The Word of God

Hello everyone :)
So in my New Testaments class, we've been asked to share what we learn. I felt like it would be a good idea to share what I learned this week in a blog post. It's been a while since I've shared anything here.
I would like to start this post with a statement that as a member of the LDS church, I do believe that the bible is true. It's a common misconception that we only believe in the Book of Mormon. That is not true at all. "We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God." (Articles of Faith 8).
This semester, I have the privilege to study the New Testament and the life of our savior, Jesus Christ. Every week, we are assigned a few chapters to read from the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). We are then asked to discuss three principles that we have noticed in the reading. This week, the reading was Matt 3-4; Mark 1; Luke 3-4; John 1-4. Most of the reading was about John the Baptist and Christ's baptism. There was also a lot mentioned about Christ's miracles.
One of the main principles that I noticed in this weeks reading was in Mark 1. Towards the end of the chapter, Christ heals a leper. These stories are always my favorite. The charity that Christ shows towards these poor people is amazing.
For those of you that don't know, charity is defined (in LDS terms) as the pure love of Christ. According to the dictionary, charity is the act of giving money, food, or other kinds of help to people who are poor, sick, etc. Christ is the perfect example of charity, and as Christians we are asked to follow him, meaning become like him.
In Mark 1:40-45, a leper approaches Christ and his apostles. In those days, leprosy was a horrible disease. It's still horrible but we have medicine today that can help with it. There was no medicine back then, so when a person caught leprosy, they were sent to live in a colony with other lepers. They had to leave their families and friends and were automatically considered outcasts. This leper approaches Christ and kneels to him and says, "If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Jesus, moved with compassion for this poor man, says, stretching out his hand toward him, "I will; be thou clean."
As soon as Jesus says this, "immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed." This man had such amazing faith in order to be healed. And because of his faith and Christ's love for him, he was healed and was able to go on with his life, to return to his family and friends.
In Preach My Gospel, a handbook for LDS missionaries, charity is discussed. It says that "charity is a gift from God." It says, "we are to seek to develop that kind of love," meaning charity.
"When you are filled with charity, you obey God's commandments and do all you can to serve others and help them receive the restored gospel." (PMG 118). It goes on to say, "Charity, like faith, leads to action. You will develop charity as you look for opportunities to serve others and give of yourself."
We all need to develop charity, no matter our religion, or nationality. We are all children of God, brothers and sisters, and we need to love each other. In closing, I'd like to share on of my favorite passages from the Book of Mormon.
Ether was a prophet in America back before Columbus' time. He was prophet during a very hard time when all of the people around him were very very wicked and his preaching fell on deaf ears. His words are some of my favorites because I know that he was talking to us, in this day and age.
"...Thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have  a more excellent hope; wherefore man must hope or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared... And 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 12:32,34)
As we can see from Ether's words, if we don't have charity, then we are nothing. As Christians, we need to develop charity for everyone. It is how we show our love for Christ and our desire to follow him.