There is something to be said about the relationship between our perspective of the world and how that influences our treatment of others. We all have our own diverse backgrounds and distinct perspectives on life. We see the world in different ways based on our interests, experience, even our culture. For example, I had the opportunity to serve my mission in the beautiful country of Mexico, in the state of Sinaloa. In summer months, temperatures can reach 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit, and humidity levels make such heat almost unbearable. While we couldn’t always count on a constant stream of investigators, we could count on one thing: that we could knock any door and ask for water, and it would be given us. I saw people’s countenances of great disdain at the initial sight of us change to compassion after our genuine pleas for needed water. Other places and cultures may see similar reactions, but they are not universal. What type of perspective is required to perpetuate such a consistent treatment of others? In this particular case, native Sinaloans understood the feeling of having such thirst in that intense heat, and could then put aside their personal opinions to meet our needs. Of course like all people, they are not perfect. As individuals, even as members of Christ’s Church, we often struggle to find consistency in our treatment of others. My purpose is to show how we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, can embrace the gospel to the point of gaining a much wider perspective, which can greatly influence how we show our love for God and for our neighbors.
When we think about perspectives, we often hear about having an eternal perspective. What does that mean? Why is that important? To understand it better, let’s contrast an eternal perspective with its natural opposite, a temporal one. When we have a temporal, earthly perspective, our viewpoints and feelings vary greatly person to person. Again, those same differences that make each individual unique and of great worth to our Heavenly Father are the same that influence our perception of the meaning and standing of events and circumstances that are presented to us in this earthly, temporal setting. When we have an eternal perspective, however, it does not vary person to person. In fact, it can’t, because adopting such a viewpoint is seeing the world as God does. As such, I like to think that it can be better described as the Lord’s perspective. Accepting such a view allows our earthly, or temporal perspective to center more on how our daily, seemingly mundane experiences in mortality are related to our eternal journey. As the Lord himself said, “And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal and things which are spiritual.”[1] Thus, the temporal and the eternal become one for us. Just as body and spirit constitute the soul, the combination of an earthly, temporal perspective and an eternal perspective constitutes a Godly one, where nothing can be seen as ordinary or coincidental, and everything that happens around us can be learned from and applied to our spiritual progression.
We can understand this further because of similar modern revelation. Doctrine and Covenants 88:41 says, “[The Lord] comprehendeth all things and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever.” Whether or not we consciously believe or accept that God has a hand in literally everything around us, it is the eternal and unchanging truth. That is the fundamental difference between a mere temporal perspective and an eternal one. In a temporal sense, we may believe that an event in our lives is but coincidental and inconsequential. But we know that it is never just a coincidence. Coincidences as the world sees them—as mere happenstance and a random conjoining of circumstances—do not exist. Coincidences, in truth, do exist, but they aren’t random; they are God’s will coinciding with our earthly experience. Often, this requires righteous action on our part.
So how does one come to adopt such a perspective? That same section enlightens us: “And again, verily, I say unto my friends, I leave these sayings with you to ponder in your hearts, with this commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall call upon me while I am near—Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me.”[2] The Lord would have us gain this view, and has provided the means for us to accomplish it. The road begins through that great gift that has been given us to communicate with him: prayer. By embracing prayer, we are humbly attempting to unite our will with his. As the Bible Dictionary describes, “Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them.”[3] Constant and effective prayer allows us to be closer to God, and to attempt to have the same vision that he does.
Diligence in prayer and humility bring about a process that is essential to obtaining a perspective on par with our Father’s. The Book of Mormon enlightens us on this topic. Of the righteous members of the Church in a time of rampant wickedness and dissention, the historian-prophet Mormon notes, “Nevertheless they did…pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts.”[4] The chain reaction is described clearly here: diligent, effective prayer leads to greater humility and greater trust in God, which leads us to joyfully recognize the good in our lives, even in the midst of struggle and trial; such an attitude leads to the process that is the very essence of exaltation: purification. These faithful members allowed themselves to gain a pure, Godly perspective in the midst of great opposition and intense persecution. Such a view allows the Father, then, to not only give us joy, but also help us become as he is, instead of merely seeing the world as he does.
