2.149 All Mankind...Must Be...Changed

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello, my friends.

It is great to have you with me. Today, let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. The Atonement of Jesus Christ should change every one of us.

My friends, I am so loving our reading this week. We're in Doctrine and Covenants, Sections 51 through 57, as well as Mosiah chapters 26 through Alma chapter 1. We jumped over into Mosiah yesterday from our Doctrine and Covenants reading and I just kept going.

And so we're gonna just keep going inside of Mosiah for a little bit. We'll probably get back to Doctrine and Covenants at some point this week, but make sure that you're doing your readings on both sides of things. I got to tell you, 27 for Mosiah is a phenomenal chapter.

It's a very famous one, or at least those that have read the Book of Mormon a couple of times look to this one as well. As well as somewhere around Alma 36 or so to learn of the story of Alma the Younger's conversion. And Mosiah chapter 27 records it well.

It is perhaps scripturally, maybe Paul is in the running, but it is, scripturally, one of the most endearing messages we can receive about the Atonement of Jesus Christ when it comes to repentance and changing our past. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you spend time inside of it.

I hope you see what parts of Alma are in your life and what it can be for you going forward. Our message today, our verse for today comes inside of Mosiah chapter 27 and it's verse 25. Alma has just awakened from his kind of couple of days of dead, right?

He's not responsive as he is going through the repentance process and we learn a little bit more as I said in the Book of Alma later. But as he wakes up he's recording his story and he's telling this to his friends and family. And this is what he says in verse 25.

And it even continues into 26 talking about becoming full on just new creatures through the Atonement of Christ. My friends, I love this because Alma has a moment with the Lord where he's done some terrible things. He is a sinner, right?

He's been, later on we find out in the scriptures, kind of vile sinners, right? They went about destroying the Church of God. And here the Lord says, look, when you experience the Atonement, you're going to be born again, born of God and changed from your carnal and fallen state.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about change. And so much of the messages that I hear today are about the Lord accepting us for who we are. And you got to be who you are and you be you and you do that and you stand.

And I understand what that message is trying to say, but there's a component of it that absolutely rejects the idea of the Lord wanting us, loving us to be more. And I was trying to find, you know, someone that could back me up on this a little bit. Is anybody out there?

And I came across a talk from Brad Wilcox, who at the time in 2021 was the Second Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency. This is from October of '21 in his conference talk called "Worthiness Is Not Flawlessness". It is phenomenal when it comes to the Atonement and how it can change us.

But right off the beginning of the talk, he says this: Some mistakenly receive the message that repentance and change are unnecessary. God's message is that they are essential. But doesn't God love us despite our shortcomings?

Of course, He loves us perfectly. I love my grandchildren, imperfections and all, but that does not mean I don't want them to improve and become all they can become. God loves us as we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us this way.

I want to say that one again, and that's going to take you down a rabbit hole with Neal A. Maxwell, but I want to give you that one again. God loves us as we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us this way.

And then going back into the quote, it says, 'Growing up unto the Lord is what mortality is all about. Change is what Christ's Atonement is all about. Not only can Christ resurrect, cleanse, console, and heal us, but through it all, He can transform us to become more like Him.' My friends, the Atonement of Jesus Christ is about us submitting to transformation.

Transformation that can come through our Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ. A transformation that can turn us more like Them so that we transform from our carnal and fallen state into a state of righteousness. Ultimately becoming sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father.

My friends, I am so grateful for the opportunity to transform through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That's all for today, my friends. Lift up your hearts and rejoice. Cleave unto the covenants you have made and together we will be savory salt.