Now is the Son of Man Glorified, John 13: 21-32

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21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me….

25 He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon….

31 ¶Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.(John 13:21,25-27, 31-32)

After Jesus gives the sop to Judas and Judas leaves, Jesus says some interesting things about being glorified.  There are five instances of the word “glorify” or variants.  These verses have always seemed odd to me because Jesus was not yet resurrected.  If He wasn’t resurrected it seems odd that He would say, “now is the Son of man glorified.”  So of course I have to think of explanations for it.  (Doesn’t mean that I’ll be right, but at least I can try, yes?)

Explanation #1: Jesus spoke of his glorified resurrection as if it were already an accomplished fact.  This would certainly testify to His ability to focus on the positive and how great things would come out of His tragic betrayal and the pain and anguish of the atonement.  If we could only have that same faith, think how full of spiritual power we could be!  We could say like Paul in Romans 8:18, “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Explanation #2: Jesus spoke of the glory He felt inside as He took the brave step of revealing who would betray Him.  Perhaps He felt He had set events in motion for His mission to be accomplished and felt a huge satisfaction from that?  After all, His sacrifice had to be completely voluntary, so He would have to move toward it Himself, and those movements would be attended by the approval of Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost.  Perhaps Jesus felt His spirit growing brighter and stronger because of His choice.  (I know when I have an internal struggle and then make a good choice, I feel braver and stronger for it.)  If this was the case, we can also expect that our righteous and sacrificial choices will glorify God and add glory to our spirits.

Explanation #3: Being glorified means to be lifted up, which could also refer to Jesus’ crucifixion.  This most completely squares with Jesus’ most challenging doctrines.  He would definitely see His most painful and challenging hours as the most glorious of His mortal life.  I know when I look back over my life, I remember the hard times when I choose to be faithful as some of the most satisfying. 

Do you have anything to add?

Courage!

I got interested in courage again and decided to try to collect and arrange some quotes I found meaningful.  Enjoy!

"Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed."  --Mason Cooley

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." --Nelson Mandela

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." --Dale Carnegie

"Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined." --Leo Rosten

"Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears." --Arthur Koestler

"Physical courage, which despises all danger, will make a man brave in one way; and moral courage, which despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another." --Charles Caleb Colton

"Courage is knowing what not to fear." --Plato

"When God speaks, oftentimes His voice will call for an act of courage on our part." --Charles Stanley

"You have to have courage to be obedient to God." --Charles Stanley

"Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience." --James Freeman Clarke

"Believers, look up - take courage. The angels are nearer than you think." --Billy Graham

"Never undertake anything for which you wouldn't have the courage to ask the blessings of heaven." --Georg C. Lichtenberg

"There can be no great courage where there is no confidence or assurance,

and half the battle is in the conviction that we can do what we undertake." --Orison Swett Marden

"The courage of very ordinary people is all that stands between us and the dark." --Pam Brown

"Every man of courage is a man of his word." --Pierre Corneille

"Determination, energy, and courage appear spontaneously when we care deeply about something. We take risks that are unimaginable in any other context." --Margaret J. Wheatley

"Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage." --Maya Angelou

"Courage to continue comes from deeper sources than outward results." --Kenneth L. Pike

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."

--C. S. Lewis

"Courage is grace under pressure." --Ernest Hemingway

"The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority." --Ralph W. Sockman

"He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles." --Harry Emerson Fosdick

"True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it higher." --John Petit-Senn

"Never be discouraged. If I were sunk in the lowest pits of Nova Scotia, with the Rocky Mountains piled on me, I would hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, and I would come out on top."  --Joseph Smith, Jr.

"If we survive danger it steels our courage more than anything else." --Reinhold Niebuhr

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'" --Eleanor Roosevelt

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." --Anais Nin

"One man with courage is a majority." --Thomas Jefferson

"There can be no failure to a man who has not lost his courage, his character, his self respect, or his self-confidence. He is still a King." --Orison Swett Marden

"With enough courage, you can do without a reputation." --Margaret Mitchell

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others." --Robert Louis Stevenson

"Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened." --Billy Graham

"Courage stands halfway between cowardice and rashness, one of which is a lack, the other an excess of courage." --Plutarch

"The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it."

--Gilbert K. Chesterton

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die." --Gilbert K. Chesterton

"It requires more courage to suffer than to die." --Napoleon Bonaparte

"Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." --Harper Lee

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart." --Robert Green Ingersoll

Some cautions

"Courage without conscience is a wild beast." --Robert Green Ingersoll

"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction." --John F. Kennedy

What Kind of Spiritual Gifts are Differences of Administrations and Diversities of Operations?

