Day 251 Pahoran: Rejoice in the Greatness of Heart

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.

My friends, I think we could all use a little more Pahoran in our lives. Welcome to day 251 on our 365 day journey through the Book of Mormon together. You're going to read Alma chapter 61 verses 4 through 21, basically the chapter here We going to get Pahoran response to Moroni very heated very frustrated very loaded letter about whether Pahoran is being lazy whether he is just enjoying the fruits of everyone else labors like whatever it may be I love Pahoran response here and it can teach us so much So let dive straight into it We going to look at Alma 61 verse 9 today and get an incredible insight to a man that we really don get a whole lot about But this is what happens in verse 9 He writing back to Moroni and he says And now in your epistle, you have censured me, but it mattereth not.

I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment seat, that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free.

I love this response and I try to keep Pahoran's eyesight in my own life as often as I can. I've got a huge smile on my face because of this response. Pahoran has every right to be angry at Moroni.

Moroni is lashing out in frustration and yet Pahoran knows Moroni's core intent. Moroni core intent is not to be specifically angry at Pahoran It is the lack of the resources His frustration is he seeing the freedom of his people dissipate and disappear And Pahoran, instead of being angry at the censure, he responds by saying, I rejoice in the greatness of your heart. My friends, when we are hearing from our leaders, church leaders, those that speak from the pulpit, and they give us direction in our lives, and they give us correction in our lives, and maybe even a couple of shots across the bow, maybe, maybe even some censure comes across.

It's a chance for us to see their intent, to see where it comes from, and to open our hearts and seek to rejoice in the greatness of their heart that they care about us enough to help us be better. Now, when it comes to family, when it comes to friends, sometimes communication gets mixed and mingled. This is an opportunity to look at the core intent of the person you talking to and remember their core intent is to help you It to lift you It to love you It to help you be better So in those moments when they say the things probably aren even necessarily what they mean to say or in those moments of frustration it a chance for all of Thank you for watching Take offense at anything in your letter.

I am excited about it and I'm excited for your help as we go forward here. Great lesson in forgiveness and seeing people from the lens of their core intent. 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.