This idea is reiterated by the great Apostle Paul:
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.[5]
Even the final words of counsel of a father to his son have clarified that connection between maintained Godly perspective and comfort in the midst of trial: “For I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day. And I would not that ye think that I know of myself—not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of God.”[6]
Not too long ago I made the determination to never get down as a result of those circumstances which I could not control. It took me months before I fully comprehended what that entailed. Indeed I quickly learned that such behavior is far easier said than done, as I often struggled. In truth, I am still learning what mindset is required in order to always be filled with light, even when our entire world seems dark. From my personal experience, I have felt that such a behavior, if it is to be possibly maintained consistently in our mortal state, requires two attributes in particular: righteousness and humility. Those two qualities allow us to focus solely on that which we can control. The prophet Isaiah described it like this: “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.”[7] Righteousness, which is diligent, consistent obedience to the commandments of God, breeds peace and assurance; it breeds confidence. This is not confidence in our own power of deliverance, but in our ability to continue to follow the promptings of the spirit, and stand tall even when we have reason to sink low. Thus righteous desires will be bridled and based on strongholds of faith and hope, instead of being easily evaporated at the first sign of trouble, and doubt and despair allowed to rain upon us. Wickedness in any form is detrimental to this perspective. Wickedness derails any and all forms of spiritual confidence. It covers up the peace in our hearts and the assurance of our minds. It disqualifies us from the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and eventually causes us to forget what such companionship is like. It is a cancer. It is a masking agent. It is a spiritual desensitizer. We must humbly cling to righteousness. Godly perspective will then always prevail over the worldly sorrow, and continued faith will triumph over any degree of doubt. The Lord told Hyrum Smith: “Behold this is thy work, to keep the commandments with all your might, mind, and strength…and, if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.”[8]
These realizations about perspective and trials have come to me from experiences that I have had, and the culmination of these thoughts began as I sat and pondered—in a time of moderate trial—but a handful of words that constitute part of Jesus’ beatitudes, given in the Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”[9] Those eleven words echoed in my mind, and I repeated them aloud trying to understand what they meant. Like most scriptures, there are a great many interpretations and meanings, but one impression came upon me. In the dictionary, under the word see, there are various definitions, one of which is “to understand intellectually or spiritually.”[10] So, replacing the word, we can read it as, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall understand God.” That chain reaction given in Helaman is thus understood more fully: prayer, faith, and humility lead to purification, which leads to an understanding of God and His ways, or, in other words, leads to the adoption of a fully eternal, Godly perspective. Looking then at the definition of purifying, we can understand exactly what we are being stripped of as we adopt a higher perspective and live accordingly. To purify in the dictionary means “to make free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates.”[11] So if our heart is to be pure, we must remove all that contaminates us spiritually—all that might lead us astray from that great path and that higher perspective.
A singular Christlike attribute is spoken of in the scriptures that can help us in achieving that—to be stripped of those contaminating entities, like selfishness, envy, and lust. Peter described in his epistle that it “preventeth a multitude of sins,”[12] and the Apostle Paul and the prophet Moroni both explained this purifying attribute in detail: “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”[13] Charity is that purifying quality that allows love, faith, and hope to replace the contaminants that cause our hearts to lead us astray. Genuine, Christlike love and friendship are that great colander that can leave only pure feeling, and not only a Godly perspective, but a Godly lifestyle.
We see then how diligent pursuit of God’s way of thinking leads us to the development of a particular attribute: charity, even the pure love of our Father in Heaven and His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The development of that trait represents the difference between fully achieving that Godly lifestyle and not. As Elder Gene R. Cook, emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy put it, “All men may have the gift of love, but charity is bestowed only upon those who are true followers of Christ.”[14] In the same way that some talents seem to come naturally and others require more concentrated effort to develop, great love is born naturally by adopting that righteous perspective; yet to fully integrate charity into our character requires conscious and vigilant determination. This is the distinction between having charity, or acting charitably sporadically, and truly being charitable like our Father in Heaven. How, then, can we develop that same type of love?
Elder Cook offered three suggestions to better develop this characteristic. The first of these suggestions is one that requires us to reflect on our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father; we need to recognize His love. Elder Cook explains, “At times it will not be easy to discover the Lord’s hand and feel His love in all that surrounds us, because he is a perfect, anonymous giver. You will search all your life to uncover His hand and the gifts he has bestowed upon you because of His intimate, modest, humble way of granting such wonderful gifts.”[15] The implication here is that recognizing God’s love for us is not as simple as just feeling the spirit or recognizing some blessings received. It requires faith and a true desire to then reflect such love. Moroni described the manner in which we can best act in order to achieve this: “Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all those who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.” [16] Thus the recognition of God’s love requires faithful prayer, and true discipleship. This practice can and should be an ongoing, lifelong pursuit, as we can constantly recognize how the Lord’s hand is influencing our lives through his grace and tender mercy.
