Wk 10: Charity

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I received so much insight from reading chapter 7 in H. Wallace Goddard's book called Drawing Heaven into your Marriage. This chapter is all about charity for your spouse. I've had a great interest in learning more about charity over the past few years. The best personal definition I have come up with after all is: "Charity is the pure love of Christ. To truly love someone is to see them through the eyes of the Savior."

I have found this to be true in my own life. The best example for me would be how much charity and love I have towards my niece. I love her so much and she can do no wrong in my eyes. She is 2 years old and just the cutest thing! It's easy for me to say I have charity for her and it's hard for me to believe that the Savior could love her more than I do! I think in marriage, it can not be so easy to look past the imperfections and highlight the goodness in them, like I can do with my precious niece. At the end of the day, it can be easy to see all the flaws in your spouse and to come up with reasons to justify your negative feelings towards them you may be having at one time or another. 

I absolutely love this quote from the book found on page 112, "As we feel love from Him and for Him, we naturally love like Him." Prayer is essential to learning charity. I am not currently married, but I know I've started to pray for charity towards the man I am dating. The longer we date and the more I get to know him, the more I see his imperfections and flaws. However, because of charity, I am usually able to look past all of that and know that among all the flaws, he has a good heart and not only does he love the Lord, but he also loves me. 

Having charity for your spouse doesn't mean your spouse won't make mistakes or that you might not get into disagreements from time to time. However, if you have charity for one another you are better able to get through them. You must be on the same page and have open communication with one another. I know the lines of communication have opened between my boyfriend and I regarding charity and our relationship. Because of this, I believe we are better able to understand one another and draw the Savior into our relationship in a whole new way that not only allows us to see Him more clearly, but to have more compassion and love towards one another.