Today's Good Word tells us that charity doesn't delight in wrongdoing. It rejoices in truth. How does this apply to our lives today?

Some people use "love" as a reason to excuse sin. For example, "I love this person too much to hurt him. If I tell him the truth, I will hurt him."

How about this one: "I'm doing [insert any sinful behavior] because I love the person I'm doing it for."

Here's one more: "But I really love [insert any sinful behavior]. How could it be bad if I love it (or need it) so much?"

Happy Valentine's Day! Today, the world shines a huge spotlight on romantic love — to the intense delight and equally intense chagrin of millions. Whatever side of the fence you find yourself on, we can all probably agree that God prepared the ideal place for romantic love to flourish. That place is marriage.

When done right, marriage is one of the most fulfilling relationships that we can experience in this life. But doing marriage right isn't easy. Newlyweds often enter marriage with certain expectations only to find that reality is quite different.

In Alma 60, the Nephite army still finds itself without reinforcements from the government such that their frustration is running high. Moroni sends another letter to the chief judge Pahoran — this one even more forceful than his previous letter — calling out the chief judge for his apparent neglect of the Nephite army. Here are a few passages from the letter:

• "Great has been the slaughter among our people…yea, great has been your neglect towards us" (verse 5)
• "Ye have neglected them insomuch that the blood of thousands shall come upon your heads for vengeance" (verse 10)
• "I fear exceedingly that the judgments of God will come upon this people, because of…the slothfulness of our government, and their exceeding great neglect towards their brethren" (verse 14)

The word "neglect" is used over and over to emphasize that the government has the resources to provide the army, and that they should be supporting the army, but yet no assistance is being provided.

They can help, and they should help, but they're not helping.

“Only thing we have to fear is fear itself” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

I fear a lot of stuff, but I usually don’t feel like I’m fearing fear. I fear heights, sickness, the unknown — you know what I’m talking about. Insert your fear; we’ve all got them. When I find myself getting fearful, I get careful, protective, and my lizard brain (fight or flight) kicks in. My decisions are hasty, and my judgments are quick.

“And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:30-31)

WHAT???

For today's Miracle Monday, we reached out to Sister Rosanne and Brother Larry Champine and asked them to share some of the stories behind several of the songs that the Lord has given them. This particular story is about the song "We Shall Sing on the Mountain of the Lord."

I was raised in another faith with a limited understanding of the scriptures. As a member of a family band, music was a very important part of my life, but before I met The Church Of Jesus Christ and made my commitment to serve the Lord, I was never able to compose an original song.

When I joined The Church and accepted the Restored Gospel, words and melodies — many about my conversion and new relationship with the Lord — began to come forth in wonderful ways. As I was learning and growing, I had a great desire to understand the latter day promises, so I began to prayerfully study them. I became most impressed with Romans 14:11, "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

Would you describe yourself as having a short fuse? Maybe you're the opposite, and it takes a tsunami to rock your boat.

No matter how quick or slow we are to anger, we all have some "red buttons" inside. You know the red button I'm talking about. You see it in an elevator, or cockpit, or alien spacecraft. It's a big, round, can't-miss-it red button, and there's a large warning next to it that says, "DO NOT PUSH." If you do, you'll regret it.

Music has always been a huge motivating force for me. Gloria Estefan sang a hit song declaring "The rhythm is gonna get you," and while I'd agree that a catchy beat or even a beautiful melody is mesmerizing, the lyrics are what really get me. Words are so powerful.

Music often serves as the backdrop of our lives. At work, in the car, at home going about our daily routines, or even in church, we may hear a song dozens of times before we actually process the words.

Recently, while my favorite Christian radio station was playing in the background — I don't recall what I was doing or where I was going — suddenly the background became the foreground as these words connected to my heart:

In Alma 59, Moroni sends a letter to chief judge Pahoran, requesting reinforcements for the war against the Lamanites. The Nephite army is in need of additional soldiers as well as food and supplies, so Moroni reaches out to the government to provide these needs. However, as time passes, no assistance arrives. In later chapters, Moroni finds out what is happening from Pahoran's perspective, and then he understands why no assistance has been provided. However, at this moment, he is out in the field with his army, fighting for the Nephite cause and hearing nothing from Pahoran. As a result, "Moroni was angry with the government, because of their [apparent] indifference concerning the freedom of their country" (verse 13).