The second suggestion given by Elder Cook involves how we should react to this recognition; if we gain a perspective akin to our Father’s, this mindset should be easy. Elder Cook says, “Receive His love in humility…Recognize His hand, tell him so, express your love to him. As you come to truly know the Lord, you will find an intimate, sacred relationship built on trust. You will come to know he understands your anguish, and will, in compassion, always respond to you in love.”[17] Gratitude for those blessings, gifts, and opportunities that the Lord has provided us throughout our lives allows us to come to know Our Father in Heaven and His Son even better. By attempting to first obtain an eternal perspective, even the Lord’s perspective, we can understand more fully the importance of being grateful. President Thomas S. Monson offered this insight into how this attitude of gratitude can bless us: “My brothers and sisters, do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love.”[18] We see, then, how these two suggestions given by Elder Cook become cyclical. As we pray, attempting to recognize how the Lord has blessed us and continues to bless us, we can be inspired to attribute seemingly coincidental prior experiences to His Glorious Hand (indeed, such experiences were coincidences, as our path was set to coincide with His will); then, as we not only express gratitude, but live gratefully, we experience even further the love which our Father has for us. Our understanding of the depth of that love is expanded, and our ability to reflect said love to those around us increases dramatically.
Indeed, this is the final suggestion given by Elder Cook: “Convey His love.”[19] The words of the LDS hymn immediately come to mind: Because I have been blessed by thy great love, dear Lord/ I’ll share my love again, according to thy word/ I shall give love to those in need; I’ll show that love by word and deed/ Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.[20] In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are encouraged to perform service. Those who have grown up in the Church will remember performing much service in the youth program of the Church, such as collecting canned foods, raking an elderly sister’s leaves, or even setting up (and then taking down) chairs for a Church service. We spent countless hours being told of the blessings of service, and performed exceptionally well said service. Why, then, do so many youth and adults alike still struggle to live their lives with charity—to convey the love that we’ve felt from their Heavenly Father? Elder Cook explains this: “Unless you are feeling love, you cannot convey love to others.”[21] This concept is the same that was described thousands of years ago by the Savior himself: “Jesus said…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”[22]
Oftentimes we perform service not because we truly love the people that we are serving, but to simply perform “our member duty.” Such an attitude prevents us from conveying and reflecting the love we feel for our Heavenly Father and our Savior, and that which they have for each of us. As has been discussed, as we gain an eternal perspective, we naturally turn more to charity. But to fully incorporate that charity into our very being, into the fiber of our character, it must be exercised. Faith to do so must be utilized. That is why we often hear of that trifecta of faith, hope, and charity, because they are inseparably connected—by trusting enough in our Savior to act, our perspective of the great potential of good of said act increases naturally, as does the love associated, to the point where it can be applied more fully. To reference Elder Cook once more, he said: “Magnifying that gift [of love] from God will bring new heart, a pure heart, and ever-increasing love and peace. As we increasingly think and act like him, the attributes of the natural man will slip away to be replaced by the heart and the mind of Christ. We will become like him and then truly receive him.”[23]
As one becomes a bit more like Christ, there comes a realization of those negative attributes or habits that take away from that love. One such plague that often besets us as members of the Church is the trap of judging others. Unrighteous judgment is purely selfish and prevents us from partaking in the fullness of love that Christ has for us. Embracing a charitable mindset through the adoption of an eternal lens can aid in removing such an attitude. There are various ways that this can be done. We have heard general authorities speak on how looking at others as they can be in the future—that divine potential we all have—rather than what they are now can aid us in eliminating a judgmental attitude from our lives; President Monson has invited us to “see others as they may become.” He added, “We must develop the capacity to see men not as they are at present but as they may become.”[24] I also think that if we ponder our own lives and realize how much we've overcome, we can then look at others not as they are now, as if they were born yesterday—as if they’ve had no room to improve, but with the same eyes with which we view ourselves: as individuals who have changed and progressed greatly. A slightly dirty garage will appear to us less dirty when we realize that it has been tidied and organized; when we recognize that it was and can be a lot dirtier. Our mortal minds work best when dealing with comparisons. If we think about others assuming that they've struggled and overcome and improved just as much as we think we have, we are far more likely to see them as they really are: a work in progress—that work which will eventually lead to perfection. We will more easily overlook their shortcomings, because surely they are a lot shorter now than before. We will be more capable of forgiving perceived offenses, because surely they've gone through so much they couldn't have possibly meant to offend. Most importantly we will be more open to loving them, because we will have the sure knowledge that even though we aren't sure what they've gone through and what they've overcome, Christ does know, and He still loves them. Perfectly. Why can we not also?
