"If You Believe All These Things See That Ye Do Them"

(Previously posted on my Facebook page on February 13th, 2015)

#SpiritualThoughtOfTheDay I just finished the book of Mosiah in the #BookofMormon. Chapter 26 talks about how some of the people who had just been baptized by Alma and his brethren were being led away from the Church and into sin by unbelievers. Being the high priest, Alma was asked by members of the Church to do something about it; so Alma turned to Heavenly Father and asked Him what he should do concerning these sinners. The Lord tells Alma that he and his brethren should teach the people to repent, ask forgiveness, and be baptized. Those who did would be judged according to their sins, and should then be forgiven. And those that did not repent would have their names blotted out. So, Alma and his brethren did as they were told.

"And now all these things did Alma and his fellow laborers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, being persecuted by those who did not belong to the church of God (verse 38)."

What stuck out to me most was that Alma and his comrades "[taught] the word of God in all things." To me, that means that they not only read or preached the principles taught in the scriptures, they LIVED the principles taught in the scriptures. And they didn't just do this when it was convenient for them; they did this all the time, even if it was not "cool" or not the "popular opinion." These guys were literally harassed for sharing their faith with others, but they kept doing it because they were commanded to, and they knew it was the right thing to do.

One of the members of the Granada Hills Stake Relief Society presidency recently told us (the YSA Relief Society), "if you love this gospel, live it (or something like that)."

In his October 2014 General Conference talk, "The Preparatory Priesthood," President Henry B Eyring said, "even more powerful than using words in our teaching the doctrine will be our examples of living the doctrine."

When we take upon ourselves the name of Christ, we are vowing to be like Him. We are committing to follow His ways, and live our His principles. We are committing to practice His loving attributes every hour of every day. It is not always an easy path, but it is always the right one.

I am so, so grateful that I made that commitment. I know that I will never be exactly like Him, but I know that I am trying, and that, my friends, makes all the difference.

:)

#ScriptureADayKeepsTheDevilAway #JesusChrist #ShareGoodness #ReadGoodness

(the scripture in the title is Mosiah 4:10 in the Book of Mormon)