Sunday, October 11, 2009

What is Charity? Moroni 7:45

What is Charity?
I had a conversation with my wife about this Christlike attribute to refresh my memory and increase my understanding of what power it brings into our lives and to others. So I decided to write it down and share it with others.

Charity is such both a pragmatic subject and at the same time the most important attribute of all. I've found the definition in Moroni but and I'm gonna try to connect each descriptions to an example.

From Moroni 7:45 and I quote, "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."

Charity Suffereth Long
It means to feel pain and sustain loss, injury, harm or punishment. The Lord Jesus Christ, through his agony in the Garden of Eden, emotional and physical beatings and stripes, journey to Golgotha with the crown of thorns on his head, and finally lifted up on the cross, withstood all the physical and spiritual temptations that would've stopped him from completing his work. His sufferings he sustained, bore the painful sin of the world on his shoulder. Yet, he still loved the very people that crucified him.

Charity is Kind
It means of a friendly, generous, warm-hearted nature showing sympathy or understanding. We can become friendly but lack sympathy. It's this parable of the Good Samaritan that clearly explains what kindness is. The same kindness the Lord had with his friend Lazarus. And its the first thing the Lord did upon his visit with the Nephites - he'd asked to bring their sick, lame, blind and would cure them. He felt the pains and misery of those that are to be cured.

Charity Envieth Not
The Lord Jesus Christ never desired for material things and praises. Whatever comes, that he accept. But King Saul failed to this matter. After realizing that David was the Lord's chosen king, he felt so bad with David that he made several attempts to kill him. He started acting like Cain of the old, whereupon he envied his brother's sacrifice and in turn killed Abel. Envy is such a powerful poison that if not carefully safeguarded, one can literally bring down his soul to condemnation.

Charity is not Puffed Up
Puff means to increase or seek to increase the importance of or reputation of by favorable publicity. This defines who the Pharisees were during the meridian of time. They thought they were the most educated of all, expert in all matters of Moses' law. They tried to gain public approval by publicly humiliating the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of their pride, they stereotyped the Lord Jesus Christ as one lunatic man. Their vast knowledge of the law was tantamount to how they look like and how the speak. Little did they know, their teacher was the Lord himself, who had commanded Moses' to write all these laws that will govern Israel. Knowledge do bring someone confidence but when humility fades away, Charity is gone.

Charity Seeketh Not Her Own
Greed is what's bringing this country down. It's all about ourselves. It's all about us. The Lord Jesus Christ exemplified to us what service is. He was always mindful of our welfare then and now. Nothing can be found in the scriptures where he chose not to heal a person whether or not he requested to be healed or not. He chose to live like us despite his assured Godhood. He laid down his life for us to be saved from our sins and return to his presence. A very unselfish act indeed. He wants us to become like him. He did not withheld anything from us that pertains to our salvation and exaltation.

Charity is Not Easily Provoked
Patience and Understanding are the elements of this attribute. Lawyers and Pharisees have been trying to provoke the Lord several times to see if they can let him cross his words or teachings but they always end up marveling at his response. The Lord knew of their wickedness, but he still taught them his eternal principles.

Charity Thinketh No Evil
This is a hard one. In today's social conditions, it had become the norm to accept evil in exchange for good. We have branded good evil, and evil good. Information are available publicly for free containing things that provoketh men to think evil. Morality had eroded and it all started with a bad thought. Job never blamed God when he lost his family and friends and brought to a condition of being despised because he was turned leprous. Ronald Reagan at the time of his attempted assassination, while in the emergency room staring at the ceiling gasping for air, uttered a small simple prayer that the boy who shot him would be well.

Charity Rejoiceth Not in Iniquity but Rejoiceth in Truth
The Lord was angered when he saw merchandisers and gamblers right in front of His Father's house. But he was just ensuring that the temple was pure and holy. It is that truth in which he was defending for. King Solomon prayed for wisdom for he was worried then because of this burden he had taken to be a ruler over all Israel. It had helped him to distinguish between truth and fallacy. Between right and wrong.

Charity Beareth All Things
Does it mean to bear our own burdens without complaint? Does it mean to bear other's burdens? Does it mean to endure suffering and pain brought by experience and still hold on to Hope? Yes. Job was once at the best time of his life, until the Lord tried him even to the point of loosing everything he had, and obtaining a disease that would left him despised of anybody. He knew the truth of that experience will enable him to become a better person. And he became perfect.

Charity Believeth All Things, Hopeth All Things and Endureth All Things
There's some good amount of optimism needed to believe in things, once truth is felt and understood. King Lamoni and his people believed in the words of Ammon to be the words of God. They hoped that their grievous sins will be forgiven for they have taken away many lives with their hands. The Lord knew of their Faith and Obedience and had forgiven them. And they have endured and made covenant with the Lord by laying down their weapons of war, even to the burying of it to serve as a testament between them and the Lord that they were committed to that promise. We know in the course of time, they didn't dig and retrieve their weapons when they saw their brethren coming to destroy them. Instead, they prayed while the massacre was going on.

Flood In the Philippines

Just spoke to my uncle last night who lives in Northern Luzon, Philippines, specifically, La Union province. They were having heavy rains non-stop for two weeks and literally soaked the whole Northern Luzon where one bridge who use to be 100 feet above the surface of the river, have been submerged in water.

The whole region cannot move, people were stuck in their houses busy taking out the water with buckets. All major cities in that region were flooded at least at the waist level, and damaged lots of houses. The hurricane that came with the rain made it worst. I'm glad my folks are okay. I feel bad for those who badly affected. They said this is the first time that it happened in the history of Northern Luzon, the size almost of Georgia, USA.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Center Lane - 300 feet violation

How can anyone know that when they go into the center lane of a road and cruise through that they have gone more than 300 feet? If you did went over 300, a bald cop with carnival lights on top of his black and white car just shows up behind you. Next thing you know, a pair of black shades crosses your driver's window and a voice, so confident as if it can eat you, willfully ask for your driver's license. Next thing you know, you are handed a yellow piece of paper which is equivalent to about $241.25 USD. That's what I've gotten, for going over 300 feet on a center lane.

How can you tell if you've gone 300 feet in the center lane? You can't even measure it using your speedometer. Would be great if there's an iPhone app for this since I always need to cross the center lane to avoid the heavy traffic on both sides - specially in the intersection of Pleasant Hill Rd and Peachtree Industrial Blvd - Duluth, GA.

Of course the Solicitor at the court, doesn't need to hear what my reason was and bluntly laid out the law stating that once you are in a center lane, no matter what the conditions are, and you go over 300 feet, you'll get a ticket. It's amazing how the government makes money easily. And the Solicitor does a good job at ensuring you still get to pay, even if the violation was suppressed to a lesser degree. He does make sure, before you get out of the courthouse, you pay.