Of equal importance is the careful art of forgiving others for who they once were. Oftentimes we come across people who we know have made serious mistakes. Most of the time we learn of their mistakes through rumors and gossip. With our mortal, for-now-finite minds we characterize those people by those actions. Then we seem to forget that the Atonement applies to them as well. We forget that we aren't the only ones that get to repent and be better. Maybe they've done worse things than us (and maybe not!), but that does not exclude them from receiving the same clean slate that we do. The prophet Nephi said, “Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.”[25] The Atonement is infinite. It can reach anyone who is willing to overcome. We should forget and forgive others for their past selves. They don't need to be reminded of their mistakes; they may be struggling still to forgive themselves for them. They don't need us to give them the impression that they can't overcome; Satan has probably already tried to do that. We can love them. We can be their friend. We can pretend like it never happened. This must be true, because as far as Christ is concerned, it truly never did. If we are to live up to that eternal perspective we developed and the great love we have felt, we must leave that judgmental attitude completely behind, and love with a pure love. For “blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see (understand) God”[26]; “charity is the pure love of Christ.”[27]
Charity is essential to a divine character. It is pure selflessness and undeviating compassion. Simply put, it truly is purity in every sense of the word. I identify with Ammon, and bear testimony of these principles as such: “My joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God…Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo…Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever.”[28] Those who consistently perform service will always testify that they feel that they have gained more for helping than they could ever really give. What we receive when we reach out to our fellow brethren and sisters is not anything tangible or temporal. It is eternal. It is joy. That lasting, eternal joy only comes from the Spirit that is felt as we humbly strive to love God and others, as God loves them. And by striving to first see the world as our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ see it, we open up the gates to feeling the same joy that they feel as they lead and guide our lives with an eternal, unshakable love.
Bibliography
Cook, Gene R. April 2002. "Charity: Perfect and Everlasting Love." lds.org.. Accessed September 29, 2015. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2002/04/charity-perfect-and-everlasting-love?lang=eng.
Crowell, Grace Noll, “Because I Have Been Given Much.” Hymns (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985), no. 219.
Monson, Thomas S. October 2010. "The Divine Gift of Gratitude." lds.org. Accessed October 16, 2015. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/the-divine-gift-of-gratitude?lang=eng.
Monson, Thomas S. October 2012. "See Others as They May Become." lds.org. Accessed October 28, 2015. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/see-others-as-they-may-become?lang=eng
Purify. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/purify
See. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/see
Notes
[1] Moses 6:63, The Pearl of Great Price.
[2] Doctrine and Covenants 88:62-64 (italics added)
[3] Bible Dictionary, s.v. Prayer, page 752-53
[4] Helaman 3:35, The Book of Mormon
[5] 2 Corinthians 4:15-18, King James Version (italics added)
[6] Alma 36:3-4, The Book of Mormon (italics added)
[7] Isaiah 32:17, KJV
[8] Doctrine and Covenants 11:8, 20
[9] Matthew 5:8, KJV
[10] See. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/see
[11]Purify. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/purify
[12]1 Peter 4:8, Joseph Smith Translation
[13] For Paul’s account see 1 Corinthians 13; for Moroni’s account see Moroni 7:44-48
[14] (Cook 2002)
[15] (Cook 2002)
[16] Moroni 7: 48, The Book of Mormon (italics added)
[17] (Cook 2002) (italics added)
[18] (Monson 2010)
[19] (Cook 2002)
[20] (Crowell 1985)
[21] (Cook 2002)
[22] Matthew 22:37-39 (italics added)
[23] (Cook 2002) (italics added)
[24] (Monson 2012).
[25] 2 Nephi 26:27, The Book of Mormon
[26] Matthew 5:8, KJV (italics added)
[27] Moroni 7:47, The Book of Mormon (italics added)
[28] Alma 26:35-37 (italics added)
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