4 Nephi 1:2-3

2 ...the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.

3 And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.


4 Nephi is a wonderful book because it teaches how to create a community without contention, bound together in love. One of the characteristics of this society that I love the most is that "every man did deal justly one with another." So, what does it mean to deal justly one with another? Let me first illustrate the temptation I have around this.


A few weeks ago, a young man came and knocked on our door just a little bit after a general conference session ended. He told me that he was painting house numbers onto people's curbs so that he could earn money for his mission. I had just finished listening to Church leaders talk about being like Jesus. So, I was primed to pay whatever he asked - help a kid earning money for a mission, slam dunk! After saying yes, I started thinking how this would be a really great ploy for someone to take advantage of me - that slam dunk seemed just a little too perfectly set up. All too easy to think that this kid wasn't saving for a mission but knew at the end of a general conference session that he could use that line to get money from people.


See what happened there - my fear of not being treated justly, of being taken advantage of led me to not think justly of this young man.


So, what do we do in an imperfect world where people do take advantage of one another? Here are the thoughts I've had:

  • What King Mosiah taught: Are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend on God for all that we have?
  • One of my Mom's many profound and memorable sayings is "If He can get it through you, He will get it to you." 
What each of these profound teachings mean to me is that we should all be generous with the abundance we have - God is the giver, and we become like Him when we embrace our generous impulses to share what we have with others. At the same time, I know that we are given wisdom and God can guide us to not put ourselves in dangerous positions.


This all came together for me this week. I had been praying to better understand dealing justly when one of my BYU locker room friends told me his daughter was returning from her mission. Now, a locker room friend means we sit in the sauna together occasionally, see each other in passing most days, and that's it. My friend showed me the answer to what it means to deal justly when he invited me to join his family and friends to celebrate his daughter's return. He had a heart overflowing with joy, and he chose to share this gift that God had given him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mormon 9:3-6

Image
  3  Then will ye longer deny the Christ, or can ye behold the Lamb of God? Do ye suppose that ye shall dwell with him under a   consciousness   of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws? 4  Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your  filthiness  before him, than ye would to dwell with the  damned  souls in  hell . 5  For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your  nakedness  before God, and also the glory of God, and the  holiness  of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you. 6  O then ye  unbelieving ,  turn  ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless,  pure , fair, and white, having been cl...
Read more

Ether 2:25

Image
25  And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. I learned two things that I love from this verse documenting God's interactions with the brother of Jared. First, we are all going to have obstacles come into our life. There is something comforting about being forewarned that there is a great deep, waves, winds, and floods that will make life challenging. Having the right expectations somehow makes some things more manageable. Second, there is reason to believe that God has prepared us for every challenge we have faced and will face in life. God has given us attributes, experiences, knowledge, and relationships that allow us to flourish when the difficulties of life come upon us. Looking back now, I can see this pattern in my own life. One example comes from my mission. I often felt discouraged during my mission because of limi...
Read more

Mormon 5:17-18

Image
17  They were once a delightsome people, and they had Christ for their   shepherd ; yea, they were led even by God the Father. 18  But now, behold, they are  led  about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they. Mormon creates beautiful images here that capture an underrated blessing of being a disciple of Jesus Christ: purpose. Chaff being blown around or a boat being pushed in every direction describe for me a life without direction, pushed from one thing to the next. Discipleship on the other hand imbues every moment with purpose - every decision can meaningfully impact oneself and others around them. Every decision can draw us closer to or farther from our Heavenly Father. I can imagine how that kind of meaning could feel like a heavy weight - what if you do make choices that take you away from God? Well,...
Read more