#lds scripture

[unpackingexmo-blog]

Lies of omission

[mindfulldsliving]

Understanding 3 Nephi 14:21-24: A Call to Authentic Faith

In the pursuit of true discipleship, words alone do not suffice. This timeless truth is powerfully illustrated in 3 Nephi 14:21-24, where actions, not mere proclamations, define our faith.

True Discipleship: Embracing Christ’s Words for Eternal Entry When it comes to true discipleship, 3 Nephi 14:21-24 offers a clear and powerful message: mere words aren’t enough to enter the kingdom of heaven. It’s a poignant reminder that faith and actions must align seamlessly, ensuring that we not only profess our beliefs with our lips but embody them in our daily lives1. In these verses,…

[bildswoman]

Horrible news everyone

Scripture Power is NOT in the Children's Songbook

[heathersdesk]

Confession Time:

I don't like Come Follow Me and never have. And I haven't been able to articulate why until I tried to buckle down and start with the Book of Mormon this year.

The first paragraph of the first section for 1 Nephi 1-5 ends with this sentence:

"Overall, there is power in this imperfect family’s examples of faith."

I was rocked by that a little bit the first time I read it.

I thought to myself, "Wow. Are we really going to confront the hero worship and unhealthy worldviews our community has internalized about this book because of the way the negative behaviors of the characters are never challenged or confronted for what they are? That many of the details are included because they're cautionary tales about what NOT to do, but you'd never know that based on how the material is presented and talked about by our people at large because the conversation is driven by the needless compulsion to focus on the same tired perspectives of faith promotion that the subjects sometimes don't deserve?"

*reads the section, which is full of the same "I will go and do" about Nephi that they always do, without once confronting the conflicts, doubts, and struggles of anyone but Nephi in any serious way, some of which are exacerbated (if not cause) by Nephi being insufferable and self-righteous to everyone around him*

Nephi is an unreliable narrator, y'all. You're not supposed to believe everything he says, thinks, and does. Especially when he's younger. His view of the people around him and their motivations lack depth because he was totally unconcerned with their feelings and struggles. He was bad at helping and honoring people in their darkest moments, having nothing better to offer them for support than glib and shallow assertions that they would be struggling less if they were more like him. An attitude he learned from his father's blatant and unapologetic favoritism.

Nephi is not an example of what to do when there is conflict in your family. And it takes him until "O wretched man that I am" to realize he's not the most important man in every room. His disrespect for other people in his leadership is the reason they want nothing to do with him, and it takes him a lifetime of chasing people away from God to realize he's not as good of a person as he thinks he is. He has failed people from his need to be seen as being better than he is, better than everyone else is at loving God and knowing what that means. And this becomes a cultural artifact, a baked-in foregone conclusion in the minds of his people that ends up shaping their self-perceptions until it destroys them. His personal failures, viewed for their long-term ramifications and consequences, is part of what this book is supposed to be about.

But sure. Let's do "I will go and do" again, without pondering in any serious way if Nephi's interpretation of his interaction with the Holy Ghost might be lacking in credibility because the alternative is to say something closer to "We really botched this job and killing Laban was not a forgone conclusion or a necessary evil that I can acquit myself of because God said it was okay."

Maybe we don't have to believe that. Maybe we can examine how our culture in the modern church has perpetuated this same logical fallacy with vigilante violence, justified by appeals to this exact story.

Point being, never read the story of Nephi without keeping it firmly fixed in your mind that he's going to regret and repent of most of this later. That cross reference to 2 Nephi 4 is probably the most important thing you can have in your margins every time he says or does something totally uncalled for. 🖖

[myexmosafespace]

I don’t mind if people are religious. They can believe what they want. But WHY must they make it their entire personality?!

[lds-me]

Matthew 14:22-33 is the story of Peter walking on the water to Christ. In verse 29 he is beconed to come to Christ on the water. In verse 30 he looks away, becomes scared, and begins to sink.

He cries out "Lord save me"

He doesn't first try to save himself or turn back around to grab his boat. He doesn't call out to his friends for help. He immediately calls out to the Savior.

And then "IMMEDIATELY Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him". He didn't wait, saying "You're the one who looked away. I'm gonna wait now for you to recenter and take a step to me." He didn't wait and say "Well now you get to sink there a moment as you learn your lesson." No, he IMMEDIATELY stretched forth his hand, the moment Peter called out to him. Sometimes when we uncenter our lives from Christ we think we need to suffer before Christ will come. But he will come immediately.

[delightintruth]

“And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam. And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day.”

2 Nephi 9:21-22

[icarianlibrary]

Me pulling out the scriptures when I get a random gut feeling that I should read my bible

[nerdydisciple]

[pressforwardsaints]

"Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name.

Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.

Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—

And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out."

— Helaman 3:27-30

[gay-mormon-wizard]

In the age of the climate crisis, what does it mean to "repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand?"

Most LDS folk would respond that because Jesus' second coming is on its way, we all need to be as faithful as possible and adhere to the doctrine strictly.

However, the Rapture is a later idea that was never alluded to in scripture, which arose from misinterpreting scripture after removing it from its cultural context (in large part due to Antisemitism). The idea made it into Mormon theology because it was already popular when Joseph Smith was young.

But the Kingdom of God is something we have to make on the Earth. We have to make Zion by creating a society in which all are taken care of, in which all can be "pure in heart" because they don't need to steal to survive, because they haven't been sexualized from birth, because they haven't been taught to compete with one another for supremacy.

Many people are becoming hopeless, thinking that prejudice can never be eliminated, that capitalism can never be stopped, that climate change can never be reversed. Such people often started out as advocates for change, burning out when they saw the enormity and complexity of the social, political, and environmental issues we are facing.

To "repent" means to change your ways, to re-orient your life to God. When I read "repent ye, for the kingdom of God is at hand," I hear "Don't give up on trying to be better. Don't give up on your advocacy, on your fight for positive change. Don't give up hope. The kingdom of God is within reach, if all the good people who want a better world would only band together to fight for it."

[mindfulldsliving]

Striving for Spiritual Perfection: Lessons from 3 Nephi 12:48

In the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 12:48 stands out as a pivotal scripture, calling individuals to pursue the ideal of spiritual perfection. Understanding its context within the larger narrative of the Book of Mormon helps illuminate its profound significance

Spiritual Perfection: Understanding 3 Nephi 12:48 in Modern Life How can we strive for spiritual perfection in a world full of distractions? 3 Nephi 12:48, “I would that ye should be perfect,” challenges us with this profound question. This call to spiritual and moral perfection resonates through history and remains relevant today. By aiming to become more like Christ, we’re urged to live a life…

[popcorn-plots]

"Look unto me in every thought, doubt not, fear not."

--Doctrine and Covenants 6:36

[bildswoman]

Mosiah 4: 17-18

17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—

18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God

Hmmmm. This verse speaks to me.

[heathersdesk]

"I suppose the lesson I'm learning today from Samuel the Lamanite is one of solidarity. I don't know about the comparative wealth of the Nephites and Lamanites to now. But I do know that I go to Church with some of the richest people on the planet, whether they've ever had the occasion to realize that or not. And it's nice to know that when giving rich people the reminder that none of this is how God wants things to work, we both get the same reaction."

[latterday-mouth-share]