Studying the life of Christ
One of the most fun things I ever did was study the 4 gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) with this question:
What caused the Savior to respond in ‘this story?’
I wanted to know why He DID what He did? What thoughts and feelings drove His actions?
Why did He talk to the woman at the well? What did He think of her? What did He feel towards her? Why did that change her?
Why did He cast the evil spirit from the child? What did He feel for the child? For the parents?
Why did He teach and feed 5000 people? What did He offer them that was so much more valuable? How did He hope it would bless there lives?
In encourage you to read and STUDY the life of the Savior.
Read the stories one by one, and ask these types of questions (above hand)
Quiet your mind and allow words and phrases to enter your mind (I find these are often answers from the spirit).
The spirit will help you understand what Christ might have been thinking and feeling in each story and you will come to understand charity in a new way.
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Pray to have greater charity
Let’s be honest, we don’t always know what charity looks like…
We have this vague picture of being kind to everyone, always smiling, and never encountering struggle and conflict…. This is not real life! Lol
So what does charity look like in a life? In YOUR life?
Let me share what my prayers of ‘learning what charity looks like in my life’ actually look like…
It’s not really eloquent… in fact it’s kind of messy…
And it’s often a quick prayer while I’m walking to help resolve a conflict, or while I’m cleaning up another mess, or I’m upset about something…
Heavenly Father, how can I think more lovingly towards this person I’m not getting along with? Help me see the good in them, so I can have this conversation with more compassion and less anger.
Heavenly Father help me be grateful for this opportunity to serve, even though I’m not excited about it right now? Help me believe the million things I need to do at home will still get done, even though I’m choosing to spend my time here instead.
Heavenly Father, how can I discipline my teenager with more love and less power struggle? How can I feel love towards them, even if we disagree on the outcome, or they don’t love me back right now?
Heavenly Father, how can I be more loving when I need to remind my kids to do their chores, again? How do I hold them responsible, and what do I need to think about myself if they choose not to be, so I can still be the mom I want to be?
Ask Him to teach you how to think, and what emotion might be best in the situation, trust the thoughts you get and try it out, report back, and try again.
With time, practice, and lots of mentoring from the best mentor ever (Christ), you will begin to naturally ask these questions and know how to respond in each situation in your life with CHARITY!
And your relationship with Christ will grow!
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Here are a few other things you can work on as you develop more charity…
I encourage you to pick one and work on it for a month or so, then reassess (pick another one or keep working on the same one).
It doesn’t matter which on you pick either…
I’ve discovered that they all influence and help each other, so just pick one!
Also, find a way to track your goal (for more info on how to set goals, even these kinds of goals, message me and I’ll link you to the blog I wrote about it). This helps our human brain see the evidence of our growth and will help build momentum.
- Learn to love yourself (loving others comes easier if we learn to give ourselves a little grace while we are still learning. We are not perfect; we are practicing and that looks messy sometimes – you can still love yourself in the messy)
- Avoid thinking we are better than others (this is comparing ourselves to others and it is always a loose-loose situation. You be the best you and give them grace for being their best them today).
- Practice how to react with kindness (and ask the spirit to teach you what that would look like or sound like in your life… )
- Apologize whenever you should… be humble and sincere about it
- Notice the good things others do and thank them.
- Forgive others and show them an increase of love
I testify, as you practice learning to live patterns of thinking and behavior that create more kindness, love and charity in your home… you will receive the promise of personal peace and a burst of spiritual momentum.
I have experimented with it… and found this promise to be true!
I’m not perfect and I get tired.
It’s up and down process and a little messy, but it’s fun to see the progress!
And I’m just going to keep practicing.
I hope you want to practice with me, so we can all grow together and work on creating a Zion society right here.
–Which one did you pick to be your goal? How will you know you’ve reached that goal?
