Look Deep Inside

1 Nephi 16:2

And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.

The truth is hard for the guilty who don't want to hear it. When the prophet speaks, and I feel he is being unfair, unrealistic, out of touch, impractical, overly dogmatic, harsh, or unkind, or if I think he must be speaking to someone else, I ought to look deep inside myself. Something is surely amiss, not with the speaker but with the hearer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

God Will Do His Own Teaching

Image
1 Nephi 15:11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you. President Nelson has said, "God will do His own teaching." If we need to know anything that affects our salvation or our happiness, whether it's about the temple, the scriptures, the church, the gospel, the commandments, or our behavior, God will reveal it to us if we ask with a genuine desire and the intention to act on what we learn.  God does not respond to idle curiosity, but He never leaves a true desire unfulfilled when properly petitioned. He is both a loving Father and a master Teacher. According to His own will, and in His own time and way, He will surely give us what we truly need for our salvation and happiness. 
Read more

Fruit of the Tree

Image
1 Nephi 15:36 Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen. Nephi puts the fruit of the tree of life into perspective. The love of God, as evidenced in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, bears a most valuable and desirable fruit, even my salvation. I am valuable to God because I am part of His family. My salvation and exaltation are His one and only priority, and He and His Beloved Son have paid dearly to enable me to bear fruit and to be the fruit of Their labors.  Thus, I am precious and desirable above all else in the universe, not because I am all that special in and of myself, but because God loves me and has set my price--the price of redemption through the suffering and death of His Son.  Knowing that, I ought to value myself as highly as God values me. I cannot take Hi...
Read more

Covenant Keepers

Image
1 Nephi 14:14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory. This verse makes two points about the Lord's "covenant people." 1. Our covenants rather than our lineage determine whether we are the Lord's people. We become the children of Christ through making and keeping covenants. 2. Nephi saw the power of God come upon the covenant keepers. God wants to give His covenant keepers great power to perform His work. His power is manifested all around us. We will encounter His power, however, only if we are engaged in His work and not our own. If I want power, I must inquire what impossible thing God wants me to do and then do that thing in faith and diligence. 
Read more