I have been reading Mormon 1-5. The Nephites couldn't pull out of their natural man state manifested by unbelief, hard heartedness, wickedness, fear, cursing God, delighting in shedding blood, boasting, not recognizing God's hand in their lives, going on the offensive and taking revenge.
Chapter 1/2 - The Nephites Are About to be Destroyed
It starts out around A.D 322. A war gets started between the Lamanites and Nephites. The Nephites win and there's no war for four years. At this time wickedness prevails upon the face of the whole land (v.13). The last three disciples are taken away and miracles and healing cease. The Holy Ghost didn't come upon any. The Nephites are in a terrible state of unbelief. (v.14)
Mormon at age 15 (A.D 326) tries to preach to the people but he is is forbidden by God. Why, because they had willfully rebelled against their God (v.16). In that same year, 326, Mormon becomes the leader (age 16) of the Nephite armies. I wonder if the people, even in their wickedness recognized a powerful, spiritual man when they saw one. Another battle ensues. The Nephites are frightened and would not fight. They retreat to Angola but are driven out by the Lamanites. They are driven out of the land of David and up into the land of Joshua. They gather the people into one body. Great destruction hangs over the people but they won't repent. (2:8) Blood and carnage is everywhere. In 330, the Nephites beat the Lamanites.
Also, in 330 the people start to cry, mourn and lament their situation. Mormon begins to rejoice that the people are repenting but their sorrowing is the sorrowing of the damned. Instead they curse God and wish to die. But they continued to struggle for their lives. The day of grace was past. (v.15). By 344 thousands are hewn down in open rebellion against their God.
Chapter 2 - Near Destruction turns into resounding victory and ends up with giving the Lamanites the land southward for peace.
In 345 (v.16) the Nephites are fleeing once again from the Lamanites even to the land of Jashon before Mormon could stop them in their retreat. Mormon is now 35 and gets the plates. It is interesting that Ammaron told Mormon to go and get the plates of Nephi when he arrived at the age of 'around' 24. Mormon must have been very busy. In the same year the Nephites are hunted and driven further north to a land called Shem. The people are gathered to save them from destruction.
In 346 (v.22) the Lamanites attacked again but under Mormon's direction, the Nephites stood boldly before the Lamanites. His words aroused them somewhat (v.23) so they didn't flee. The Lamanites ended up fleeing. The Nephites chased them and beat them but none of this was accompanied by the strength of the Lord (v.26). They were weak like the Lamanites. Mormon sorrows because none of this matters without the help from the Lord. They take possession of the lands of their inheritance (v,27).
In 349 a treaty is made (v.28) with the Lamanites and robbers and the Nephites give up all the land southward of the narrow neck. Mormon is now 38 years old.
Chapter 3 - Nephites take matters into their own handsFor 10 years Mormon fortifies the land and in 360 the Lord commands Mormon to cry repentance. If they repent they will be spared. But, the Nephites don't get it. They don't realize that it was the Lord who spared them and granted unto them a chance to repent. Their hearts are hardened. I wonder if America does the same thing. Are we being upheld by the Lord and don't realize it? How far along are we along in our pride? (see Mormon 5:22-24).
In 361 the Lamanites come down to the land of Desolation (v.7) The Nephites beat them.
In 362 the Nephites beat them again (v.8).
Because of their success the Nephites begin to boast of their own strength (v.9). The also swear by the heavens that they will avenge themselves of all their dead brethren. They decide to go on the offense and fight the Lamanites in their own lands. This apparently is a big mistake. Mormon utterly refuses to be their leader. Mormon has delivered them three times from their enemies but they wouldn't repent of their sins. The Nephites have been benefiting from a prophet-general for 36 years but don't recognize the source of the deliverance.
The voice of the Lord comes to Mormon saying that vengeance is mine and I will repay. When a person or a nation is wronged, don't go on the offensive! The Lord will take care of the matter. (v.15) Mormon stands as an idle witness.
Chapter 4 - The turning point - going on the offensive - the war spins out of control - The Nephites receive no help from the Lord.
