Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The Adversary is not my friend: Mormon 1: 8-12


8 And it came to pass in this year there began to be a war between the Nephites, who consisted of the Nephites and the Jacobites and the Josephites and the Zoramites; and this war was between the Nephites, and the Lamanites and the Lemuelites and the Ishmaelites.
9 Now the Lamanites and the Lemuelites and the Ishmaelites were called Lamanites, and the two parties were Nephites and Lamanites.
10 And it came to pass that the war began to be among them in the borders of Zarahemla, by the waters of Sidon.
11 And it came to pass that the Nephites had gathered together a great number of men, even to exceed the number of thirty thousand. And it came to pass that they did have in this same year a number of battles, in which the Nephites did beat the Lamanites and did slay many of them.
12 And it came to pass that the Lamanites withdrew their design, and there was peace settled in the land; and peace did remain for the space of about four years, that there was no bloodshed.

(Book of Mormon | Mormon 1:8 - 12)

The cry of war is heard again in the land. The people’s selfishness and greed spurred them on to anger and to hate their brothers. The people stopped listening to the voice of the Lord and instead listened to their adversary, who only wants their destruction, and they willingly complied.

Why do we allow our anger to get the better of us? When was the last time that your anger actually did you any favors? When was the last time that anger filled you with joy and peace? If anger takes me farther away from my Heavenly Father, why do I give that emotion any place in my heart?

Love or hate, the choice is ours to make. I can choose to follow the straight and narrow path that will lead me back home, or I can choose to listen to the promptings of him that wants me to be miserable and walk the broad road that leads to my destruction. The good news is that the straight and narrow path has a rod of iron along its length, that if I hold onto it firmly I can not be led astray.

6 comments:

Marsha Ward said...

Wow! Where'd you get that photo?

Dan Olsen said...

Hi Marsha,

Ironically, the first time I saw that photo was on someone's blog and they were discussing how it was used by their stake, for the Stake Temple Day.

Cindy Beck, author said...

Dan,
Good advice that you've given here. Anger can be so destructive, and it does pull us away from the Lord when we don't handle it correctly.

By the way ... who are the two people in the picture?

And before I forget, thanks so much for commenting at my blog at LDSWritersBlogck. I appreciate it.

Dan Olsen said...

Hi Cindy,

The two people in the picture are Derryl Yeager and Michael Ballam.

Using their pics in this post is fairly subtle humor.

Autumn said...

Super photo! I got a good laugh. :)

It AMAZES me how good, cunning and wise the adversary and his angels are. It's crazy how they have the ability to tempt and put thoughts in our minds with such ease. It's SCARY!

The one thing that most of us have been taught but fail to remember is that WE mortals are stronger and are so much more powerful then them all! And we can not let them conquer unless we allow it.

I think we must teach and drill in the heads of our children just how powerful they are- just being human and God's children. Maybe if they knew with out a doubt of their powers they could be even stronger!

Dan Olsen said...

Hi Autumn,

You're absolutely right. Satan can have no power over us other than what we give him.