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. (1 Cor. 12:4-7)

That bit about diversities of administrations and operations has always puzzled me a bit, so today I decided to do some research and pondering on it to see if I could become a little more clear on it. 

First, I thought it might be helpful to look up definitions of “administration” and “operation.”   There were some definitions that didn’t seem to apply, but the following did.

Administrations – methods of tending to or managing the affairs of some group of people (usually financial affairs, but in the case of the church it can be spiritual affairs, both individual and collective); the act of governing or exercising authority

So differences of administration might be various ways that leaders tend and minister to individual members and to the whole congregation.  We can see differences of administrations between two different leaders in the church.  One bishop may do something or minister in a particular way, and then his successor may do it a bit differently.  When they are both led by the Spirit, the different ways they administer to the congregation are spiritual gifts to the church, appropriate for the needs of the people at that time.   And some things are church policy and other things are left to leader discretion as guided by the Spirit.

Another way we might see diversity of administrations at work is when we hear stories of people who have reached the end of their endurance and pray for a specific service and then have their prayer answered when someone else is inspired to perform that service for them, whether it is a sudden phone call, a unexpected meal delivered, a visit, a kind word, a plate of cookies, or whatever.  The Spirit knows of those diverse needs and inspires people to act to fill them.

I can remember an experience I had when I was the recipient of this myself.  It was two years ago when my husband was out of the country for a month for work.  I was struggling with feelings of depression and loneliness during that period, and one night as I went jogging in the dark I felt very down.  I wondered if anyone cared about me.  (My head knew that people did, but it was hard to convince my heart of that.) I wondered if Heavenly Father knew what I felt.  It was maybe five minutes later that I passed someone else who was jogging the other way.  It was so dark I didn’t see their face or even catch much of a glimpse of what they were wearing.  As I passed them, they exclaimed “Michaela!”  I only know it was a man’s voice.  It is hard to describe the effect that simple greeting had on me.  We were still so new in the ward that I didn’t think anyone remembered me yet, so it was a bit of a happy shock.  Someone—I didn’t know who—knew me and recognized me.  They could have only said “hi,” but instead they called me by name, and it brought me to a realization that Heavenly Father did see me, even if I couldn’t see Him.  Heavenly Father knew what I was feeling and how to help.  It was as if an angel had greeted me.

Who would have thought that running by someone in the dark and calling them by name would make such a difference?  That is such a strange way of ministering to person’s pain.  But it worked on me!

What are other places differences of administrations are needed?  I suppose parents need this gift to know how best to reach each of their children and their different personalities, or to know what privileges each child is ready for, or to know what each child is capable of doing as they develop. 

What about diversities of operations?

Operations – a planned activity involving many people performing various actions; a process or series of actions; procedure; process or manner of functioning; the performance of some composite cognitive activity.

We can see diversities of operations when we consider how the Spirit works on people, with different strokes for different folks.  There are so many ways we can feel the Spirit, and elsewhere Paul explained this:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23)

I used to think that Paul just meant that list to enumerate all the qualities that will appear in our lives from having the Spirit, but I recently learned that these are also ways that different people may feel the Spirit.  The Spirit can also be experienced as:

·      tingles all over

·      thrills

·      warmth

·      a still small voice

·      inspiration and knowledge

·      enthusiasm

·      a sense of safety

·      comfort

·      compelling desire to do good or say good words

We don’t have to feel these all at the same time; it may be one or more, depending on the situation and what the Spirit knows you need.  The point is that it is all to profit us, meaning it is calculated to help us grow spiritually.

When I first began to recognize the Spirit, it was in tingles and thrills from hearing truth, but I’ve also felt warmth, the still small voice, inspiration, love, joy, gentleness, faith, and compelling good desires.  Not all at once, but at various times.

Diversity of operations can also refer to the type of spiritual manifestations we respond to.  As an example, if you read a large number of conversion stories, there are a variety of factors that attract people to the church.  Some may be drawn in by the valiant example of one member.  Others may be drawn by love shown to them by members they associate with.  Some hear about a church doctrine and are intrigued enough to ask about it.  Others have some sort of spiritual manifestation by dream or vision that prepares them in advance to receive the gospel.  Others are brought in because the doctrine fills a crying need in their life because of a personal crisis.  Some accept sudden invitations to come to church or meet the missionaries.  These are all different ways that the Spirit works on people to interest them in the gospel.

We can begin to see why Paul would want to discuss spiritual gifts and the different types if the Corinthian saints were confused about the different ways different leaders were doing things.  They may have felt that there was the one true way and deviation meant apostasy.  They may have been confused about reports of spiritual feelings different from what they had individually experienced and wondered if they or the other were at fault.   

