It is Never too Late to be Free!

After reading Alma 53 today, I couldn't help but think about how difficult the situation would be for the people of Ammon who originally were bloodthirsty Lamanites but had converted to the gospel and fully repented, taking an oath to never take arms again.  I can't imagine their feelings as they saw their brethren go out to war to protect the right to liberty.  I can't imagine their feelings as they saw their own sons vow to fight for the people, to take the place their dads normally would have taken.

I would have felt powerless.  I would have felt frustrated.  But most of all, I would have felt confused about what is the right thing to do in this situation.  Do I break my oath?  It is for a good cause.  It is for a good motive.  Isn't it wrong of me to sit here watching these people fight for my liberty while I do nothing?  But God teaches us a valuable lesson: there is no reason that we should put ourselves in eternal danger.  No matter how great the cause or how pure the motive.  There is no good reason to break covenants with God.  There is no reason that we should ever put ourselves anywhere near our past sins again.  We must do everything we can to protect ourselves, just like the people of Ammon had to do.

At first I was thinking, how sad!  After they changed their lives and fully repented, they are still restricted by their past sins.  It reminds me of Elder Scott's talk about this a while back where he said that sometimes our decisions create very long term consequences.  And even though we've repented of our sins, sometimes we still experience the effects of those sins in our lives.  We must protect ourselves from the long-term spiritual vulnerabilities that our sins and experiences have created in us.  We cannot let any motive or action, even if it seems like a good one, push us towards the line.  Our choices do impact us and the lives of those around us.  But God never lets the consequences of our past actions get in the way of our full happiness when we have fully repented.

For example, the two thousand stripling warriors go out and fight for their families.  Not one of them is lost.  I feel like a part of that is because of the faith of the stripling warriors.  But another part of it is the faith of their fathers.  God would not let the consequences of our past actions control our lives.  There is always a way to overcome it.  The people of Ammon might not have been able to fight, but their sons could fight for them with the promise that if they were faithful, they would come back alright.  The repentance of the fathers enabled the freedom of the sons.  What a beautiful and hopeful message!

Sometimes I become afraid that my past experiences are negatively affecting me in the present and that I may never be free.  But now I can remember that the faith of the fathers enabled the freedom of the sons.  God did not let the past impede the present.  I know that even if my choices or the choices of others have created negative consequences in my life or the lives of people around me, God will provide a way to free everyone when they fully repent and exercise their faith.  I know that every single person can be free of the experiences they have had and the choices they have made.  We can be truly happy, and the only way of doing that is through Jesus Christ and His Atonement.  I am so grateful for the mercy of God and His grace that enables us to move past not only our decisions but the consequences of those decisions.  He loves us so much!

So although my first reading of this chapter was more bleak and sad and restricting, after pondering about things, I realized that this chapter contains one of the most hopeful messages of all of the stories in Alma.  God's promises are real.

Love,
Rachel