Trying to be like Jesus

This is a story about my spiritual and mental journey. I love the scripture that says, 

“47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ…”   Moroni 7:48

I’ve done that throughout my life to different degrees, but about 6 months ago, I got serious about praying for charity. For some reason, I thought God would just give me a download of charity and I would love people more automatically. What happened was very different. 

First, because I asked sincerely, He sent me a friend who had some wisdom I didn’t have. She taught me a lot of different principles about how I am responsible for my emotions and reactions – one of which was that I can’t blame anyone else for my misery even if I feel like they behaved badly.  The funny thing was that after each discussion with her, God would send me multiple opportunities to see things differently. I would argue badly, make mistakes, wish I’d done things differently. The opportunities multiplied!  

Honestly it has not been that pleasant! But I’m still praying.  I’m very thankful to God for the opportunities that I’ve had to realize my shortcomings and to try to behave differently–over and over, learning to love like Jesus did and does.   So, just to encourage you, when you pray for charity, realize this: God will probably send you lessons in patience, via those you love. It’s a good journey though, a lifelong journey to try to be more like the Savior.