"And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?
O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish——good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.
Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.
For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all."
Alma 41:12-15
I am not sure if this is the same as the idea of karma in Hinduism and other religions, but it does sound a lot like the way we use it in modern society. The same idea is reflected in Galatians 6:7 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Of course, the idea of repentance is mixed in here with a lot of mercy, so that we can change who we are, so we aren't lost forever for past mistakes. Perhaps today we can resolve to take the idea of restoration a little more seriously though, remembering that who we are now is reflective of who we will be in eternity. Let's dig in and make sure that our actions and our treatment of others are building the person we want to be, long-term. And if it isn't, let's repent and reset and try again... asking God for his help, which is always offered.
No comments:
Post a Comment