Confirmed in faith, raised in hope, strengthened in charity
In Ether 12, Moroni recounts a sermon by the prophet Ether about faith and hope, and then adds his own witness of faith, hope and charity. Likewise, in 1996, the General Relief Society Presidency, led by then-president Elaine L. Jack, devoted the women’s session of General Conference to faith, hope and charity, with each member of the presidency focusing her remarks to one of these three virtues. Consider the titles of their three talks: Confirmed in Faith, Raised in Hope, Strengthened in Charity
What does faith confirm?
How does hope raise us?
How does charity strengthen us?
Faith is things hoped for
6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.
Ether 12:6
What is faith?
What is a trial of faith?
Have you experienced a trial of faith?
12 For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.
Ether 12:12
Why must faith precede a miracle?
We are promised, then, that we grow spiritually as we believe in the words of those who know, those whose faith has produced the capacity to endure and to move forward. Faith is power in us and gives us the ability to do.
…Many feel they are trying, too often in isolation, to survive an avalanche of pressing duties. Some lament their loss of kinship with others or their sense of direction to the future. These feelings, indeed all tribulations, are common to our humanity; but we find there are antidotes as we develop our personal and shared faith and demonstrate our faith by action.
— Aileen H. Clyde, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, Confirmed in Faith, October 1996
How is faith power?
How can we demonstrate faith by action?
What is the difference between personal and shared faith?
Hope makes an anchor to the soul
Boy with Anchor, Winslow Homer, 1873, Courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art
3 For he did cry from the morning, even until the going down of the sun, exhorting the people to believe in God unto repentance lest they should be destroyed, saying unto them that by faith all things are fulfilled—
4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.
Ether 12:3-4
What does faith lead us to hope for?
How is hope like an anchor?
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Ether 12:27
How can we find hope when we are feeling weak?
How does this scripture give you hope?
What do we need to do to receive the Savior’s promise to “make weak things become strong”?
Does anyone have an experience overcoming a weakness with God’s help?
I think of hope as a modest but very tough everyday virtue, an ordinary but resilient virtue that is both gentle and beautiful. It is an unassuming but powerful force for good that will greatly increase our ability to do good and to be good.
…What is the opposite of hope? Despair, of course, but despair comes when we feel powerless to influence events and when the sources of meaning in our life disappear. Despair is a kind of disorientation so profound that we lose contact with the sources of life itself.
…Sisters, the sources of hope are the sources of life itself. That’s why hope persists, even when experience, reason, and knowledge all say there is no reason to hope. Hope does not calculate odds
…Hope is one of the three great Christian virtues because Christ Himself is the master of life and therefore the master of hope. We are free to choose because we were made free from the beginning, and He honors our agency and our right and ability to choose. The choice He offers is life, and life offers hope. Any other choice is a choice of spiritual death that will bring us into the power of the devil.
…But sisters, I testify that the forces of life are always stronger than the forces of death. If we choose, if we even desire to choose, if we even hope for the desire to choose, we set in motion powerful forces for life that are led by Jesus Christ himself. He responds to those tender tendrils of crippled life with the force and energy that will bring them to flowering. Listen to these promises of love and yearning desire for us. Feel the hope they bring that with Him we can overcome the world.
— Chieko N. Okazaki, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, Raised in Hope, October 1996
How can we avoid despair?
How can we choose hope?
How can hope be a powerful force for good?
Charity is love
34 And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.
Ether 12:34
How does it change our perspective when we remember that charity is love?
Why is charity necessary to return to our God?
The Savior said that “the great commandment in the law” is “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:36–37). When we love the Lord with all our mind, soul, and heart, we love others. And charity abounds.
…From [Rebecca] we learn that charity, though often quantified as the action, is actually the state of the heart that prompts us to love one another. She offered water. It was in the offering that charity was manifest.
…The greatest acts of charity come from giving of yourself and receiving expressions of charity with humility as well.
…Nothing will bring the Spirit of the Lord into your meetings, your homes, and your personal associations more quickly than showing kindness. “Charity … is kind” (1 Cor. 13:4). Kindness should be right at the top of everyone’s list of things to do. Write it down every day: “Be kind.” Kindness comes in many different packages. Be thoughtful to your neighbors. Be patient in a crowd. Be considerate of your children and your husband. Be honest with your sisters. Trust them and they will trust you. Go out and bring them into this grand circle of sisters we call Relief Society. As we increase our kindness, we add charity to our storehouse and we are strengthened.
How does kindness “add charity to our storehouse”?
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 13:13
Why is charity the greatest of the three virtues?
Faith, hope and charity are the fountain of all righteousness
…Faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.
Ether 12:28
How are faith, hope and charity like a fountain?
In my earlier studies of the Book of Mormon, I usually considered these three principles to be like building blocks. Faith would come first, then hope, and then charity. It seemed a logical progression. As our faith grows, we increase our study and knowledge, and we begin to apply the principle of hope. Faith and hope together mold us and guide us in the paths that the Savior walked, and we start to embrace the qualities of charity.
However, in more recent studies, I have come to understand faith, hope, and charity in a different way. I now think of them more as interlacing virtues, each playing a critical part in developing and defining our testimonies.
…When combined, faith, hope, and charity are not like building blocks for me anymore; instead they are intertwined with one another. We don’t finish building faith, and then have hope, or after having hope, finally develop charity. They all work together. And as they become interlaced, they collectively help form our characters and testimonies.
How do you see the relationship between faith, hope and charity?
Three Virtues window: Spes (Hope); Caritas (Charity); Fides (Faith, Portrait of Maria Zambaco) stained glass Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, 1870-1871
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