In the United States at this time, it appears that just about everyone is angry with the government in one way or another. People who oppose the current president and what he stands for are angry with him and the government representatives who support him. People who support the position of the president are angry with the government representatives who oppose what he is trying to do. The anger has spilled over such that regular citizens who support one position are angry with citizens who support the opposite position.

War is not something we like to think about, especially at the beginning of a new year. Typically, our focus is on resolutions, new beginnings, and hope for things to come. Yet warfare is alive and is graphically and instantaneously trumpeted to the world through forms of media made so easily available. And resolutions made, even with the best of intentions, can be unrealistic or fall by the wayside as the days and months of the new year pass by.

While the impact of physical warfare and the pitfalls of life are very hard and real, the true battle is not in what we "see" or "feel" as satan's lies would have us to believe. Absolutely and painfully so, satan will stop at nothing to creep in and

Today's Miracle Monday, sent to us by Sister Diana Houlihan, describes a close call that God helped her dodge.

I had a wonderful boss at Bon Secours Hospital when I worked in Central Sterile. Joanne made sure all of her ladies were able to sit in with the nursing staff as they took supplemental courses to keep their nursing skills updated. The hospital provided the courses without charge. She noticed that a couple of us did very well on testing and told us about a program whereby we could become operating room techs. I started taking a class at a college located in Detroit.

For the coming month of February, our Good Word Fridays are going to focus on 1 Corinthians 13 and the verses that describe love. We'll take a closer look at these verses and ponder what they're trying to tell us about charity (which is synonymous with love in this chapter).

Today's verse says that charity (or love) is longsuffering and kind.

Today's article was originally published by the Student Support Program in September 2015 — read the full version here — and Brother Chuck described what it was like to go back to school after having the summer to slow down and reconnect with God. We think the same goes for a long, luxurious winter break, too. If you need a little something extra as you're heading back to school or work, this one's for you.

September can be a month of forgetfulness. We can forget how we felt at camp. We can forget how we renewed our relationship with God throughout the past few months. We can forget to study the scriptures while we are up to our necks in school work. To combat this temporary amnesia, I have three life lessons we can apply to our lives to strengthen our relationship with ourselves, with each other, and, most importantly, with the Lord.

In Alma 58, Helaman laments throughout the chapter about how small the Nephite army is. He describes their efforts in reaching out to the government for reinforcements and supplies, but the response is limited. Finally, at their moment of greatest despair, they reach out to the greatest source of strength:

"Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies…Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him" (Alma 58:10-11)

There are many examples in the scriptures of an exceedingly small number of people — even just one person at times — prevailing over overwhelming opposition due to receiving strength from God. Here are a few examples:

Today's article was originally published by the Student Support Program in July 2014. Click here to read the unabridged article.

I found out that I needed glasses when I was about 12 years old. I was at a large event, and someone pointed out one of the signs in the crowd. I tried, but I couldn’t read it. I couldn’t even make out the letters. They were completely blurry.

The thought came up, “Hey, maybe you need glasses?” I kind of doubted that, but I tried on my mom’s glasses, and the sign was clear. All the signs were clear! I had been missing out on so much because I simply thought that I was seeing as well as anyone else and nothing better was really possible. After I experienced the power of corrective lenses, a new world opened up to me.

Today's article was originally published by the Student Support Program in June 2014. Read the unabridged version here, where Sister Christine Martorana summarizes the story of Queen Esther and helps women apply principles from her story to their own lives.

“I’m a woman and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do in The Church. Women aren’t allowed to do as much as men; what is there for me to do?” I’ve heard this from women and girls in Church, and, to be honest, I’ve said these same words myself. The response? We can be Esthers.

Do you believe me when I say we can be Esthers? Being an Esther means…