Gratitude
Today I’m going to share three principles of gratitude that
we can find in the Book of Mormon.
The first is:
1. Gratitude for “whatsoever things ye do receive.”
Alma 7:23
23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full
of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent
in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and
temporal; always returning thanks unto
God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
God’s work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of his children. That means that whatever he does is to teach us
and guide us and persuade us to that end. Everything he does is for our
benefit—even the things we don’t see as blessings in the moment.
It’s fly season in Doha, and though I’m not sure I’m to the
point where I can say flies are a blessing I am grateful for, one did teach me
a lesson this week. A fly got into my car somehow, and started pinging against
my driver’s side window. The fly wanted to get out. It was a good desire, and I
wanted to give it to him. So I started to open my window, but the sudden
movement of the glass scared the fly, so he zoomed to the opposite side of the
car.
Right then the Spirit told me: this is what people do when
God tries to give them what they want most.
Ironically, instead of receiving my gift of freedom with
gratitude, the fly fled from the exact blessing he wanted. How often are we the
same? We pray for greater truth, spiritual development, to overcome a weakness,
or an answer, and God sends us the exact experience, person, book, or idea that
will lead us to the blessing we seek, but we reject it out of fear. Fear of
being corrected, fear of being in pain, fear of losing something important.
Perfect love casteth out all fear. Love God, trust God, and be grateful for
whatever he sends you---ask God what you should be learning in your current
situation, and be grateful for the chance to learn and grow and be tested. He
always has our best interests at heart. He can make everything work together
for our good.
2. Gratitude for the truths of God involves receiving and asking for more.
2 Nephi 28
30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the
children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little
and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and
lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him
that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say,
We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.
Interestingly, God likes when
we ask him for more and more and more truth. He wants to bless us with all the
light and knowledge he possesses, but we have to ask and receive. What does it
mean to continually receive God’s wisdom? It is mulling over the same Sunday
school lessons year after year? Or, is it incorporating each new level of truth
into our lives, then asking God, “What next?”
Alma 12: 9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is
given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid
under a strict command that they shall not impart only according
to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men,
according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
Men
of God are not permitted to reveal all of God’s mysteries to us. God reserves
that right for Himself. You will not hear everything you need to know at church
or conference. You have to ask the Lord to personally tutor you. And you will
receive “according to the heed and diligence” you give to His teachings.
Alma
continues…
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden
his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until
it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
In full! The scriptures contain several
examples of people who received all the mysteries of God—He wants the same for
us. The Lord is no respecter of persons, that means you can qualify for the
same blessings.
11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then
they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction.
Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.
The chains of hell are ignorance!
3. Gratitude should be
rooted in truth and humility.
In the Book of Mormon, I came across two passages that both
expressed strong gratitude to God. I was struck by the contrast between the
two, which were given by two very different groups of people.
The first I’ll talk about was a prayer given by the
Zoramites. I’ll read part of it:
Holy
God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we do not
believe in the tradition of our brethren, which was handed down to them by the
childishness of their fathers;
but
we believe that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children;
and also thou hast made it known unto us that there shall
be no Christ.
But
thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou
hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are
elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell;
for
the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast
elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our
brethren, which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth
lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.
And
again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen.
Let’s go over what we know about the Zoramites—they were an
apostate, idolatrous branch of Nephites that denied Christ, rejected the poor,
and built synagogues where they would stand up every week and talk
about how righteous they were compared to everyone else. Alma also tells us
that their hearts were set upon gold, silver, and fine goods, and that their
hearts were lifted up unto great boasting and pride (Alma 31). These really
aren’t people we want to have much in common with.
But before we dismiss them as so different from us, remember that these people were religiously
devout enough to meet together regularly to publicly reaffirm their beliefs in
something that sounds very much like a kind of testimony meeting, build and
maintain houses of worship, have a dress code for worship services, be alarmed
at Alma’s interfering missionary work, and ultimately expel those who believed
Alma’s challenges to the doctrines of their rulers, priests, and teachers after
undertaking a secret survey campaign. These people clearly took their religion
very seriously.
The Zoramites were grateful to God, but their gratitude was based
in a lie about their standing before Him. Their gratitude was actually
thinly-disguised pride. For all their material successes and religious observances
and declarations of immunity from going astray, they were consumed by, in the
words of Alma, “gross wickedness.”
Now let’s talk about the second expression of gratitude. This
one was given by King Lamoni. Ammon preached the gospel to the Lamanite King
Lamoni, who was converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ which contributed to
thousands of his people also repenting and becoming Christians as well. As an
army of hostile Lamanites is preparing to attack his people—who have made no
effort to prepare to defend themselves because the idea of violence and
bloodshed is so abhorrent to them--here is what King Lamoni says to them (Alma 24:7-10):
I
thank my God, my beloved people, that our great God has in goodness sent these
our brethren, the Nephites, unto us to preach unto us, and to convince us of
the traditions of our wicked fathers.