Isn't it neat that we can identify these gifts in the church today?  Do you have any experiences you can share of these gifts in your life?

Paper vs Electronic Scriptures: Advantages and Disadvantages

Paul at A Latter-day Voice has a post “Revisiting electronic scriptures” here about the issue of paper versus electronic scriptures in which he shares some good thoughts on how paper scriptures are most practical for use in missionary discussions.

I thought it might be useful to examine the advantages and disadvantages of both paper and electronic scriptures.  (It is likely that the same kinds of discussion was had over scroll scriptures and book scriptures, since technology change tends to make us more conscious of the medium of study..)

Advantages of paper scriptures

+ Not dependent on battery life.

+ Greater flexibility for creative marking methods.

+ Opening to a random place to browse is easier.

+ Easy of reference to multiple places in the text. (Easy flipping between several pages to compare)

+ Winning scripture chases actually MEANS something!  (There’s nothing like the feeling of flipping RIGHT TO the scripture you mean to find!)

Disadvantages

-       Only a small amount of room available for margin notes.

-       Difficulty looking up footnotes.

-       Not waterproof.

-       Heavy to carry around, especially the large print version.

Advantages of electronic scriptures

+ Ease of transport.—lots of text in a smaller space, weighing less than ever before.

+ Unparalleled ability to search the text for words and phrases. 

+ Footnotes are actually linkable.  Can look up footnotes with incredible ease.

+ Plenty of room to add notes and insights.

+ Ability to change text size for people with aging eyes.

+ Navigating to any scripture (excepting footnotes) takes an equal amount of time, whether it is the Book of Alma or the Book of Habakkuk.  (People who lost scripture chases are thus made equal with people who tended to win them.  ;-))

Disadvantages

-       Inclusion on a device with internet access and games bring distractions uncomfortably close.

-       Notes may not be immediately visible in text (Separate step to retrieve them.)

-       Crashing technology or updating aps may erase notes.

-       Access dependent upon battery life of electronic device.

-       Navigating to any scripture takes an equally LONG amount of time, whether it is the Book of Alma or the Book of Habbakuk.  Screens show less text at a time than paper scriptures.

-       Makes it difficult to instantly get to what’s off screen except through tricky navigation. 

-       People tend to not give away their electronic scriptures, so there is no chance to learn from others’ markings, margin notes, or inserts. (Often we learn about scripture study from others examples.)

-       Not waterproof.

Unfortunately, both paper scriptures and electronic scriptures have the same disadvantage in that they are not waterproof.  (Now if we were comparing scriptures on metal plates..)

From a navigational perspective, it is far easier to follow footnotes on electronic scriptures (one to two touches) than it is to go to a particular predetermined scripture reference (four touches required to get the standard work, the book, the chapter, the verse.)    There are some interesting implications for how scripture study may progress based upon this limitation.   If electronic scriptures give users a way to add linkable scripture references in notes, then it would be very easy to create scripture chains that are quickly navigable.  Navigable scripture chains empirically teaching principles and convincing of the importance of gospel principles would be very important tools for missionaries.  The church has done very well in creating a Topical Guide to enable members to do research.   I think the next step for electronic scriptures is to create resources of scripture chains.  Imagine if someone asked you about baptism and you could start at the beginning of a scripture chain and show them step by step the principles accompanying the doctrine of baptism. 

 I don't think there is any right medium for scripture study.  The word of God is still true, whether it is written on metal plates, or on paper, or in pixels.   Each medium or technology is going to have certain advantages and disadvantages, and if we are wise we will recognize the appropriate time to use each medium and how to use it to get the maximum spiritual benefit.

Any factors to add?

In which I confront my fears about introducing the missionaries to my neighbors

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After the worldwide missionary broadcast, I felt like I had to do something to help the missionaries in our ward.  I hit upon the idea of going door-to-door to all my nonmember neighbors and introducing the missionaries to them.  I know enough about my neighbors to share good qualities about them, and enough about the missionaries to share what they are about.   Introducing the missionaries seemed like a good thing to do for several reasons:

·      It would help the missionaries get a better chance to meet people in a neighborly, companionable atmosphere and assess their level of interest in hearing a discussion.

·      It would help my neighbors be more open to having a longer talk with the missionaries in the future if they met them.  Breaking ice is always good.

This was all good in theory, but when it came down to actually getting myself to call the missionaries and set all this up, I found myself paralyzed by fear.  For some reason, I was petrified. 

Heavenly Father knew all about it though because when I went online to browse Mormon blogs, I felt like so much of what I read was sending the message, “It’s okay!  You can open your mouth!  Don’t let Satan silence you!  You can do this!”  (By the way, thanks so much to all you Mormon people who blog!  You are awesome, and you do make a difference!)

