Alma 12:13-16 -- On Crawling in the Right Direction

"Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.
For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence.
But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.
And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness."
Alma 12:13-16


Spiritual death sounds super scary.  "Die as to things pertaining unto righteousness" ... like, forgetting them, letting ourselves harden to the point where they just have no place within us anymore, and we are totally bad all the way through?  ... Not because we started out that way, but because we *made* ourselves that way.  Yikes.  To choose something like that seems horrible and dramatic, but I think in actuality it is easy, because it happens little by little, just a tiny bit every day, and we don't see the line that we are crossing away from God, because we're walking just a tiny bit at a time... but it is still towards our own doom.

I think that's the way we become righteous/perfect as well.  Nothing that comes out of the blue like a lightning bolt, but slowly learning to make good choices, to find happiness and goodness even in the midst of so many choices to do otherwise.  Slowly crawling towards paradise. :)

Today, let's make sure we notice if we are slowly corrupting ourselves.  Let's take a step back and really examine ourselves and if we're going in the right direction.  God doesn't expect us to move faster than we have strength, but let's at least make sure we're crawling in the right direction. :)