This week was probably one of my favorite readings weeks of the class so far. Sometimes the war chapters can be confusing, but I love them more than anything. Reading them is like watching an action movie in my head, and the amount of principles that can be pulled from them is amazing! I wish I had enough time to write about everything we learned this week, but I'll do my best to cover the main points.
One of the cool things we discussed was in chapter 49 in verses 6-8, where Amalickiah essentially copies Moroni's war strategies and thinks that will give him an advantage over Moroni. The funny thing is, Moroni's army still wins. Brother Griffin used this point to illustrate that no matter what, Satan is always playing catch-up to the Lord. Never at any point does the Lord say "Oh dear, what's going to happen next?" His plan is set in stone, and Satan's feeble attempts to counter Him only work when we let them. He tries to make the copy or the fake version look real, but we have to rely on the Holy Ghost to teach us wrong from right and to avoid temptation.
Another principle I loved was in chapter 49, verse 14, where Amalickiah's army comes to attack the city of Noah, which had previously been their weakest city. To their astonishment, Moroni had fortified that weak point so much that it was even stronger than their previous strongest city! We can apply this to us in that the Lord makes our weaknesses strengths. Brother Griffin didn't say this in class, but I cross-referenced this verse with Ether 12:27 in my scriptures.
A similar example is in chapter 50 where Moroni describes the fortifications he's making to all of the cities. Even though those cities are already strong, he doesn't stop fortifying them and making them stronger. In verse 11 it says "...he cut off all the strongholds of the Lamanites in the east wilderness, yea, and also on the west, fortifying the line between the Nephites and Lamanites[.]" Even though we may feel confident and strong in certain areas, we must fortify ourselves so much that we don't get anywhere near the line of danger.
Whilst fortifying these old cities, we must also make new fortifications simultaneously. Brother Griffin used the analogy of "sweeping the corners," in that we must constantly clean ourselves every day, every week at sacrament, and at the bishop's office. We have to sweep out the old, dusty, dirty parts of ourselves, put them on the "altar" and give them up to the Lord. This helps us to become more like Him and a better person overall.
I also loved verse 23 in chapter 50 which says "But behold there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi..." Brother Griffin emphasized that this was the worst war the Nephites had ever seen in their time, and yet there "never was a happier time." He said that happiness doesn't just happen. Regardless of circumstances, happiness is always a choice. You can always choose to be happy, regardless of external circumstances.
Finally, I just love chapter 53 personally, especially verses 20-21. What incredible young men! If that doesn't give you an idea of what kind of guy to look for, I don't know what does. I have always said that I want to marry a stripling warrior, and I definitely still feel that way. This just reminds me to look for someone who is "exceedingly valiant," has "courage," "strength," "soberness," "keeps the commandments of God," "walks up rightly before Him" and is "true at all times in whatsoever thing [he is] entrusted." So so awesome. :)
That's all for today! Thanks for reading. :)
Kelsey
No comments:
Post a Comment