgment and faith as the ‘weightier matters’ with which we should be concerned, and in this parable he defined mercy for us as the care and concern shown by the Samaritan who did not pass by on the other side but stopped to give immediate and sustained assistance.  Jesus then said to the questioner and to us, ‘Go, and do thou likewise.” Loving neighbor, mercy, giving, service, caring, sacrifice—all are brought together in one compelling, understandable, and personally applicable example.”1   

Do we ever find ourselves too busy with important assignments that we are either overwhelmed or blind to the needs of others?  The ones who should have seen the great need did not.  It was the one who could have easily been justified in ignoring the injured man who tended to his every need. 

As I was thinking about the parable of the good Samaritan and President Hunter’s analogy of the touchstone, the scripture from 1 Samuel 16:7 came to mind – “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”  The touchstone the Lord uses measures the purity of our hearts.   We have often heard of a very generous and charitable person described as one who has a heart of gold.  Oh how we ought to work on having a heart of gold – a heart full of love, tenderness, compassion and charity!  President Hunter said, “The touchstone of compassion is a measure of our discipleship; it is a measure of our love for God and for one another.” 

Sometimes our outward actions accurately reflect our inward devotion, as was the case of the Samaritan.  Sometimes they do not, as in the case of the young lawyer.  We live in a world where things aren’t always as they appear.  If we are not careful, we can be fooled.  A beautiful stone can be made to look like a real diamond.  Some people are very lonely while appearing to have many “friends” on social media.  One can even go through the motions of praying, reading scriptures and attending church without truly being converted.  If we are not careful, we can even fool ourselves into thinking we are doing better than we are.  Even in a world so easily deceived, the Lord’s touchstone will always accurately reflect the purity of our heart.  The purity of our heart is imperative!

Another great lesson we learn from the parable of the good Samaritan is that we will all, at one time or another, have hard times.  Whether we are the one who is being loved and cared for or the one giving the love and tender care, we need to have a heart full of charity.  Christlike love is best learned by studying and living the gospel of Jesus Christ.  President Hunter gives this wise counsel:   “The world in which we live needs the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It provides the only way the world will ever know peace. We need to be kinder with one another, more gentle and forgiving. We need to be slower to anger and more prompt to help. We need to extend the hand of friendship and resist the hand of retribution. In short, we need to love one another with the pure love of Christ, with genuine charity and compassion and, if necessary, shared suffering, for that is the way God loves us.  We need to walk more resolutely and more charitably the path that Jesus has shown.”

The greatest hope we have in this life comes in and through the Savior, Jesus Christ.  Jeffrey R. Holland  so powerfully reminds us, “Life has its share of some fear and some failure. Sometimes things fall short, don’t quite measure up. Sometimes in both personal and public life, we are seemingly left without strength to go on. Sometimes people fail us, or economies and circumstance fail us, and life with its hardship and heartache can leave us feeling very alone.  But when such difficult moments come to us, I testify that there is one thing which will never, ever fail us. One thing alone will stand the test of all time, of all tribulation, all trouble, and all transgression. One thing only never faileth—and that is the pure love of Christ. Only the pure love of Christ will see us through. It is Christ’s love which suffereth long, and is kind. It is Christ’s love which is not puffed up nor easily provoked. Only his pure love enables him—and us—to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.  His pure love never fails us. Not now. Not ever. Not ever.”2 

Is it any wonder that some of the last words in the Book of Mormon teach us about that pure love? May we heed Moroni’s plea to cleave unto charity and “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.”3

References:

1.  The Great Commandments – Marion D. Hanks

2.  He Loved Them Unto the End – Jeffrey R. Holland

3.  Moroni 7:45-48

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