In 363 the Nephites go on the offence and attack out of the city of Desolation southward. They are driven back and while yet weary, a fresh army of Lamanites comes along and the Nephites lose the city of Desolation. They gather at Teancum.
Because the Nephites went on the offensive they were on their own. Mormon says the Lamanites otherwise would have no power over them. (v.4) The wicked will punish the wicked.
In 364 the Lamanites fight at Teancum and are repulsed by the Nephites. The Nephites again boast of their strength and in their own might take Desolation again. Thousands are slain. Every heart is hardened and they delight in the shedding of blood. Mormon notes that their wickedness is more than in any other time. (v.12)
Because there isn't any support from God, the battles become a numbers game (v.13). The Lamanites take Desolation because their numbers exceed the number of Nephites. At this point a new evil enters the picture. The Lamanites attack Teancum, take the women and children prisoners and sacrifice them to their Gods.
Revenge and anger fill the hearts of the Nephites. By sacrificing their women and children, the Lamanites have moved the war up a notch. With this anger, the Nephites come out fighting and beat the Lamanites and drive them back to their own lands. (v.15)
There aren't any battles until 365. The Lamanites come against the Nephites with all their power. The numbers are so great that they aren't numbered. And this is the beginning of the end. It's like a game of Risk. One player finally turns in his cards, gets lots of armies and wipes out everyone else on the board. Mormon says that from this time forth the Nephites gain no power over the Lamanites. They are going to swept off the face of the earth. (v.18)
The Lamanites beat the Nephites in the land of Desolation. The Nephites flee to Boaz. It takes two tries but the Lamanites beat them. The Nephites are slaughtered the second time. Again, their wives and children are sacrificed unto idols. The Nephites are now fleeing taking everybody with them. Mormon sees that that the Lamanites are about the overthrow the land and goes and retrieves the sacred records (v.23). Mormon is 54 years old.
Chapter 5 - Mormon Take Command Without Hope - The Nephites Are Swept off The Land
Mormon repents of his oath and takes command of the armies. The Nephites are now looking to Mormon to deliver them. Mormon is without hope. The Nephites won't repent and call upon the Lord. (v.2)
The Nephites hold the city Jordan for a time. They are able to maintain other cities so the Lamanites couldn't destroy the inhabitants of the land. (v.4) The Lamanites run a scorched earth policy. The year is 379.
In 380, despite the bold efforts of the Nephites, the Lamanites (due to the greatness of their numbers) tread the Nephites under their feet. The Nephites take flight. Those that are faster escape. The rest are destroyed. (v.7) Mormon is now 69 years old.
Mormon laments the plight of the Nephites. He sees the Gentiles doing the same thing as the Nephites did in his day. (v.22) We are in the hands of God. We need to repent and humble ourselves or justice will come upon us. He quotes Jesus in 3 Nephi, "lest a remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and none to deliver." (v.24)
The next chapter finishes off the Nephites. Now I will try to figure a message from these chapters. During this time, the Nephites weren't God-fearing. From the start, Mormon tells us they were in a state of unbelief and general wickedness. They believed they could rely on their own strength. They did realize that God was upholding them through his servant, Mormon. They stepped over the line when they boasted of their own strength. They stepped over the next line when they sought revenge and went on the offensive and attacked the Lamanites. From that moment on they were swept off the face of the land.
These same problems exist today, more or less in our American culture. Our belief in Christ is declining. Wickedness is rampant. We rely on our war machine to maintain our way of life. Do we realize that God is upholding us? Do we boast of our strength? Have we gone more and more on the offensive in recent years? Perhaps the argument can be made that we have been defending ourselves. I sure hope so. If not, we too are beginning to cross similar lines as the Nephites.
Showing posts with label weakness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weakness. Show all posts
Monday, October 11, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Trying to Do it All Yourself - Leaving God Out
I think these verses are a great metaphor or pattern for how some of us operate in our lives. I take my text from Mosiah 21 5-16. When the natural man is the operating person we learn the hard way that we can't do it all ourselves.
