2.209 If It Were Not For Your Good

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's great to have you with me. Today, let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. Let's kick off the week in the Book of Mormon, shall we?

We've been talking these last couple of days in the end of last week here about the role that Alma takes on here to talk to his sons in the realm of encouragement, in the realm of correction, in the realm of testimony, in the world of gospel doctrine. He does all these things and today I thought we've got to continue this at least one more go, if not several more, because the chapters we're looking at this week all deal with Alma's counsel to his sons. We're reading this week Doctrine and Covenants Section 84, which we will get to, as well as Alma chapters 39 through 42, which are all encompassing to Alma's direction to his son Corianton.

Our verse for today is going to come out of Alma chapter 39. We're going to start in the Book of Mormon this week. That's Alma chapter 39, verse 7.

The front end of Alma 39, he just comes straight out and tells his son, "You have made mistakes here." And these are grievous mistakes. They are not good, right? And so, one, perhaps, that's worth us learning for parents, right?

A chance for us to say, "Hey, sometimes there's a time to tell our children what's not working." But then it's an interesting piece inside of verse 7 here, and he says this, he says, "And now, my son, I would to God that ye had not been guilty of so great a crime. I would not dwell upon your crimes to harrow up your soul if it were not for your good." Isn't that an interesting phrase? I would not bring this up if it weren't for your good.

Now that can be a fine line, and parents, you're going to need to lean into the Spirit here in terms of where to go with your children. But there are absolutely times, and this isn't just parents and children, by the way, this could be any family member, any friend that you deem close in your life. There are times when we need to call out the dangers we see to our loved ones for their good.

And I love that Alma is willing to say, "Hey, this is a hard conversation." You and I are going to be a little uncomfortable here, and I wouldn't do it if it weren't for your good. I actually see Alma's love for his son come through here and shine bright. As he says, "These are some really, really difficult things you have chosen to do, and you have a path of repentance you need to go on." But I wouldn't talk to you about it unless I knew that you were receiving good from it.

My friends, I think that's such a great pattern for us. It's a great one for me as I see the Lord coming to Allen, right? I see the Lord come to me and say, "Hey, by the way, you could change these things, and I wouldn't even bring it up unless it were going to make you better." So whatever that is for you, for me, and for our loved ones, it teaches me that hard conversations can absolutely be for our good.

So, God shows us our mistakes, not to pin us down, not to make us feel guilty, not to make us feel lower than we're worth. He shows us those mistakes and says, "I want you to see these things and fix them because I know it's going to be for your good." I love the love that Alma shows to his son here, Corianton. Despite all the mistakes he's made, he says, "I wouldn't even talk to you unless I knew"