Don't Abandon when Struggling

Obviously, this has been an attribute at the for thought of my mind lately. Developing charity in my character! As this has been a focus lately for myself personally, I have noticed chances for people to demonstrate charity. I am not just speaking of myself demonstrating it to others, but also others to demonstrate it! Today, I was listening to the radio, and there was a quote from a celebrity which read something to this effect:

"When you love a friend, you don't abandon them when they are struggling."


It just stuck out in my mind. How many times have I possibly abandoned a friend or family member when struggling? When someone is struggling, is it really our place to judge, or criticize? Is it our place to walk away from them when are midst a struggle?

What does it say about each of us PERSONALLY, when we ABANDON someone we LOVE when they are STRUGGLING? It doesn't matter what the struggle is, it doesn't matter how the struggle came about, if we love as we should, we should be there for friends and family ALWAYS!

This week, I was having a conversation with a friend, who was talking about how annoyed people and actions make them. I just piped up, and said, "Really, you have no idea what is happening with that person! You have no idea whether they just got the worst news of their live, or lost a love one, or are struggling with something personally. You just have to give people the benefit of the doubt ALWAYS!!

I think if we give others the benefit of the doubt, and truly love our friends and our family, we would never be able to ABANDON someone in the midst of a STRUGGLE, and we would never attempt to place judgement on them for their circumstances!

"Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who had let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expectin gthe best of each other."
-Marvin J Ashton, "The Tongue Can Be a Sharp Sword." Ensign, May 1992, 19.