"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."
Revelation 22:11-12
This is interesting stuff. Scary in some ways, because I think that we sometimes imagine heaven as a place where things are suddenly perfect, and want things to be that way… someday, no matter what, to have everything changed so that it is idyllic and beautiful, and we are suddenly much better than we now are. And don’t get me wrong… I think that the afterlife will move us to a whole new level and we’ll understand and see things that are way beyond what we’ve seen here. But some things won’t change… just like Mormon 9:14 and Alma 41:13-15… this scripture tells us that what we are—what we have learned to be in this life—is what will be restored to us. That every man will receive, afterward in the next life, “according as his work shall be” in this life. Unfortunately, we won’t suddenly be happy if we’ve been unhappy all our lives. And we won’t be suddenly clean if we’ve remained in our sins and never repented all our lives. Being happy and clean… and just, and holy… and all that we are inside… those are things we have to learn here. And it does take some effort and time to learn to choose our emotions… to find joy in the midst of pain… to be just and kind to people who have been unjust and unkind to us… so many things to learn. And so perhaps, today, one of the things that we should be thankful for is being here and having the chance to keep learning and growing and finding ways to improve ourselves. So that when our bodies are restored to us in the resurrection… suddenly perfect and free of all blemish… that we’ll have souls to match. Let’s work today on being clean, and on being good to the people around us. Having clean goodness restored to us sounds pretty good. :)
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