The Devil In The Details

I've always been interested in Paul's writings on charity in 1 Corinthians 13. I've often seen framed quotes of that scripture in peoples homes and I've just as frequently seen it re-worded to exclude the word, "charity" and instead replace it with the word, "love". 

This scripture hasn't made much sense to me whether it said "charity" or whether it's simplified to say, "love". Let's look at what I mean in verse 3 where things start to go sideways for me:

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

For me to give all my goods to feed the poor and to give my body to be burned I would have to be in possession of love and charity. I could be wrong though. But either way, you catch my drift.

What is charity to me? It is this:

To do the Lord's will.

Here is how I get there:

Charity is the highest form of Love. So it is good to ask, "Well...what is the highest form of Love?" Lucky for us, Jesus answered that question when the pharisees asked Him what the greatest of all the commandments were (Matthew 22). He answered:

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

So, the first and greatest commandment - the greatest form of love and the highest thing we can do on which hang all things is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. What does that mean in translation?

You seek His will and do His will in all things. 

That is the greatest and highest love that we can do. And the second is like unto it (but it is not it)...to love your neighbor as you love yourself. 

With this new information, let's rewrite the scripture to this translation: 

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and don't do the Lord's will, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and I don't do the Lord's will, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and though I build hundreds of multimillion dollar temples, and though I am in the Temple day and night, and though I do my ministering (sorry, I couldn't help myself), if I don't do the Lord's will, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Doing the Lord's will means you will suffer long, doing the Lord's will is kind; doing the Lord's will cease the envy; doing the Lord's will means you won't vaunt or be puffed up,

5 Doing the Lord's will means you'll stop behaving unseemly, you will stop seeking your own, you'll stop being easily provoked, you'll stop thinking evil things;

6 Doing the Lord's will means you will won't rejoice in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 When you do the Lord's will you will beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Doing the Lord's will never fails: but whether there be prophecies (outside of the Lord's will), they shall fail; whether there be tongues (of your own creation), they shall cease; whether there be knowledge (outside of what the Lord has given you), it shall vanish away.

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part when we don't do the Lord's will.

10 But when a people are perfect at doing the Lord's will, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man and sought and did the Lord's will, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, and doing the Lord's will, these three; but the greatest of these is to do the Lord's will.

Now let us discuss the Devil in the Details...

The Second Commandment

So here's the problem we all run into. If we grow up thinking that "charity" means "love" and that we need to "love" everyone and that "loving everyone" means we place their will above our own, then things descend into chaos rapidly. The church promotes this kind of "love" over seeking the Lord's will to know what to do and it's wearing out the members faster than a pair of running shoes on a marathon-er. See this video here of an LDS single mother running herself ragged for other people as an example. It makes me so sad I cry when I watch it.  

One of the first problems with loving your neighbor as yourself is that if you do that above all else then you have a world full of people that have wildly different ideas of what "love" looks like. Years ago I was thoroughly criticized by someone who said that I fed my kids "too healthy" and "limited their sugar too much" and" put them to bed too early" and that my kids weren't being allowed to just "live more freely". The criticism caught me off guard. I knew they were annoyed with me but I didn't expect that to be the problem. Were this person to love me or my children as they loved themselves - there would be few rules and excesses of inflammatory foods that fog the brain and pain the digestion. There would be late nights and even later mornings and an overall feeling of lethargy, depression, and sadness. How do I know? Because that's how they live their life. That is how they view "loving their kids" and loving themselves and they are exhausted.

BUT...

...if we obeyed the first great commandment - to Love God with all that we have and all that we are and we ask Him how to handle a situation (or not handle a situation) or how to approach an issue (or not approach an issue).

So often in Christianity we believe loving our neighbor means that we need to have "charity" and just do what they want rather than what God says to do. This can make things very messy. We may believe that to be a "good Christian" or a "good Mormon" I should let them walk all over me or give them everything I have or put up with abusive or toxic people or giving to the point that it is destructive to our soul and so on and so forth (see the earlier video from the church). When we live life this way then we end up running dry. Because, as Paul so beautifully put it - if we do these things and it isn't the Lord's will - it profits us nothing.

Wait?! Nothing?!!

What "profiting nothing" means is that if you aren't living in sync with the Lord then you are doing your own will. You are doing what you think would be a good idea and that can get messy because you (and me) are imperfect.

When you start to feel like you're running on fumes, it can be a good signal to stop and see if you are in alignment with the Lord's will. Because when you are in alignment you shall run and not be weary, and walk and not faint (Isaiah 40).

Now that I've tried to establish the case for "charity" meaning "to do the Lord's will" I will tell you why we as a people are in a major bind at this, the end of times. We see all kinds of trouble in society...things that make us worried and fearful for the future of the countries of the world. Governments seem to be ripening with corruption and masses of people seem to be either willfully sleeping or actively choosing evil. There is a reason for this and it all goes back to those first two commandments. And here it is:

We, as a society, have embraced the second commandment and made it our first commandment.

We have placed at the pinnacle, "loving our neighbor as ourselves" and then God takes the backseat or no seat at all. This elevation of the neighbor over God is an abomination and will lead to the destruction all societies who employ it's devilish entrapments. When you stop putting God first and seeking His will and instead seek your own will or your collective neighbors will - we see the collapse of society.

This must not be.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6).

Seek ye first your neighbors happiness? Then all the things you value will be taken from you.

There is a reason for the structure to place God at the pinnacle and your neighbor and yourself one step lower. If I seek God's will then it means I may have to do things I don't want to do but are the right thing to do. Jesus was the ultimate example of this. I am sure he wanted to obey Mary and Martha to come quickly and heal Lazarus. But He sought first the Father's will and His Father's will was to wait. And in the waiting - the raising from the dead. An even greater joy and triumph over death and hell. How often did Jesus seek only the Father's will in all things? Always. This meant Jesus often did things in a way that we wouldn't have done. Because we would have done it "our way" and screwed up the higher plan. How do I know that? Because the world is proficient at it (myself included).

Jesus whole life was one choice after another of seeking and doing the Lord's will - in all things. That is perfection. We are commanded to be perfect (Matthew 5:48) and it is achievable, in time. Not through white nuckling it - but through seeking and doing the Lord's will. When you do what the Lord asks you to do, you are in perfect alignment with Him - you are perfect. You are whole. It is the quest of a lifetime and you will make mistakes but try and try again.

Don't make the mistake, like I have so many times, of putting your neighbor in God's place. It has led me to much heartache and wandering down strange roads. I have learned that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Take His yoke upon you and learn of Him. For He is meek and lowly in heart and when you do this - you will find rest to your soul. 

David Foster Wallace: 

"Because here’s something else that’s true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing...God ...is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things-if they are where you tap real meaning in life-then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth.

Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already-it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power-you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart-you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on."

Lord, bless Your children to Love You with all their heart, soul, and mind. And bless us to love our neighbors as ourselves once we learn how to Love You. 

After The Love Has Gone

by

Earth, Wind, and Fire

https://youtu.be/yw-em78BCRw?si=d09yO6wz6CPi8kV8