But I still had fears and automatic thoughts that seemed determined to strangle me.  So I did a little exercise I learned about in a book called Feeling Good by David Burns (it’s a very helpful book about learning cognitive-behavioral techniques for fighting feelings of depression).  I wrote down and charted all the automatic fears and thoughts that came to me, asking myself why what I feared was a problem, then writing down more fears, until I had gotten down to the erroneous beliefs at the very bottom of it all.  Then I wrote down rational and faith-filled responses to debunk every single one of those fears.   I’m inserting the chart I made, for your edification:

Automatic Thoughts	Faithful and rational responses
I can’t introduce the missionaries to my neighbor.        (Why is that a problem?)	Yes, you can.  You have legs. You have a mouth that can talk intelligibly.
Because my neighbor would be annoyed with me.          (Why is it a problem for your neighbor to be annoyed with you?)	You don’t know for sure that your neighbor will be annoyed with you.  He may appreciate it instead. Plus, did you ever realize that your neighbor might be just as worried about annoying you with a refusal as you are about annoying him?
Because then I’d feel terrible.  I’d feel rejected.       (Why is that a problem to feel terrible and rejected?)	Actually, even if you are rejected, you’ll probably feel pretty good because you will have tried to help him become acquainted with the missionaries.
Because I don’t like it.  I don’t want to be hated.       (And why is being hated a problem?)	You are jumping to conclusions. Being rejected is not the same as being hated.  Even annoying your neighbor is not the same as being hated.  Also, you can’t prevent people from hating you if they’ve really made up their mind to do it, so it isn’t something you need to think about.
My neighbor might never talk to me again.       (Why would it be a problem for your neighbor to never talk to you again?)	You hardly ever have occasion to talk to your neighbor anyway.  But even if you previously talked a lot, you could still say hi and ask him how he was doing.
Because then I’d be alone.       (Why is being alone a problem?)	Just because one neighbor rejects you or is annoyed with you doesn’t mean that everyone else will abandon you too.
Being alone means no one wants to be with me.  It means I’ve been abandoned.     (Why is it a problem that no one wants to be with you?)	No it doesn’t.  It can also mean that people have to be other places besides with you.
It shows I am worthless and hopeless as a person and not the kind of person anyone would want to be with.      (Assuming you are the kind of person that no one wants to be with, why is that a problem?)	No, it doesn’t.  You are a child of God and you are capable of growth.  If you sin, you can repent and change, so there is always hope for you.  Also, no one wanted Ether around and he was a prophet.
Being alone is miserable.	No it isn’t!  You can be alone without being miserable.
***	***
What if my neighbor rejects the missionaries?     (Why would that be a problem for you?)	Everyone has a choice to listen or not to listen to the gospel.
Because then he wouldn’t listen to the gospel and have a chance to receive it.     (Okay, that creates a problem for him, but why is that also a problem for YOU?)	This won’t be the only time your neighbor has a chance to listen to the gospel.  God gives multiple chances.  Besides, just introducing your neighbor to the missionaries may help him be more comfortable talking to them in the future.
Then I’ll be sad for him.     (Okay, why is that a problem for you?)	You can handle that.  It isn’t the end of the world.  You will have tried to help the missionaries.
I won’t be able to forget my sadness; I won’t be able to concentrate on anything else.  I will wonder if there were any way I could have done it better, and I will feel like a failure.      (Why is that a problem?)	You won’t be sad about it forever.  Plus, you’ll find other things to do and think about to distract you from your sadness.  You’re good at distracting yourself. J  Also, if you mess up in the way you introduce the missionaries to someone, that doesn’t make you a FAILURE.  Even messing up every time you introduce the missionaries doesn’t make you a failure. Instead it proves you have determination.
Because then I won’t be able to be productive.      (Why is that a problem?)	Feeling sad and like a failure doesn’t prevent you from being productive.  And there are things you can do for a while that don’t require concentration.
I have to be happy in order to be productive.	No you don’t.  Usually, happiness comes from being productive, not the other way around.

Making this chart was a big mental and emotional relief to me.  And it was neat that after making it, I had something that I could reference in the future if I ever found myself feeling that way again. 

After this, I felt like I would be okay with introducing the missionaries to my neighbors, but for some reason I still felt a lot of resistance getting myself to pick up the phone to call them in the first place.  Calling them would be taking the initiative and setting events in motion and once I made that phone call, I would have to go through with my plan!  It would commit me to action.  For some reason that made me very uncomfortable.  Not sure why.