5 And now the afflictions of the Nephites were great, and there was no way that they could deliver themselves out of their hands, for the Lamanites had surrounded them on every side. (We are in trouble and there's not way out)
6 And it came to pass that the people began to murmur with the king because of their afflictions; and they began to be desirous to go against them to battle. And they did afflict the king sorely with their complaints; therefore he granted unto them that they should do according to their desires. (We think about our plight and get angry inside. The Lord let's us try out our plan)
7 And they gathered themselves together again, and put on their armor, and went forth against the Lamanites to drive them out of their land. (We do our best efforts to fix the problem ourselves without the Lord's help.)
8 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did beat them, and drove them back, and slew many of them. (We fail. Our spirit is broken.)
9 And now there was a great mourning and lamentation among the people of Limhi, the widow mourning for her husband, the son and the daughter mourning for their father, and the brothers for their brethren. (We get depressed and grieve our disappointments.)
10 Now there were a great many widows in the land, and they did cry mightily from day to day, for a great fear of the Lamanites had come upon them. (We lose our self esteem and begin to fear that our situation is insuperable)
11 And it came to pass that their continual cries did stir up the remainder of the people of Limhi to anger against the Lamanites; and they went again to battle, but they were driven back again, suffering much loss. (we rally our spirits and with anger or determination once again and go out and try again to solve the problem)
12 Yea, they went again even the third time, and suffered in the like manner; and those that were not slain returned again to the city of Nephi. (we don't learn our lesson and keep on trying to solve the problem on our own and we fail miserably. We are now demoralized.)
13 And they did humble themselves even to the dust, subjecting themselves to the yoke of bondage, submitting themselves to be smitten, and to be driven to and fro, and burdened, according to the desires of their enemies. (We finally humble ourselves and submit to yoke of bondage. We are acutely aware of our predicament)
14 And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions. (We turn to God for help in our humble state. We ask for help)
15 And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage. (The Lord tries our resolve to trust in Him. Some good things begin to happen but we are not delivered)
16 And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger. (As we stay humble, relying on the Lord, our lives are blessed in degrees.)
We have learned an important lesson. Some will learn it sooner than others. We learn this lesson experientially. We learn that trying to solve the problem ourselves seldom works very well. We learn that humbling ourselves and relying on the Lord always bring better results even if it is only peace while in bondage. Deliverance will happen in the Lord's own due time (see Mosiah 22).
5 And now the afflictions of the Nephites were great, and there was no way that they could deliver themselves out of their hands, for the Lamanites had surrounded them on every side. (We are in trouble and there's not way out)
6 And it came to pass that the people began to murmur with the king because of their afflictions; and they began to be desirous to go against them to battle. And they did afflict the king sorely with their complaints; therefore he granted unto them that they should do according to their desires. (We think about our plight and get angry inside. The Lord let's us try out our plan)
7 And they gathered themselves together again, and put on their armor, and went forth against the Lamanites to drive them out of their land. (We do our best efforts to fix the problem ourselves without the Lord's help.)
8 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did beat them, and drove them back, and slew many of them. (We fail. Our spirit is broken.)
9 And now there was a great mourning and lamentation among the people of Limhi, the widow mourning for her husband, the son and the daughter mourning for their father, and the brothers for their brethren. (We get depressed and grieve our disappointments.)
10 Now there were a great many widows in the land, and they did cry mightily from day to day, for a great fear of the Lamanites had come upon them. (We lose our self esteem and begin to fear that our situation is insuperable)
11 And it came to pass that their continual cries did stir up the remainder of the people of Limhi to anger against the Lamanites; and they went again to battle, but they were driven back again, suffering much loss. (we rally our spirits and with anger or determination once again and go out and try again to solve the problem)
12 Yea, they went again even the third time, and suffered in the like manner; and those that were not slain returned again to the city of Nephi. (we don't learn our lesson and keep on trying to solve the problem on our own and we fail miserably. We are now demoralized.)
