Sorry for the depressing title, I’ll explain shortly!
I’ve been studying the Book of Mormon by chapter, backwards. I know, probably a silly approach. I didn’t set out to read the book backwards, I just studied Moroni 10 and found myself going back from there.
Anyway, that’s not my point. Moroni 7 is a sermon about charity written by Mormon and recorded by Moroni. In Moroni’s mind, it may have been a possible conclusion to the Book of Mormon before he found opportunity to write more. It has that level of gravity and conclusion.
Verse 46: wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
I was struck by that phrase. It’s so sweeping! It articulates a brutal truth that I have been taught repeatedly over the last five years: all things must fail. To me this means that everything, literally everything, anything, anyone that we might rely on in this life will one day fail us. Nothing can be counted on permanently… except for Christ. Verse 47: “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever, and whoso is found possessed of it… it shall be well with him.”
It seems to me that all of us learn in one way or another that Christ is the only truly reliable source of help, strength, peace, and success. Typically this lesson is taught in brutal ways as our health, our wealth, our family, our talents, or whatever we thought we could depend on, falls short.
But the fact that all things fail isn’t the important point. It’s the fact that Christ will never fail us that really matters. We can rely on him fully and completely, and if we do, we can’t fail! It will be impossible to fail if we rely on Christ. What a profound gift! I’m trying to more fully rely on the teachings and Atonement of Christ.
Brigham Rupp 