4/14/2018 - Section 88:124-141

April 14, 2018

Section 88:124-141

Charity Covers It All,

I think v 124 bears a revisiting…especially for me. This is what Smith and Sjodahl say in their commentary, P 565: “Note the closing injunctions, Clothe yourselves with charity ‘as with a mantle;’ not as a scanty piece of clothing, but as a generous covering; for charity is ‘The bond of perfectness and peace.’ Charity—which means brotherly affection—makes for perfection and peace. Pray always. Prayer is necessary, if we shall remain faithful till the coming of the Lord.”

V 133 describes the feelings we should have that will make ‘charity’ real. We look upon those who come to church and say “…I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving for ever and ever.”

This charity thing does not come easy to me—especially when my first inclination is often to want to role my eyes…which I believe means I have lots of learning moments to look forward to. But I do know from visiting teaching, that the more I get to know people, the more I understand them and the more love I feel for them. So I need to remember that part of charity must be time and attention and open friendship.

8/14/2021 – D&C 88:117-141

The Lord is giving us more hints for our sanctification:

“seek ye diligently & teach one another words of wisdom, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” v118

“organize yourselves; prepare every needful ting; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a hours of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of faith.” V119

His list of to-do’s your incomings & outgoings may be something the Lord would approve, teach one another, edify one another, love one another, be directed by charity [whose mantle is perfectness & peace], pray always, 120, 122, 123, 125, 126

His list of do-not’s included: lustful desires, pride, light-mindedness, and wicked doings, covetousness, idleness, finding fault with others, sleeping longer than is needful:  v 121, 123, 124

He has given us both of these lists. All we have to do is to finish the to-do list each day, and to avoid any & all of the don’t do list each day. Our part is clear. We don’t have to guess. All we have to do is to walk forward, measuring our acts and thoughts by the to-do list.

Elder David Bednar explained it this way: “A learner exercising agency by acting in accordance with correct principles opens his or her heart to the Holy Ghost and invites His teaching, testifying power, and confirming witness. Learning by faith requires spiritual, mental, and physical exertion and not just passive reception. It is in the sincerity and consistency of our faith-inspired action that we indicate to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, our willingness to learn and receive instruction from the Holy Ghost. …The learning I am describing reaches far beyond mere cognitive comprehension and the retaining and recalling of information. The type of learning to which I am referring causes us to put off the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19), to change our hearts (see Mosiah 5:2), to be converted unto the Lord, and to never fall away (see Alma 23:6). Learning by faith requires both ‘the heart and a willing mind’ (D&C 64:34). Learning by faith is the result of the Holy Ghost carrying the power of the word of God both unto and into the heart. Learning by faith cannot be transferred from an instructor to a student through a lecture, a demonstration, or an experiential exercise; rather, a student must exercise faith and act in order to obtain the knowledge for himself or herself” (“Seek Learning by Faith,” Ensign, Sept. 2007, 64).