13 And they did humble themselves even to the dust, subjecting themselves to the yoke of bondage, submitting themselves to be smitten, and to be driven to and fro, and burdened, according to the desires of their enemies. (We finally humble ourselves and submit to yoke of bondage. We are acutely aware of our predicament)
14 And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions. (We turn to God for help in our humble state. We ask for help)
15 And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage. (The Lord tries our resolve to trust in Him. Some good things begin to happen but we are not delivered)
16 And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger. (As we stay humble, relying on the Lord, our lives are blessed in degrees.)
We have learned an important lesson. Some will learn it sooner than others. We learn this lesson experientially. We learn that trying to solve the problem ourselves seldom works very well. We learn that humbling ourselves and relying on the Lord always bring better results even if it is only peace while in bondage. Deliverance will happen in the Lord's own due time (see Mosiah 22).
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Weakness
Over the years I have read Ether 12:27 over and over again trying to understand how to tap into that scripture. The verse goes,
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them.
So, as I strive to come unto the Lord, I am shown my weakness. Well, over the past ten years, I have been many weaknesses by the Lord. I will enumerate them in my private journal. Suffice it say that I am accutely aware of many of them. I sometimes confess them in prayer. If someone were to say, Scott, you really have a problem in this area or that, I would say, yes, I know.
I humbly know how weak I am. What is amazing is that if I have faith in Christ, he will make weak things strong unto me. He didn't say that he will turn my weakness into a strength. It seems to be broader than that. Maybe he will make it into a strength. Maybe he will create he just changes the environment so the weakness doesn't have to plague me anymore.
28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that afaith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all brighteousness.
We Gentiles need to stop being so proud and start exercising faith in God. We don't believe what we can't see. We can't see how God would provide if we would let him. We have to be so ruggedly independent. We can't accept help from others and don't expect God to help us either! Other races don't have this problem. The develop their faith, gain a hope and walk with charity in their hearts much earlier than we Gentiles do. We believe in a pull up your boot straps God. When others need temporal help and would love a leg up, we just can't. It goes against the I did it myself belief so he can do it too. We believe that all people have the same capasity that we were endowed with. There isn't room for someone to be really emotional sick. Cancer is ok. Take a year off. But, to be emotionally sick is not acceptable for some reason!
Back to what I want to talk about: weakness. The key is that weakness brings one closer to God! To know your weakness means that you are self aware. This means that repentance has been granted unto you. Most people that I have met have no awareness of their weakness. They are always right. They don't want to know. If you told them, they would get upset, want to leave the room or vehemently deny what you just said.
God is the best person to reveal weaknesses. He does it with the right timing. It took me years and years to finally realize and confess my first weakness. It took another six years for the second. These were awarenesses of major weaknesses. Things that I cannot change on my own. Since then many, many more have become known unto me. These awarenesses led up to a pivotal moment. I received a revelation on what I needed to do. Ask me and I might tell you. You first must have trust.
In verse 37 it says,
And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made aclean. And because thou hast seen thy bweakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.
This verse is amazing because the Lord tells Moroni that because he has seen his weakness, he shall be made strong. To see his weakness means to be aware of it, to realize that you have it. Apparently the Gentiles don't know that they need charity and this constitutes a big weakness on our behalf. We don't believe that faith, hope and charity are the most important things to work on. We are very proud. We are full up capacity. We prosper according to our own genious. We fare according to the management of our creatures and conquer according our own strength. We believe this is the right way. Even when we are 100% wrong. We love competition. We love money. These are all weaknesses!
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them.
So, as I strive to come unto the Lord, I am shown my weakness. Well, over the past ten years, I have been many weaknesses by the Lord. I will enumerate them in my private journal. Suffice it say that I am accutely aware of many of them. I sometimes confess them in prayer. If someone were to say, Scott, you really have a problem in this area or that, I would say, yes, I know.
