Thursday, January 13, 2000

Alma 29:5 -- Responsibility for the Future

"Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience."
Alma 29:5


I was reading this morning, and this just kind of got to me... anyway, I like this scripture, though it can feel a little harsh sometimes. I wonder sometimes what my real desires are, down deep... good or bad... and how you can separate your desires and your actions. In other scriptures it talks about being judged according to our actions. Maybe our actions show what is in our hearts, and that is the whole point.

So... first of all, it is cool that the Lord considers our hearts as well, and our motivations, not just the behavioristic view... and second, although it slaps us with a lot of responsibility either way, isn't it good to know that the future is really in our hands? We have to train our thoughts and emotions just as much as we need to train our bodies... to do, think, and feel what is right. And you know, just as an addendum, God doesn't expect it all to come right away. We can start with the desires or we can start with the actions. As long as we are trying... God does take it all into consideration. He's cool like that. :)

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