1 Corinthians 13: Faith, Hope, and Charity

Paul starts to address the importance of faith, hope and charity in 1 Corinthians 13 saying “Charity never faileth” (v. 8). He also discusses how you can have all the faith in the world but if that faith is not back up with charity it is useless to you. When I think of charity I think of how it is often called the “pure love of Christ”. Charity seems to be something that pushes you to do more. Charity causes you to look beyond yourself and consider what you can do to help other people around us. As I have been reflecting on my life I have realized how difficult it is to incorporate such a value into our everyday lives. I feel like it is far easier to wake up every morning and go to my classes, do my studying, watch some Olympics, check my Facebook, read my scriptures, say my prayers, sleep and repeat. My mind almost goes on a form of autopilot as I distract myself with Sudoku in the same classes, talk to the same people, and sit in the same seat in the bus. How hard would it be to start expressing the love I have for others at least a little bit everyday? Probably far easier than I’d like to admit. Thinking of charity as the pure love of Christ I have tried to realize how Christ lets me know that He loves me. When I feel an outpouring of the Spirit I can feel His love. When I notice blessings in my life I feel His love. When I remember His sacrifice I feel His love. In my everyday life I can try to develop a similar pattern of showing my love towards other people. I can try and tell other people how I feel about them just as Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ utilize the Spirit to tell me how They feel about me. Simply letting someone know that you like a characteristic about someone, or they are important people in your lives can really brighten up someone’s day and remind them that they are loved and important. Doing our best to be good friends to others can really bless their lives. Understanding that someone needs help and doing your best to help them when you can is an excellent act of charity. Sacrificing a little bit of time to show someone you care or to carry their burdens is something that Christ did during His life on earth on a daily basis (maybe Facebook isn’t such a waste of time afterall J). Sometimes simply realizing there are people out there who are a little bit more important than organic chemistry homework is just enough to get us to participate in the little acts that make up charity.