I humbly know how weak I am. What is amazing is that if I have faith in Christ, he will make weak things strong unto me. He didn't say that he will turn my weakness into a strength. It seems to be broader than that. Maybe he will make it into a strength. Maybe he will create he just changes the environment so the weakness doesn't have to plague me anymore.
28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that afaith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all brighteousness.
We Gentiles need to stop being so proud and start exercising faith in God. We don't believe what we can't see. We can't see how God would provide if we would let him. We have to be so ruggedly independent. We can't accept help from others and don't expect God to help us either! Other races don't have this problem. The develop their faith, gain a hope and walk with charity in their hearts much earlier than we Gentiles do. We believe in a pull up your boot straps God. When others need temporal help and would love a leg up, we just can't. It goes against the I did it myself belief so he can do it too. We believe that all people have the same capasity that we were endowed with. There isn't room for someone to be really emotional sick. Cancer is ok. Take a year off. But, to be emotionally sick is not acceptable for some reason!
Back to what I want to talk about: weakness. The key is that weakness brings one closer to God! To know your weakness means that you are self aware. This means that repentance has been granted unto you. Most people that I have met have no awareness of their weakness. They are always right. They don't want to know. If you told them, they would get upset, want to leave the room or vehemently deny what you just said.
God is the best person to reveal weaknesses. He does it with the right timing. It took me years and years to finally realize and confess my first weakness. It took another six years for the second. These were awarenesses of major weaknesses. Things that I cannot change on my own. Since then many, many more have become known unto me. These awarenesses led up to a pivotal moment. I received a revelation on what I needed to do. Ask me and I might tell you. You first must have trust.
In verse 37 it says,
And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made aclean. And because thou hast seen thy bweakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.
This verse is amazing because the Lord tells Moroni that because he has seen his weakness, he shall be made strong. To see his weakness means to be aware of it, to realize that you have it. Apparently the Gentiles don't know that they need charity and this constitutes a big weakness on our behalf. We don't believe that faith, hope and charity are the most important things to work on. We are very proud. We are full up capacity. We prosper according to our own genious. We fare according to the management of our creatures and conquer according our own strength. We believe this is the right way. Even when we are 100% wrong. We love competition. We love money. These are all weaknesses!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Godliness
I was reading Moroni 10:32 ,
Yea, acome unto Christ, and be bperfected in him, and cdeny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and dlove God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be eperfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
It struck me that the first thing one does is come unto Christ, the second thing is to be perfected in him and the third is to deny yourself of all ungodliness. Perhaps as one come to rely on Christ, one realizes how far away he really is. But, that doesn't really matter since he takes up all the slack and you are perfected in him. At that point the struggle begins: denying yourself all ungodliness. This step requires that the person needs to start to grow. And this growth is difficult. All those poor character traits, bad habits and weaknesses that have made your natural man dentrites completely inflexible need to be worked on. But, we have Christ's grace to assist us. We could never do it alone. If, this wasn't true, you would have your defects. But, you still have them. They don't go away. You have tried and tried. You take the sacrament over and over again, repenting, wanting the weaknesses to depart. But they don't.
I believe that denying yourself all ungodliness has much to do with the character traits detailed by the Lord in the sermon on the mount. It is impossible for the natural man to even comprehend living precepts taught by the Lord on the mount. In fact, most of the teachings are foolishness to the natural man. Who in their right mind would turn the other cheek when verbally attacked? Its normal to call or think that someone is a fool when they do foolish things. Looking on a beautiful woman can bring obvious desires that the Lord counsel us to curtail since we might be committing adultury in our hearts. It is definitely incomprehensible to the natural man to consider the lillies of the field, how they toil not and apply the teaching in his own life. How do relax and flow through life, caring for nothing of the world, enjoying each moment? I could go on and on. Godliness, in my opinion, is the development of character traits that mirror Jesus Christ. Godliness requires the faith to desire to change deeply seated habits. The gift of charity must be bestowed on this humble follower of Christ because the attributes of charity are exactly what is needed to be able to live the sermon on the mount. You have to be long suffering to go the extra mile, you must believe all things and hope all things and endure all things to give your children good gifts rather than using compulsion to get what you want.
