Day 323 The Gospel is Worth Standing For

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. Let's reach way back into the archives of Savory Salt.

I'm going to ask you a question I haven't asked you for a really long time. What do you stand for? Welcome to Day 323 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon.

Let's get Mormon together. Today you're going to be reading 4 Nephi chapter 1, verses 36 to 49. You will see the complete slide of the Nephites and Lamanites inside of that as you finish that chapter.

And you will break into what I believe to be one of the saddest books in the Book of Mormon. And that is Mormon chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. You'll just barely get an introduction to Mormon in his lifetime.

And while we're looking at the description of these ites, something stood out to me today inside of our verse. It's in 4 Nephi chapter 1, verse 38. It says, "And it came to pass that they who rejected the gospel were called Lamanites and Lemuelites and Ishmaelites.

And they did not dwindle in unbelief, but they did willfully rebel against the gospel of Christ. And they did teach their children that they should not believe, even as their fathers from the beginning did dwindle." Now, this one's interesting to me because it appears inside of this verse that there is a difference in those who struggle and dwindle in unbelief, right? Maybe they have some faith challenges.

Maybe they're just having a time where they're not sure where their faith stands. And those that willfully rebel against the gospel of Christ. And it was interesting to see that rather than creating pamphlets that described the doctrines and the tenets of their own belief systems, they spent time creating pamphlets telling you why you should avoid the Mormon Church.

My first experience in seeing anti-Mormon literature was actually written in Mongolian. It was the Mongolian pamphlets from other Christian churches, and they did not spend time telling people the tenets of their Christian beliefs. They didn't create pamphlets that talked about the things that those people wanted to believe in.

They didn't create pamphlets of testimonies of Christ. Instead, they spent their time creating pamphlets on all of the reasons why they felt you should not listen to the missionaries or why you should not consider joining the "Mormon Church." And it's really interesting to see because if you look in today's world, in many cases, whether spiritual, political, economic, social, a lot of people don't actually stand for things. The things I love about the gospel of Jesus Christ are so positive that I want to talk about them.

I want the tenets and the principles and the doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ to stand. And I love that the missionaries use stories of what we stand for as members of the Church, rather than the things that we stand against. My friends, the gospel of Jesus Christ is worth standing for.

If you find yourself dwindling in unbelief, don't continue to slide down that path until you ultimately willfully rebel against the gospel of Jesus Christ. When you struggle in that faith, lean to Jesus Christ. Stand for him.

Be a representative of him, and you will find him in your life. That is a promise I can give you today inside this episode of Savory Salt. 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.