I think I needed this talk by President Monson today (yesterday and tomorrow, too.)
Here are some of the things he said that really touched my heart:
"Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily."
"It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time."
"I consider charity-or "the pure love of Christ"-to be the opposite of criticism and judging. In speaking of charity, I do not at this moment have in mind the relief of the suffering through the giving of our substance. That, of course, is necessary and proper. Tonight, however, I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions, the kind of charity thalso in times of weakness or error on the paat forgives, the kind of charity that is patient."
"I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others."
Note to self:
I want to remember these quotes to help me redirect my own sense of charity and to remind myself that every person I come in contact with is a "soul of worth" and a child of the same eternal parents and my brother or sister. I hope that by putting these teachingsof President Monson's on "paper" and contemplating the effect they have on me, I can more closely emulate them.
