In today's reading, King Benjamin was continuing his address to his people. He talked about service and the coming of Christ.
And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. (Mosiah 3:17)
He reminded them of the attributes necessary to qualify for salvation:
...becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [you], even as a child doth submit to his father. (Mosiah 3:19)
He talked of repentance and faith and prayer and humility. He talked of parenting:
And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another...But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another. (Mosiah 4:14-15)
He talked much of caring for the poor and needy:
And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. (Mosiah 16)
The next verses really gave me pause:
Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer for his punishments are just -
But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.
For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? (Mosiah 4:17-19)
How often have I passed a panhandler and thought to myself, "Go get a job already! Stop standing here asking for things to be handed to you!"? Too many times, I'm afraid. In fact I don't know that there is a homeless person or panhandler that I haven't judged. I'm not saying that I should give money to every one of them, but I definitely need to stop being so judgmental. I must remember that "there but for the grace of God, go I".
I can imagine that the multitude listening to King Benjamin were more than a little overwhelmed with all that he was telling them. I'm a little overwhelmed just reading it. In every area that King Benjamin addressed, I have much room for improvement.
King Benjamin, in his wisdom, realized that the people were feeling some anxiety about everything that he was telling them that they must be and do and know.
And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order. (Mosiah 4:27)
What a perceptive man, King Benjamin, to understand the nature of people. To know that they would feel the importance of everything that he taught them and that they would try to implement everything at once and feel utterly overwhelmed.
This is a lot how I feel after General Conference sometimes. I soak in everything that my leaders are telling me. I reflect on which areas of my life need improvement, and then I try to change those areas - all at once. Without patience. Without giving myself any latitude for error. Because of this, after a few weeks of trying to be a perfect mother, a perfect wife, a perfect member of the church, a perfect person, I crash. And then the guilt returns. I need to remember that Heavenly Father is not expecting immediate perfection. He wants me to be steadily working diligently toward the prize - returning to Him.
General Conference is not meant to be a guilt trip, but rather a road map - marking the route by which we can "win the prize". We are not meant to complete that route all in one day or one week or even one month. It may take a lifetime - or longer - to perfect any one area. I have to realize that "all things must be done in order". Now, I'm not saying that I can relax - because there is no relaxing in the Gospel. I'm saying that I need to not be so hard on myself when I experience small failures. I need to move forward, slowly and steadily, toward my ultimate goal.
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| ©Darrell Wyatt |
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