Don't Judge Because I Serve Differently Than You!

The world gets crazier and crazier every day and there is a constant need for charitable service. Between food drives, natural disaster clean-up, delivered cookies, and moving "parties", the Children of God have many opportunities to serve and hopefully experience charity.

My iPad's definition of charity is, "The voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money, to those in need."  We have come to think of the word "charitable" as giving a couple dollars to the homeless guy waving a cardboard sign at us. Looking on lds.org, charity is, "the pure love of Christ. It is the love that Christ has for the children of men and that the children of men should have for one another. It is the highest, noblest, and strongest kind of love and the most joyous to the soul (see 1 Nephi 11:23)"  Through my studying, serving the homeless man would most definitely be charity, but only if you do it because you truly love the person.

In my favorite town in the world, Klamath Falls, there is a woman in the community many would look down.  She has, for the past 12 years, fed a cat that lives in the gutter near her home. She goes down to the little tunnel with a blanket and bowl of cat food thee times a day and sits on the ground while the cat comes to eat.  She has told us that she would take her home, but the cat won't let her pick her up. In fact, it has only been in the past year that the cat would even let her pet it. Now who on earth would feed and take care of something for 12 years without anything in return and even through enduring some mocking from friends and neighbors for it. Rain, snow, heat, or hail, this woman gives so much of herself to something she truly believes in.  I don't know very many people who would give so faithfully for so long for a close friend or even a relative like this woman has served a homeless stray.

She has taught me so much of charity. It is there without the gratitude. It is there without the recognition and survives the persecution. As President Monson teaches us, "God's love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there." ("We Never Walk Alone," September 2013 general Relief Society meeting).  It is because of Him and his love for us that we have the opportunity to share that love and feel the blessings of true charity for ourselves. God is amazing! By blessing us with the blessing to bless others, He allows those blessings to in turn, bless us. So many blessings! And it all comes down to love. His love.