Our Stake (Arlington Texas) studies one scripture per month. To help families to integrate the scripture into their homes in meaningful ways, for each scripture we share the following:
- the accompanying challenge
- free printables of the scripture or related challenge for display in the home
- family home evening lessons for all types of families
- ideas for using the scripture in a talk or lesson
You can find all of the resources at A Year in the Scriptures.
The scriptures for October 2017 are 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and Moroni 7:47
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
Moroni 7:47
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.
Challenge
Consider the question:
Is charity something that we give, or something that we become?
Determine how you can make charity a part of who you are, that you can be “found possessed of it at the last day.”
Ideas for accomplishing the challenge:
- Look through the Church’s resources on charity. Consider reading a talk or exploring some of the scriptures shared there.
- Consider the idea that engaging in charitable actions and sharing charitable words may lead to more charitable feelings, leading you to engage in more charitable actions and words. If this is a cycle, identify where you are in the cycle. Are you more likely to behave charitably or feel charitably? See if you can move forward to the next part of the cycle. If you feel love and kindness, can you show it? If you are serving others, can you focus on growing to love those you serve even more deeply?
- Look at the list of the qualities of charity (from 1 Corinthians 13) and identify the qualities that are strengths for you and the ones that offer opportunities for growth:
- suffereth long
- is kind
- envieth not
- is not puffed up
- seeketh not her own
- is not easily provoked
- thinketh no evil
- rejoiceth in the truth
- beareth all things
- believeth all things
- endureth all things
- We created a printable page that explains each of those qualities and allows you space to consider your development of those qualities. Download it by clicking here. Note: You may notice that some of the explanations seem different from the words in the qualities. That is because the original Greek was used in the explanations.
Printables
We found some lovely free printables to go with this month’s scriptures. Please simply click any of the images below to download your own copy.
[source: adapted from mormonchannel.org]
[source: teepeegirl.com]
[source: mimeleecanbe.com]
[source: pinterest, unspecified]
Family Home Evening Ideas
If you’ve got a heart-shaped cookie cutter, our sugar cookie recipe is perfect for cookies that can be frosted and shaped. Because the dough needs to be refrigerated, you can make it the day before and bake them fresh right before you need them!
Ingredients:
¾ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. powder
1 tsp. salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
In a large bowl, combine first four ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients and add all at once to the wet ingredients. Mix and chill for two hours (important). Roll out to any thickness (they can even do nice, thick cookies) and bake. For normal thickness cookies, check after 8 minutes. Cool on a cookie rack and frost with your favorite frosting (and use sprinkles, of course!).
With Children:
Idea #1:
Watch this wordless video The Coat: A Story of Charity, based on an incident in the life of President Heber J. Grant. Then, read the story from The Friend. Discuss the idea that loving people like Jesus did is called charity. Charity means we put others’ needs ahead of our own sometimes, and that we are as kind as we can be. Sharing is a part of that kindness.
Idea #2:
This lesson from LDSFamilyFun focuses on the kindness aspect of charity. It is focused on George Albert Smith’s Kindness Creed. It’s simple and powerful.
With Teens:
Idea #1:
LDS Boutique shares an FHE on charity that is discussion based. It’s got high quality questions, and requires no prep, other than choosing a treat!
Idea #2:
This FHE from BellaOnline is a more complicated lesson that requires more prep, and it is much deeper as a result.
With Adults:
Idea #1:
Use the Developing Qualities of Charity printable as the basis for a discussion on the challenges of living charity. Here are questions to use:
- Which qualities are most needed in today’s world?
- Which are most difficult to develop if they do not come naturally to you?
- Are these qualities a type of spiritual gift?
- If you could embody one of these qualities perfectly, which would it be?
Idea #2:
Watch or read this short (nine minute) talk by Elder Gene R. Cook, Charity: Perfect & Everlasting Love.
Helps For Talks & Lessons
- Discuss the idea of the practice of charity versus the character trait of charity. If someone has charity as a trait, can they help but be charitable in action? How is this similar to faith?
- Paul specifically refers to the gift of tongues in this chapter as being worthless without charity because the Corinthians were obsessed with and proud of their gift of tongues.
- The general idea of the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 is that without love, even the best that is in us is worthless.
- The word “charity” was translated as “love” in Tyndale’s version of the Bible, published in 1526, 85 years before the King James Version.
- The word “charity” is chosen here to distinguish it as a specific form of love. In Greek, we would read it agape. Agape love is intentional love. It is a sacrificial love that asks nothing in return.
- Of the 29 times the word “charity” is used in the Bible (all in the New Testament, never before Romans), 9 are in this single chapter.
- Of the seven things Peter exhorts the saints to add to their faith, charity is the seventh (2 Peter 1:5-7). If we accept seven as a symbol of perfection, charity is the perfect, or crown jewel of our faith.
- Charity in the scriptures specifically refers to the love we have for others, as opposed to the love we have for the Lord or the love the Lord has for us. It asks us to love each other in the same whole and complete way the Lord loves us.
- In addition to the things Paul says charity is, he lists 8 things it is not. How is this helpful to us?
- The word “bears” in “bears all things” can be translated “covers.” Imagine an oyster getting a grain of sand inside of it and covering it, turning it into a pearl. How can we take things done to us and cover them, turning them into something different entirely?
- In this chapter, Paul says that of the three great attributes of a Christian, faith, hope, and charity, the greatest is charity. Later, in writing to the Thessalonians, he changes the order to faith, charity, and hope. He does this because the Corinthians were lacking in love, while the Thessalonians were lacking in hope. Which are we most lacking in?
- Just before this verse, Moroni was describing charity in the same way as Paul. Now, he declares that we must “cleave” to it. Cleave means to “adhere firmly and closely or loyally and unwaveringly.” How hard is that to do?
- Why would charity specifically be something worth possessing at the last day (implying day of judgment)?
Main Page
If you would like to see the resources for all of the monthly scriptures, visit this page. Be sure to visit our Scripture Memorizing Ideas page for ideas and general help on memorizing scriptures.