Day 361 Charity: A Lens for Spiritual Growth

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. Today, a lens through which to see the world.

Welcome to 361 on our 365 day journey through the Book of Mormon together. Yes, we are four days away from wrapping up the Book of Mormon together. Today, you're going to be reading Moroni chapter 7.

This is an incredible discourse on faith, which brings in hope, which brings in charity. And so I hope you have enjoyed and taken some extra time to read this. Also, with this being day 361, no matter when you started this journey, you're coming up to the end of a year reading the Book of Mormon.

And so with this being about four or five days away from wrapping up this year, whatever day of the actual year it is for you, it doesn't really matter. I thought today would be an excellent time to use this teaching on faith, hope, and charity to give perhaps a lens by which to see yourself and see the world and go forward trying to be a little bit more like Jesus Christ, or as we said inside this podcast time after time, be a little bit more savory salt. That comes from our verse for today.

And then we have an activity for today. Our verse for today is Moroni chapter 7, verse 47, and it's right in the middle of the charity verses, right? He's talked about faith already.

He sprinkled in hope. He went into charity in verse 45—that's a very common one to define all these aspects of charity—and then we get verse 47. It's short, but it's powerful.

It says, '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.' Now I love this because it's short and sweet, but it's also very powerful for us. Charity defined as the pure love of Christ. Its endurance is eternal, infinite.

It endureth forever. And then if we are found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with us. I like that because it's like, hey, here's something to strive for.

And as I got thinking about this, I thought, 'Wait a second, I done an activity years ago that I want to bring back into my life and do again.' And it's found inside of "Preach My Gospel". Now this, I know that "Preach My Gospel" gets updated, so at any given time, forgive me. They're all things that are very similar to the description pieces you're going to see in Moroni chapter 7, verse 45.

I'll put a link into this chapter specifically. If you go to the end of this chapter, there's what's called an attribute activity. It says inside of it, 'The purpose of this activity is to help you identify opportunities for spiritual growth.' What a great time to sit down as we're on day 361 out of 365 here to identify opportunities for spiritual growth.

I love this. And so it says, 'Read each item below, decide how true the statement is about you, and choose the appropriate response, and then write your responses in your study journal.' And so this is, this is an opportunity. This is kind of a little chance to see these Christlike attributes in your life and say, 'Hey, what do you think?

Where do I see them showing up in my life?' And I thought this attribute activity would be a wonderful opportunity for you and for I to sit down, see where we're at. Let's be honest with ourselves. This is not here to be a criticism of what's happening in our lives.

It, in fact, it says inside here, 'Be comfortable with beginning where you are, and then commit yourself to doing the spiritual work needed to grow. Seek God's help.' When you have setbacks, have confidence that he will help you. As you pray, seek guidance about which attributes to focus on at various times during your mission.

This is such a great opportunity for all of us as we wrap up this year. Whenever it is you're listening to these episodes, you wrap up, you have a chance to sit down and say, 'You know what? Let's do the attributes activity and see where I am with my Christlike attributes so that I may develop this charity that is spoken of in the scriptures, this pure love of Christ, that I and you can be found possessed of it in the last day, and it be well with us all.' That's all for today, my friends.

Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow and I hope you are too.