While many outcomes are available through faith alone, the best are not reachable through self-centered motives:
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth 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.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Corinthians 13)
Faith alone will take you to and through what, in light of God’s justice, you must endure for your own benefit. However, faith alone can’t motivate you to seek and endure the experiences and lessons that are for the benefit of others.
When the Lord was suffering the burden of the sins of the world in the garden of Gethsemane, he said:
...Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. (Mark 14:36)
He wanted his suffering to be taken away from him, but he knew that the only way he could redeem mankind was to embrace the fullness of his mission until it was complete. Charity enticed him to do what faith alone would not do. His concern for others was greater than his concern for himself.
You do not have to atone for the sins of mankind in order to find the limits of faith without charity. In things big and small, only charity will motivate you to act, think, and feel as God would in your place.
In the passage from 1 Corinthians 13 quoted above, Paul described the limits of faith without charity. If you pay attention, you will see situations each day where the lack of charity will keep you from doing the right thing. Your carnal appetites will present you with endless situations where the lack of charity will cause you to put your own welfare before that of others. These little things are in fact only the small end of much bigger things. One who can’t put others first in little things will not put others first in big things.
The big things seem less common, but their consequences are so immense that choosing improperly has eternal impact.
The sacrifice of Ammon and his brothers was motivated by charity. He said he desired “to dwell among [the Lamanites] for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.” (Alma 17:23) These were no idle words. Ammon and his brothers faced the mocking of their countrymen, the likelihood of suffering, and even death, at the hands of the iniquitous and dangerously violent tendencies of the Lamanites, as well as actual starvation, imprisonment, and beating at their hands:
23 Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites, and they laughed us <u>to scorn?</u>
24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.
25 And moreover they did say: Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us.
26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent <u>that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.</u>
27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and <u>bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.</u>
28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have <u>suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to</u> house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.
29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and <u>mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned, and taken and bound with strong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have</u> been delivered again.
30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, <u>that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we</u> supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.
31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.
32 For behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have buried their weapons of war deep in the earth, because of their love towards their brethren.
33 And now behold I say unto you, has there been so great love in all the land? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, there has not, even among the Nephites. (Alma 26)
Ammon and his brothers would never have endeavored such a mission without caring more about the Lamanites than they cared for themselves. Their sacrifice was consummate, and nothing less would have worked. This assertion is not theoretical—others tried to minister to the Lamanites without charity and failed. These men—Jacob, his son, Enos, and many others—failed in their significant efforts to preach to the Lamanites, in spite of the fact that they had “unshaken” faith:
“...we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.” (Jacob 4:6)
Your faith without charity can do mighty miracles, but you will always eventually encounter situations where it is insufficient:
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
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. (Moroni 7)
Charity is required to attain a fullness of faith because only charity can motivate the actions required to receive a fullness of joy. The most valuable outcomes can only be reached through charitable faith.
Charity isn’t optional. Charity is required to enter the kingdom of heaven, because without it, you will not be able to remain there, as you will encounter situations where your faith is insufficient to continue to be who you need to be to comfortably dwell in the presence of God: “And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God;” (Moroni 10:21)