Called to Become Great

Charity is a concept I’ve known I needed to work on for a long time. Everyone knows charity is a good thing. We might think of giving to the poor and needy, helping a friend, bringing dinner to someone who is struggling, or other things like that. But wowee, I’ve learned there is SO MUCH MORE to charity than that! I grew up hearing that charity is the pure love of Christ. Do you know how powerful the pure love of Christ is? The kind of love that descends below all, the kind of love that sacrifices one’s own life for those who may or may not even accept you? The kind of love that offers grace and mercy for those who have offended us or even intentionally harmed us? Having charity is truly powerful. It is a gift worth seeking.

Ugh, not another lecture on charity…

In the past, I don’t think my concept of charity was quite on track. I thought it was like I mentioned at the beginning – giving to the poor and needy, helping a friend, etc., plus if someone was unkind to me, just bowing down and accepting it. About two years ago, I decided to try having charity for a week, just as an experiment. To be completely honest, things went a lot better for that week. But for some reason, by the end of the week, I was slipping into old ways, despite feeling better during the experiment. I realize now, I was going about it the wrong way. I didn’t really grasp what having charity meant.

“the key to having confidence before God is having charity and virtue”

-Russell M. Nelson

It wasn’t until just a few months ago for me now that I restarted my journey to gain the gift of charity. I”ve gone about it differently this time, though. Russell M. Nelson, the previous president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, shared in a recent address that the key to having confidence before God is having charity and virtue (Nelson, 2025). He further stated “…charity is a gift from our Heavenly Father for true followers of Jesus Christ” (Nelson, 2025). I realized I cannot just force myself into practicing charity. It’s more than a practice. It’s something I had to work for, a gift I needed to prayerfully seek. Before, I was trying to do it on my own, without praying for it, without Christ’s help, and without changing who I was at the core. President Nelson’s promise at the end of his message encouraged me to give it a solid effort: “As we diligently seek to have charity and virtue fill our lives, our confidence in approaching God will increase” (Nelson, 2025). I knew I wanted confidence in approaching God. His power is greater than any challenge we will face in this world. I NEEDED that confidence. I realized I hadn’t been diligently seeking that gift. I realized I needed to change who I was at my very core, and I knew I couldn’t do it without my Savior. Now, I am making a consistent effort for the gift of charity in my life.

I had to let go of what I thought charity was. It is not just lending a helping hand, giving to the poor, or turning the other cheek when someone hurts me. While those are charitable ACTS, I needed to BECOME charitable.

Charity≠Pity

Along this journey, I discovered the difference between charity and pity. I realized I could do something kind for someone I felt bad for while still not seeing them as Christ sees them, or loving them as Christ loves them. Acting out of charity says, “Christ sees you and loves you. Let me be His hands to lighten your burden. Let me be His hands to serve you.” This simple mindset shift helped me see people differently. EVERYONE has unlimited potential. EVERYONE faces trials and difficulties. The beggar on the streets and the multimillionaire in the mansion both have limitless potential and both face trials and difficulties and both need to know and feel Christ’s love. My job isn’t to judge either way, only love and serve. 

Christ sees our hearts. He sees who we have the potential to become. He knows us and loves us and wants to help us reach our potential. If we are to become like Christ and have charity, we need to pray for that gift. We need to start seeking to see others the way He sees them. 

Charity Does Not Take Away Our Agency

Another thing I learned about charity is that we have a choice in how we respond to people who hurt us. I learned I can address the situation calmly and peacefully from a place of love and desire to get along. I can also walk away and just know that we are two people who don’t align and that’s okay because I can continue to live my life on my terms and not let their energy detract from my mission and purpose. Or I can even just walk away and pray for them, if they acted truly terribly. We don’t have to just accept poor treatment and be upset about it. With the gift of charity, we have the POWER to choose our own actions and feelings around the situation. I came to realize that many times when someone did something that hurt or offended me, after deconstructing the situation, my feelings came from a place of powerlessness. And that is NOT how Christ would want us to feel. HOWEVER, no matter how we respond, we can still strive to see these people as Christ sees them – children of God who have infinite potential. We can treat them with kindness and respect while withholding ill feelings toward them and holding our own boundaries.

Charity = Power

The more I’ve strived to obtain the gift of charity, the more POWER I’ve realized there is in this gift. With it, I no longer have to worry about what others think. I no longer have to worry about what others have done to me in the past. Truly, my job is not to judge one way or another. My job is to love, serve others, protect our peace, and focus on our own mission and purpose. This is probably a good place to just give this little disclaimer: I am not by ANY means perfect, or even great at this. Charity is a gift I am still seeking to be blessed with. These are just things I have learned through earnest seeking of knowledge around the topic of charity and through seeking this precious gift. 

My hope is to continually become more and more charitable, because there is so much power and peace in this gift. And my challenge to all who read this is to see if you can find in your heart to seek the precious gift of charity. It is one hundred percent a process. It kind of goes against human nature I think. But I also promise you that as you prayerfully seek this gift and conscientiously strive to become more charitable, your life will drastically improve. You will feel joy fuller than you’ve felt before. You’ll have more peace in your life. You’ll have more clarity of mind. You’ll have more energy. You’ll just be a happier person. If you need any of those things, take the challenge, approach it with a sincere heart, and let me know how it goes!