“But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.” (Moroni 7:47). Whenever we talk about someone being possessed by a spirit, it is almost always a negative experience. But by far the more common experience for the average person is to be possessed by a good spirit. It’s actually one of the most important and essential aspects of Christianity. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and qualifying for His constant companionship is essential to our conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in Him.” (1 John 4:16). The Holy Ghost is the member of the Godhead that can dwell in us. Therefore, when we are possessed of charity, it is really nothing more or less than saying that we are filled with the Holy Ghost, for the Holy Ghost is love. And just as those who have had the misfortune to be possessed by evil spirits have displayed supernatural abilities, being possessed by the Holy Ghost changes us. “The gift of the Holy Ghost...quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates, and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of person, form, and features. It tends to health, vigor, ambition, and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.” (Parley P Pratt). Is not this the kind of spirit by which we should want to be possessed? The more that we seek to serve our fellow men, the more we will invite the Spirit into our lives, the more we will be filled with the pure love of Christ, the more we will have the desire to serve, the greater sensitivity we will have to hear and give heed to the promptings of the Spirit, the more we act on those promptings the more fully the Holy Ghost will enter in and dwell in and possess our hearts and our souls, and around and around the circle will go. I hope that we will all seek a little more earnestly to be possessed by that Good Spirit and to be filled with charity.
