See Thou Tell No Man

"See thou tell no man"
Matthew 6:1

When you do a good deed do you later find yourself tooting your own horn to friends and family? Do you pride yourself on your willingness to be charitable, compassionate and altruistic?

Learning humility can be a complicated and lifelong task. Be as we have been told time and time again, it is impossible to get into the Kingdom of God without it.

People who fear that others will notice their weakness or imperfections will involve themselves in acts of kindness that appear, on the surface, to be Christ like charity. But they do so for the wrong reason. Perhaps unwittingly, they seek the approval of others and so they create scenarios in their life that casts them in a good light. They want the world to notice their good works so their flaws will go unnoticed.

The problem is that the Lord has told us that without humility our acts of kindness hold little value. Like the Pharisees who meticulously lived the Law of Moses in order to be seen as righteous in the eyes of the public, bragging about our good deeds comes from a place of insecurity and pride. We feel so good about ourselves that humility flies out the window.

Christ-like charity isn’t about us. It is about serving the Lord by serving others. Our needs for accolades and praise need to be left behind as we give of ourselves solely for the purpose of helping another.

It can be a fine line to follow, wanting to tell people how charitable we have been and needing to remain anonymous, but if we are to set our sights on righteous living, we need to find other ways to fill our emotional needs and allow our charity to be Christ like.

President Elaine Dalton - Choices in my Youth

Pres. Elaine Dalton, general president of the young women spoke to the missionaries in Veracruz Mexico telling them about a choice she made in her youth. This is her story.

She said that when she was about 15, she was not attractive and not popular. She wanted so much to be popular like other girls in her high school. One day a group of seven girls approached her at school. They were among the most popular in the whole school. They invited her to a party on Friday night. She could hardly believe it! She was so happy! That night she went home after school and asked her parents permission to go. There was only one problem. The party was a sleepover. The party included spending the night at the home of one of the girls. Her parents did not allow that.

She talked about it with her parents. They told her that they would love her to go but that the rule was not to sleep at other people's homes. She pleaded and begged, but the anwer was, "No." So, she did what any normal teenaged girl would do. She went to her bedroom, slammed the door shut, and cried and screamed. Finally, her father came into her room.

He said the he and her mother had talked about it. They decided that Elaine should pray about it. If Heavenly Father said it was okay, then they would let her go. Elaine was so happy! She said that she offered the shortest prayer in history and then reported to her parents that it was alright with Heavenly Father. So, she went to the party.

When she got there, it was obvious that the parents of the hostess were not there. After a few minutes, all the girls went into the kitchen. Little glasses were lined up on the kitchen counter. Then, one of the girls brought out a bottle of whiskey and filled the glasses. Elaine counted and saw that there were eight girls and eight glasses. She didn't drink, never had, and never wanted to. As one of the girls filled the glasses with the alcoholic beverage, she prayed in her heart asking Heavenly Father what she should do. A voice came to her mind. "Go home."

"But," she argued, "I want to be popular. This is very important to me. One little drink won't hurt me." The voice said, "Go home, NOW." So, she did. She left the party. She walked home crying. She got home and her parents asked how the party was, She said, "Oh, just fine," and went to her bedroom and cried herself to sleep.

At school the next week, the girls were mean to her. They never let her forget and always treated her horribly. She was never popular with them. But, she was popular with her Heavenly Father. Her patriarchal blessing says that she would lift her voice in testimony to the nations of the world. Now, she knows what that means. Her patriarchal blessing is being fulfilled because she made the right choice and obeyed to the voice of the Spirit all those years ago.

May you obey the voice of the Spirit all the days of your life.