"And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due."
Mosiah 4:13
This is part of King Benjamin's address to his people, and he is talking about the love of God here. The idea of "living peaceably" is tied in with helping rather than hurting, and specifically not taking advantage of others, but "rendering" according to what is due, which I take to mean paying our debts, and giving credit to others for their ideas and hard work, etc. All of this seems tied in to our ability to feel the Spirit, because the Spirit helps us to do all of these things, but learning to feel that and knowing what the Spirit is prompting us to do takes experience and practice.
Rendering to others might be more than earthly wealth and credit too. We all have different gifts, and sharing those with others could also be involved. All of us are learning step by step and we have strengths and weaknesses. If we are stronger in one thing, then we help others in that thing, so that we can all learn from each other, cover our own weaknesses, and be perfected together. :) You could argue that we owe people that help, not because it is an earthly obligation, but because we all are part of God's recruitment drive to get everyone signed up for the return trip to heaven. Not just on a proselytizing level, but on a helping-each-other-learn-how-to-be-decent-people level. :)
It all comes down to that love of God that began the sermon. When we love people, we don't treat them as less then ourselves and think that we deserve a better share or a bigger piece of whatever pie. We *love* them, and that means doing things for them and helping them and surprising them with cool things that will make them smile. Today, let's double-down on learning to love, really love, not just fulfil an obligation. Let's pray to feel God's love for others, and make it our own. Then our minds will change, so we won't want to injure... but also our hearts will change and we will look at everyone in a new way.
No comments:
Post a Comment