Day 236 Teancum's Lesson: Exceed to Succeed

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life, and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me, and know that I'm cheering for your every success today. A savory salt secret to success.

That's right. You heard it here first. Welcome to Day 236 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

Today, you're going to be reading Alma chapter 51, verses 24 to 37. You will finish that chapter and begin your reading in Alma 52, verses 1 through 6. And we're going to get to know a man named Teancum a little bit better here.

He frustrates Amalickiah. Now, building off of yesterday's episode for just a second and getting some context: Amalickiah has gained some serious steam, taking city after city after city as Moroni has dealt with the divisions inside of his own people. And then he is met by Teancum.

And an interesting thing occurs here. And here comes our savory salt secret to success. Are you ready for it?

We're going to be reading Alma chapter 51, verse 31. The secret to success here is not just "be better at war," but I think what we can pull out of this is really quite interesting. Did you catch that phrase about why Teancum was able to repulse Amalickiah and his men?

It said, "Every man of Teancum did exceed the Lamanites in their strength and in their skill of war." You see the secret to success here for all of us, and I'm going to put it into a little bit of a sticky way to remember it. My friends, I want you to exceed to succeed. By that, I want you to consider what it takes to exceed your competition in strength and skill.

Because if you will exceed your competition in strength and skill, you win. This absolutely isn't in the context of war for Teancum's purposes, but I want you to consider this in your life. But if you will exceed to succeed, you will find that your competition is nowhere around you because you have exceeded in every way.

My friends, this is the polar opposite of accepting mediocrity in your life. This is inviting exceptional into your life. If you will invite exceptional, if you will exceed everything that those around you are trying to do, you will find great success in your life.

For me, I'm trying to exceed my own view of scripture study. I want to be more exceptional today than I have been in the past. In fact, let me share kind of a little win, but it's a win for me nonetheless.

When you use the Gospel Library app, I'll give you just a quick example. When you use the Gospel Library app and you're studying from it, it lets you know in your daily study that you have a streak going. Now you would think that with us being on day 236, that I have a 236-day streak going, and that's just not the case.

Sometimes I do some of these episodes in advance, and sometimes I do them day-of. I'm going to be better at that. And each day that I do that, I am bettering myself.

So my friends, the savory salt secret to success is to exceed, to succeed. You will win the way that Teancum frustrated Amalickiah because his men were stronger and more skilled. When you become stronger and more skilled in the areas that you want to focus in, you too will find great success in your life going forward.

That's all for today, my friends. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow, and I hope you are too.