It is important for you to know that I did not work through all of the above issues on the same day.  It took me about two days to decide I needed to make the chart.  And it took me another day to realize I was uncomfortable with taking the initiative in this thing.  From time to time I found myself trying to guilt myself into action, but that didn’t work very well; it just caused more resistance, so I decided guilting myself wasn’t productive.  I recognized it was untrue to try to shame myself into it by calling myself a bad person for not doing it immediately because it wasn’t true that I was a bad person.  After all, I had the desire to introduce the missionaries to my neighbors, and that was a good thing.  That desire was me, so I wasn’t bad. 

Eventually I was able to remind myself that I could be an agent for good and choose to act rather than be acted upon.  And then I made the call.

The funny thing was, the number I called was for the wrong set of missionaries.  So they had to call me back with the real number, which turned out not to be the real number at all, so I had to wait for the second set to call me back with the real number.  But I also emailed my bishop asking for the number and he responded, so I called that number.  That was the right one.  Each time I called a number, I had to keep making that choice to take the initiative, which probably could have helped strengthen my resolve, but all I know was it started to feel a bit exhausting.  And I could help but wonder if any other members might go through a run-around like this if they want to refer the missionaries to someone.  Are we working closely enough with the missionaries that we can get our hands on the right phone number easily?  Do we have confidence that the number we have is the right one?  (There’s only one way to find out!)

Yes, I finally did get the right missionaries, a set of sisters.  They were SOO excited that I wanted to introduce them to my neighbors.  And I was able to talk to two out of four of my neighbors with them.  We had very friendly conversation and even though my neighbors weren’t interested in hearing more, we left them a little more informed about the nature of missionary work, temples, and even the Mesa Easter pageant.  

I also decided that I should introduce the missionaries to my Mormon neighbors as well.  We have three Mormon families that live a little ways down the street and it seemed to me that they might like to get better acquainted with the sisters and maybe they would be able to figure a way to help them too!

All in all, it was a fun time, and I feel stronger for it.  Introduce the missionaries to your neighbors, folks!  It’s a great first step in fulfilling your "member responsibility to help find people for the missionaries to teach."

A Book of Mormon Mystery: Obtaining a Good Hope of Glory, Jacob 4:11-12

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11 Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh.

12 And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come? (Jacob 4:11-12)

These are interesting verses because v12 hints that Jacob has just said something surprising that his hearers might not have thought of before, something implied in the doctrine that might be considered presumptuous by the strictly conservative.

I suspect that it is the idea of obtaining “a good hope of glory in Christ before Christ manifesteth himself in the flesh” (v11).  To these people, Christ’s atonement was still a future event, and so was the resurrection.  It seems that they knew the resurrection would eventually come to them after Christ’s, but Jacob suggests that the people take things a step further by seeking not just a testimony of Christ and His resurrection, but a testimony of the glorious resurrection they would receive for living faithfully.  He suggests they live their lives with that in mind as well.  Jacob seems to imply that there isn’t much difference between attaining a testimony of Christ’s glorious resurrection and one’s own, though the grammar is missing a “so” that would make it a little clearer, like this:  “why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, [so] as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?”

For me, this seems very profound.  I have a testimony of the atonement of Christ, and I have some intellectual knowledge about the resurrection, and I have faith that Christ’s resurrection happened and that many saints also arose.  But to have a testimony of my own resurrection… that seems to imply some sort of spiritual experience.  Jacob continues:

Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old. (Jacob 4:13)

What do you think? 

Diligent Prayer Helps Maintain Love, Moroni 8:26

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…which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God. (Moroni 8:26)

When I was reading this I understood it in a different way.  I was familiar with the admonition to pray for charity, but here I found out that diligent prayer causes love (charity, the pure love of Christ) to endure.   So, we can pray for charity, but that doesn’t mean that it will always stay with us because situations may come up in which we make mistakes and cause the Spirit to leave, along with charity.   So we have to be diligent about praying for it.

So if diligent prayer causes perfect love to continue, how diligent is “diligent prayer”? 

Maybe it means we should pray every time we feel spiritual emptiness, especially since the verse says the Comforter fills us with hope and perfect love.

My mom once told me that she didn't automatically love me and my siblings when we were born.  She thought there was something wrong with her because of it, but Moroni's admonition to pray for charity sunk into her heart and she decided she would pray to love us.  She said it didn't come immediately, and she had to pray for some time.  (I can't remember whether it was days or months.) She told me that eventually she did begin to love us.  I am inspired by her experience and grateful that she was willing to share it because it showed me that mother love can be cultivated by prayer.  I suppose that love in other types of family relationships can similarly be cultivated if we don't automatically have it.