Sunday Thoughts

This past week I went to a church workshop. I went mostly to get out of the house and have a few minutes to myself. It had been a day full of stress. I had yelled at my little one when he almost broke my car window, then again when I went up to my bedroom and found my once made bed in pillow piles on the floor and two baskets of clean folded laundry know strewn from one side of the room to the other, it looked like a tornado had hit inside my room. I had missed taking Lego Man to Scouts completely forgot about scouts because we were supposed to be at Swim lessons too. Which also meant I had forgotten to pick up another boy in the neighborhood who rides with us.

So as I sat down at the workshop and realized the topic was Charity, I almost got up and left. I wasn't feeling charity for anyone and didn't want to feel the guilt trip I foresaw coming on. But I stayed.

The presenter discussed the scripture in 1 Corinthians 13:4-6
She listed out what Charity is:
Charity is....
the pure love of Christ
suffereth long, and is kind
envieth not
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up
doth not behave itself unseemly
seeketh not her own
is not easily provoked
thinketh no evil
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth.

The thing that really captured my attention was the realization that as I thinketh evil of myself, by comparing and criticizing who I am, I end up not being able to accomplish any of the other aspects of experiencing the pure love of Christ. It really is a reciprocal thing as we learn of Christ, and try to become like Him, I think we start to see in ourselves what He sees in us. We therefore see ourselves and are able to become like Him, and so we look for ways to show Charity to those around us. I left feeling like I needed to change but not knowing how.

The next morning I had an email from a dear friend who sat by my side during our workshop and could tell I was struggling. She in her loving amazing way told me how she sees me and also sent this little bit of inspiration here. I realized that it is an every day choice we make to be patient, to be loving, to let others grow and make mistakes. It is an every minute choice to be tolerant, to not allow a problem to outweigh our love for others or ourselves.

I would love to say I had a perfect week without getting upset or being provoked by those who frustrate me. I didn't, but little by little I feel myself trying to make the choice of Charity become who I truly am.

I loved this quote that our presenter gave by Bruce C. Hafen "Charity is not developed entirely by our own power, even though our faithfulness is a necessary qualification to receive it. Rather, charity is bestowed upon the true followers of Christ. The purpose of the endowment of charity is not merely to cause Christ's followers to engage in charitable acts toward others, desirable as that is. The ultimate purpose is to transform His followers to become like Him."

In my ongoing quest to live a provident life, to find joy in my journey and to simplify my life I think this is a starting place. It seems that if I can become more like Christ than I will turn my life towards the things of purpose and therefore find the treasures for which I search.