Leadership

"...But our kings were mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever place of our inheritance." Jarom 1:7

I think it is so interesting that Jarom attributes much of the success of the Nephites over the Lamanites to the leaders who are mighty in the faith. How does that apply to us? We can learn from our leaders. And if they are righteous and we follow them, then surely we will triumph over our enemies as well. Consider President Monson. If we follow him, we can also sweep evil out of our land (our homes, wards, communities). We can also fortify our cities, which I imagine can mean that we can prepare against any further attack of the adversary. This can happen by strengthening our faith and testimony. I love how this scripture says, "or whatsoever place of our inheritance." It opens up a big window for personal application. What is our inheritance? The blessings of Heavenly Father and Eternal Life. With the adversary gone out of our mists, it gives us an opportunity to fortify and secure what shall be ours. This is a chance to work toward out Eternal Life and secure the blessings of exaltation. This is a great service that leaders can do for their people.

"And their leader was a strong and mighty man, and a stiffnecked man, wherefore he caused a contention among them; and they were all slain, save fify, in the wilderness, and they returned to the land of Zarahemla. And it came to pass that they also took others to a considerable number and took their journey again to the wilderness. And I, Amaleki, had a brother, who also wnt with them; and I have not since known concerning them..." Omni 1:28

This was the opposite effect of having good leaders. They were in the wilderness which can be interpreted as the place where they would be tried (for us, Earth). And then after their time in the wilderness they returned to the place where they came from (for us, the presence of God). Athough the leader was strong and mighty, he was stiffnecked. This means that he was not humble and not willing to turn his head to where the Lord would have him turn it to. He would not obey the will of the Lord and perhaps thought his decisions were sufficient. It doesn't say that all the men were stiffnecked; in fact it is possible that these people were very similar to the people that were Nephites under the righteous king mentioned before. These results are attributed to the leader. There was contention among them caused by the leader. And contention is of the devil, so this is evidence that the Adversary had power among them. And many of them were slain. Perhaps this can be applied as, several of them did not survive. And I think it is interesting that even after this happened, there were still others that followed! And Amaleki, the writer, said his brother never came back. It was foolishness on the part of the brother to go with them after seeing the negative results of the first journey.

What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ?

From the Sunday School study guide: What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ? How can we strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ?

"Learn of me, and listen to my words: walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me." (D&C 19:23)

There is so much packed in this verse!
"Learn of me..."
This is a first stage of having faith in Christ. It starts with curiosity about Him. And if you are already faithful and seeking to develop your faith, then this is a curiosity about a certain principle or commandment or scripture that you will now seek to develop (for example, keeping the Sabbath day holy).

"...and listen to my words..."
This is going beyond learning. This is starting to process what you have been learning. It is accepting what you will need to do. You will need to start living like Christ, or you will need to start being more diligent in keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.

"walk in the meekness of my Spirit..."
After learning and listening, processing and accepting, you are started to do what is necessary. You are starting to try to be like Christ and do what he commands. You are stopping your old ways and going to Church, or you are testing out focusing on the Lord all day on Sunday. This is a key step! This is the different between saying that you have faith and having faith. Faith implies action. Your action is proof, validity, and the meat of your faith.

"...and you shall have peace..."
Once you have tried out being like Christ, following his commandments, and focusing on Christ on Sunday, then you will have blessings. This may mean that you will feel the Spirit - which always brings peace. You may see a pleasant difference in your feelings, your actions, or desires. You will see that the change that you made was a good change. The blessings you receive will make your efforts worth while. These blessings will encourage you to keep doing better until you have aligned your life a little more with the gospel. This is an assurance that you have made a good decision and solidifies your faith.

"...in me."
I'm not sure what this means. Perhaps having peace in Him means that He is pleased with you. In addition to the Spirit received for keeping commandments, there is an increased satisfaction and internal sense of well being when the Lord is pleased with you. This is very desirable, and you may obtain a knowledge of where you stand with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ if you pray and ask.

Submit our will to God

A question from the Sunday School study guide: Why should we submit our will to God’s will when we seek personal revelation?

"And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good - yeah, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit." (D&C 11:12)

"Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind an strength." (D&C 11:20)

Sometimes it is difficult to "put your trust in that Spirit," but why? Partly because the Spirit "leadeth... to walk humbly." Being humble is terribly difficult. Even when you are already pretty humble, you still have more to go, and that is terribly difficult. For example, say you are humble enough to ask Heavenly Father whether you should go to grad school. You actually want to get a job and get out of school, but you want to cover your ground and ask anyway. So you ask. But the problem comes when God's answer is "yes, you should go to grad school." Now you get job offers. Great job offers - promising, attractive, and convenient. Now the test is on. What do you do? You have your answer, and it is not the one you want. It will be plenty more difficult to follow through with this direction from the Lord. Either route probably will lead to good things, but the Lord wants you to take the hard route. What do you do?

Do you see? It is difficult. I believe that this is one reason why people do not consult with the Lord in their doings (aside from not knowing how to pray or inexperience in receiving answers or doubtful thoughts.) This has actually happened to me. Usually it is easy and reassuring to do what the Lord asks (go on a mission, pursue the career path I am on, get married, have a child). However it is happened that I asked the Lord about something that I didn't want to do, hoping that he wouldn't give the answer that I knew he would give. And he told me to o exactly what I didn't want to do. It was very very hard. The Spirit was leading me to be humble. And that was so difficult.

Another thing that scares people is asking whether The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the one and only true church. If they receive the answer that "yes, this is the Church," then they will have to change their lives! They will have to defy their earthly roots, reject their old ways, and start living a completely new life. Not easy. In fact, it would be a very humbleing experience. Yet I know the Church is true and encourage everyone to ask God to also gain this testimony. Although I was born in the Church, there have been times when I had to change my life and live differently than I used to in order to align my life better with the teachings of the gospel.

It is humbleing, but more than worth it to submit your will to God's.