“We are challenged to move through a process of conversion toward that status and condition called eternal life. This is achieved not just by doing what is right, but by doing it for the right reason – for the pure love of Christ. The Apostle Paul illustrated this in his famous teaching about the importance of charity (see 1 Cor 13). The reason charity never fails and the reason charity is greater than even the most significant acts of goodness he cited is that charity, ‘the pure love of Christ’ (Moroni 7:47), is not an act but a condition or state of being. Charity is attained through a succession of acts that result in a conversion. Charity is something one becomes.”
– Dallin H. Oaks
“Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in our heart, you are never the same again. It makes the thought of being a basher repulsive. . . Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.”
– Marvin J. Ashton
“There is serious need for the charity that gives attention to those who are unnoticed, hope to those who are discouraged, and to those who are afflicted. True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere.”
– Thomas S. Monson
“(Matthew 4:11 & JST comparison) One of the greatest indicators of righteous character is the capacity to recognize and appropriately respond to other people who are experiencing the very challenge or adversity that is most immediately and forcefully pressing upon us. Character is revealed, for example, in the power to discern the suffering of other people when we ourselves are suffering; in the ability to detect the hunger of others when we are hungry; and the power to reach out and extend comparison for the spiritual agony of others when we are in the midst of our own spiritual distress. Therefore, character is demonstrated by looking, turning, and reaching outward when the instinctive response of the ‘natural man’ in each of us is to turn inward and to be selfish and self-absorbed. And the Savior of the world is the source, the standard and the ultimate criterion of moral character and the perfect example of charity and consistency.”
– David A. Bednar
“Charity is the giving of love to someone who does not deserve it.”
– Michael S. Lake
