You Did a Great Job

Sometimes you get recognition for a job well done and sometimes you don’t.

The ultimate recognition for a job well done is hearing the Lord say to you, “Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth.”

All the sacrifice you are making to be righteous, all the service you are performing for others, all the effort learning and doing the Lord’s will, is all worth it.

Imagine how great it will feel when he tells you what a great job you did!

- Alma 5:16

Beware the Flatterer Who Lusts for Power

Look out for people who possess these two qualities at the same time: 1) lust for power and 2) speak flattering things. This combination is dangerous to the common person who is apt to be taken in by the flattery and then manipulated by the power.

One of these people from years back was a fellow named Amlici. He got a following by flattering talk. When enough people followed him the first thing he did with the new power was manipulate his followers to give him more power, at their expense. Over 12,000 of them were killed in a single day.

A power lusting flatterer offers nothing to you and I but manipulation for their own benefit at our expense.

Instead of admitting power lusting flatterers to political office perhaps we should choose humble people with integrity who have no lust for power and no talent for flattery.

- Alma 2:6-10

Choosing Security Over Responsibility Results in Serfdom

When a group of people chooses security in governance over responsibility in governance they lose their freedom and become serfs, required to perform services to their master.

A wise king arguing in favor of freedom for his people and in support of a representative government said, “the burden [of governance] should come upon all the people, that every man might bear his part.”

Many people today don’t want to ‘bear their part’ and rather want the government to do it for them: financing home loans, building cars, educating their children, providing health care, transportation, banking, and on and on. This results in serfdom.

Instead we should each ‘bear our part’. The gain of perceived security is not a justified reason for abdication of responsibility. Unless you actually want to be a serf.

- Mosiah 29:34

The Greatest Benefactor Of All Time

Asking God for help gets results. Many times we get more than we ask for. In fact if you could choose who you worked for God is the best ‘boss’ to have because he is so generous.

When Alma went to the Lord with a question about what should be done with people who refused to repent he got much more than he asked for.

God told him he was blessed for all the work done in teaching his people the truth, having faith, and even for coming to ask him a question. The ultimate blessing God gave Alma was eternal life.

Is God the greatest benefactor? Yes!

- Mosiah 26:13-20

The Governance of Human Affairs is Unnecessarily Messy

The governance of human affairs is messy business and has been from the beginning of written history. So much struggle for power and control over others and their property has dominated the scene.

The best way to live peacefully, for governance to be peaceful, is for “every man to love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them.”

Our leaders today would do their people well to follow this principle, yet many don’t because they love themselves more than others.

Ultimately it is incumbent on each of us individually to love others as much as ourselves. Doing that and also electing people to positions of governance who live this way would change the normally messy governance of human affairs to peace.

- Mosiah 23:15

Great Stories Touch Us Individually

Scriptures touch us and help us personally. The same words and story resonates differently with different people and from time to time.

The seminary students pulled the following thoughts, ideas, and teachings from the interesting events of King Noah encouraging his men to leave their wives and children behind and save themselves and his son Limhi defending freedom and leading his people out of bondage by following Gideon’s counsel.

Here is what some of them shared:

Gavin	don’t be a coward, stand up and defend what you believe in
Brittney	deal with your circumstances even if it was caused by someone else
Sarah	get the full story before you take action, don’t just make assumptions
Andrew	problems don’t just go away you need to face them and solve them
Mauricio	don’t give up, keep persisting at your objectives until you reach them

- Mosiah 19, 20, 21, 22