And
behold, I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to
soften our hearts, that we have opened a correspondence with these brethren,
the Nephites.
And behold, I also thank my God, that by
opening this correspondence we have been convinced of our sins, and of the many
murders which we have committed.
What a difference! King Lamoni is expressing his profound
gratitude for the men who persuaded them to see the truth of their wicked
traditions, convinced them of their sin, and identified his people as
murderers. There’s no pride here, no smugness at being special or chosen, no
comparisons to or vilifying of others. Just immense humility, relief, and
gratitude.
How many of us thank God for the people who point out our
sins, whether it’s a leader, spouse, parent, friend, or child? How many of us
praise the Lord because he’s sent people to call us to repentance? Do we praise
the greatness of God for chastening us? Do we have soft hearts when confronted
by our wickedness? Or, do we delight in easy, vain teachings that tell us how
incredible we are, how chosen we are, how we’re more righteous than any
generation before? Listen to people who tell you to repent, because that will
move you closer to God.
He continues: And I also thank my God, yea, my
great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things,
and also that he hath forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we
have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of
his Son.
King Lamoni thanks God for the chance to repent and for the
precious forgiveness that’s been granted. He thanks God for taking away their
guilt through Jesus’ sacrifice.
I’ve grown up with the idea that the ability to repent is
just a given, something I’m entitled to, but I love how King Lamoni doesn’t take anything for granted. He’s
grateful to be saved from ignorance and sin, even though it brought immense
struggles and sacrifice for his family and people. He’s grateful that an
all-powerful God would be merciful enough to provide a Savior and a means to
repent. It really is so amazing.
What is the difference between the Zoramites and King Lamoni
and his people?
Let’s look at a story from the New Testament for the answer.
It’s in Luke 7:
36 And
one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into
the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
37 And,
behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew
that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an
alabaster box of ointment,
38 And
stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with
tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his
feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
39 Now
when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within
himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what
manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
40 And
Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he
saith, Master, say on.
41 There
was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence,
and the other fifty.
42 And
when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them
both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
43 Simon
answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he
said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
44 And
he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered
into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed
my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
45 Thou
gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to
kiss my feet.
46 My
head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with
ointment.
47 Wherefore
I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved
much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
The more we recognize our need for Jesus Christ, the more we
will be truly grateful for his life and sacrifice, the more we will love him
and keep his commandments.
When we recline in the comfort of our self-proclaimed
righteousness or institutional purity we fail to acknowledge the massive debt
we owe to Jesus Christ. How can you be grateful for something you never thought
you needed that much?
No unclean thing can enter heaven. We are just as much in
need of the Lord’s grace as any murderer, adulterer, or apostate. The standard
of salvation is not regular temple attendance, anything in the “For the
Strength of Youth Pamphlet”, the length of your sleeves, the number of digits
on your tithing slip, or how much you admire the man at the pulpit. The
standard is perfection, and none of us can measure up without the grace of
Jesus.
Alma said to his son: (Alma
38)
13 Do not pray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen
that they pray to be heard of men, and to be praised for their wisdom.
14 Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we
are better than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive
my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at
all times.
I’m not promoting wallowing in shame or hating yourself for
being a sinner at all. What I would like to encourage you to do is go to God
with humility and ask Him what your standing is before Him. I never thought to
do that for the first 27 years of my life because I assumed I knew the answer.
I was baptized, confirmed, endowed, sealed, full tithe payer, temple recommend
holder, Ensign subscriber, a pretty consistent visiting teacher, and a
generally nice-ish person.
But then I asked, and the answer was not what I thought it
would be. The course of my spiritual life since then has been harrowing as the
Lord has stripped me of the pride of certainty. In at least one way I have
become as a little child in that I claim to know very little. And as the Lord
has allowed me to discover my weakness and my ignorance and my sin and the lies
that I love because they serve my ego instead of my spirit, I have become more
and more reliant on Him, more and more aware of the gulf between me and heaven
that can only be breached by his glory—I have never felt so grateful because I
have never felt so weak when faced with the idea of enduring this existence and
the eternity beyond it without his light and mercy.
I’d like to finish with my own expression of gratitude. I
thank my God for the Book of Mormon that guides us to Christ and reveals our
weakness so that we may repent. I thank my God for giving me, a gentile with no
claim to his covenant, a chance to partake of the blessings reserved for his
people. I thank my God for His mercy and patience in teaching me that I am weak
so that I can learn to be strong in Him.
I thank my God for the fellowship I share with these people—I ask that
He will please forgive us and give us the time we need to repent and the
humility to acknowledge our blindness. I also thank my God, yea my great God
for Jesus and his perfect plan of redemption. I thank my God for sending a
perfect being to love and teach me and bring me up the mountain of the Lord
step by step. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
