The one part of Charity

When you truly love someone, the virtues of Charity, or God's Love, take toll on your actions and decisions. There is one part of Charity that I have felt pulling my heartstrings lately, as a mother.

Charity suffereth long. So there it is. The word "suffer" doesn't make this sound like a piece of cake. I think suffering long takes the most work, but creates the most joy. It is much like gardening, or the law of the harvest (there it is again!). There are weeds to pull, there is watering to do, seeds to plant and re-plant, suckers to remove, bugs to keep at bay, and the list goes on. It is hard work! But there is the harvest, in its time and season. And I know personally those who have come to their harvest and how great is their joy!

Some plants are lost for a season, there is trial and error. Sometimes the winds come and blow off flowers that would have born wonderful fruits. Sometimes neighbor kids come and break trees in half, and they have to be cared for and mended with great patience. Sometimes plants have a mind of their own and try to crawl to all the wrong places. (These are actual experiences from my garden this summer.) The key to suffering long is that because of Jesus Christ and his atonement, we never need give up. We may ask ourselves "What more could I have done for my garden?" We can do everything we can as mortals, but the one thing we must always have is hope. Faith, Hope and Charity really do go together, for without hope and faith there cannot be Charity. We never give up on those we love. We keep striving with them. We keep trying new ways to teach them, new ways of speaking and practicing all of Charity's virtues: kindness, seeking not our own, not being puffed up. We suffer long when we never lose hope and never give up. We can do the hard work, we can pull the weeds and do the watering. But we must never let the drought of discouragement set in.

Suffering long is possible because Jesus suffered for us. He has never given up on me all my days. When I wondered if it was too late for me, it wasn't. I can do that one simple thing for those I love. I can suffer long and never lose hope for them. The truth is there for them to hold on to in their time and in their way.