We can't see the results of living this new way. Since we can't see it, we don't believe that it will really work. Most of us can't even see our weaknesses since our culture teaches us over and over again that the natural man character traits are good. We fight back when when attacked. We believe we a justified and pat ourselves on the back because we verbally one the fight with the other individual. The person who has been granted repentance (Alma 13, last verse), does't see it that way. He is accutely aware that he has failed once again to hold his tongue. He feels terrible and wants to apologize yet again to his loved one for being such a jerk. When this person works out his salvation in fear and trembling or in other words, works at the weakness, relying on the grace of God - - when he gets to that place when he usually fights back, defending himself, digging into his natural man bag of tricks - - he has not desire to do it. He is calm. He isn't gritting his teeth. At this moment, this man realizes that charity has been granted and he no longer has a desire to evil. A miracle has just occurred. He knows and God knows it. This man immediately, praises God in prayer, thanking him for making his weakness a strength unto him.
He is on the road to becoming a just man and even a just man made perfect.
Yea, acome unto Christ, and be bperfected in him, and cdeny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and dlove God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be eperfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
It struck me that the first thing one does is come unto Christ, the second thing is to be perfected in him and the third is to deny yourself of all ungodliness. Perhaps as one come to rely on Christ, one realizes how far away he really is. But, that doesn't really matter since he takes up all the slack and you are perfected in him. At that point the struggle begins: denying yourself all ungodliness. This step requires that the person needs to start to grow. And this growth is difficult. All those poor character traits, bad habits and weaknesses that have made your natural man dentrites completely inflexible need to be worked on. But, we have Christ's grace to assist us. We could never do it alone. If, this wasn't true, you would have your defects. But, you still have them. They don't go away. You have tried and tried. You take the sacrament over and over again, repenting, wanting the weaknesses to depart. But they don't.
I believe that denying yourself all ungodliness has much to do with the character traits detailed by the Lord in the sermon on the mount. It is impossible for the natural man to even comprehend living precepts taught by the Lord on the mount. In fact, most of the teachings are foolishness to the natural man. Who in their right mind would turn the other cheek when verbally attacked? Its normal to call or think that someone is a fool when they do foolish things. Looking on a beautiful woman can bring obvious desires that the Lord counsel us to curtail since we might be committing adultury in our hearts. It is definitely incomprehensible to the natural man to consider the lillies of the field, how they toil not and apply the teaching in his own life. How do relax and flow through life, caring for nothing of the world, enjoying each moment? I could go on and on. Godliness, in my opinion, is the development of character traits that mirror Jesus Christ. Godliness requires the faith to desire to change deeply seated habits. The gift of charity must be bestowed on this humble follower of Christ because the attributes of charity are exactly what is needed to be able to live the sermon on the mount. You have to be long suffering to go the extra mile, you must believe all things and hope all things and endure all things to give your children good gifts rather than using compulsion to get what you want.
We can't see the results of living this new way. Since we can't see it, we don't believe that it will really work. Most of us can't even see our weaknesses since our culture teaches us over and over again that the natural man character traits are good. We fight back when when attacked. We believe we a justified and pat ourselves on the back because we verbally one the fight with the other individual. The person who has been granted repentance (Alma 13, last verse), does't see it that way. He is accutely aware that he has failed once again to hold his tongue. He feels terrible and wants to apologize yet again to his loved one for being such a jerk. When this person works out his salvation in fear and trembling or in other words, works at the weakness, relying on the grace of God - - when he gets to that place when he usually fights back, defending himself, digging into his natural man bag of tricks - - he has not desire to do it. He is calm. He isn't gritting his teeth. At this moment, this man realizes that charity has been granted and he no longer has a desire to evil. A miracle has just occurred. He knows and God knows it. This man immediately, praises God in prayer, thanking him for making his weakness a strength unto him.
He is on the road to becoming a just man and even a just man made perfect.
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