"Wherefore, in my days, I would that ye should know that I fought much with the sword to preserve my people, the Nephites, from falling into the hands of their enemies, the Lamanites. But behold, I of myself am a wicked man, and I have not kept the statutes and the commandments of the Lord as I ought to have done."
Omni 1:2
I think we all feel this way about ourselves sometimes... that we're wicked or sinful or evil, and we haven't done what we should have done. And on one level we're probably right. We screw up, and we make bad decisions, and we really do need to change ourselves and our actions to fit more closely with who we should be and who we want to be. On another level though, we are dead wrong. We are never inherently evil. Never wicked or bad people... only inherently good people making bad choices. That spark of goodness is there within us all. Our spirits know right from wrong, and they are drawn to good, and want to be good. Of course we have that "natural man" part of us inside as well, and we have desires which are sometimes for bad things... but that doesn't make us evil either. We can overcome those desires, and choose differently anyway. We can let the goodness inside of us win, rather than letting the bad part win. :) And that's the whole thing... we get to choose. And while we're on this earth, we *always* get to choose. No matter how wicked we think we are, we still have good inside us, and we can start letting it win at any point. We can let go of past bad decisions and start making good decisions.
Today, let's not give up on ourselves and stop trying because we think we are past hope. Let's acknowledge our bad choices and work on repenting. Let's start letting the goodness inside of us win. Let's sit down and have a talk with God: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). He loves us. He will always let us come back to him.
Omni 1:2
I think we all feel this way about ourselves sometimes... that we're wicked or sinful or evil, and we haven't done what we should have done. And on one level we're probably right. We screw up, and we make bad decisions, and we really do need to change ourselves and our actions to fit more closely with who we should be and who we want to be. On another level though, we are dead wrong. We are never inherently evil. Never wicked or bad people... only inherently good people making bad choices. That spark of goodness is there within us all. Our spirits know right from wrong, and they are drawn to good, and want to be good. Of course we have that "natural man" part of us inside as well, and we have desires which are sometimes for bad things... but that doesn't make us evil either. We can overcome those desires, and choose differently anyway. We can let the goodness inside of us win, rather than letting the bad part win. :) And that's the whole thing... we get to choose. And while we're on this earth, we *always* get to choose. No matter how wicked we think we are, we still have good inside us, and we can start letting it win at any point. We can let go of past bad decisions and start making good decisions.
Today, let's not give up on ourselves and stop trying because we think we are past hope. Let's acknowledge our bad choices and work on repenting. Let's start letting the goodness inside of us win. Let's sit down and have a talk with God: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). He loves us. He will always let us come back to him.
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