2.214 He Cometh To Declare Glad Tidings of Salvation

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. Today is a beautiful pattern that we can take as parents, as children, in talking to others about difficult and hard things.

We've been reading Doctrine and Covenants section 84, and I hope that you have found that incredibly empowering and enlightening with the priesthood and the oath and covenant thereof, and verses that surround it. We're going to shift now into our reading of Alma. We've been reading this week Alma chapters 39 through 42, which is Alma's commandments and discussions with his son Corianton.

Now we know that Corianton has dealt with some sins and he made some mistakes, and Alma talks about that right at the beginning of Alma 39. But then I love this pattern that we get, and we actually aren't going to get out of Alma 39, even though we started in that earlier in the week. We're going to stay in it for one more reason here.

Our verse for today is Alma chapter 39, verse 15. And Alma has talked about the challenges that his son is facing. He talked about the sins that he committed.

And then he does this, and I think this is such a good... I want you to think about the last time you had a hard conversation with someone. Even more specifically, maybe the last time you had a conversation with a family member that was difficult to have.

Maybe it was out of love, but around behaviors that were not in alignment with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Maybe you haven't had those conversations, or maybe you're even afraid to have those conversations. Alma gives us a wonderful example here of something we can consider when having those conversations.

What is it? Well, in verse 15, Alma says, 'Look, son, you made mistakes. But let me shift gears here and let me tell you about Jesus Christ.

Let me tell you about how he's coming to take away the sins of the world and he's coming to declare glad tidings of salvation unto his people.' How many times do you and I take an opportunity inside of those hard conversations to testify of Jesus Christ and the role that he plays in all of our lives? It's such a beautiful moment here because Alma is going to go into some pretty heavy doctrine that his son Corianton must have been wondering about, right? But he's going to go into salvation and he's going to go into the process there.

He's going to talk about resurrection. And he's going to talk about where the dead go, and paradise, and prison, and all these things, right? And yet he's going to start out with, 'Son, you've made some mistakes.' And he's going to tell him directly what those mistakes are.

And then he's going to say, 'But I want to tell you about Jesus Christ, who's here to take those away.' My friends, I hope that I can remember, one, in my moments of mistakes, the testimony that Alma gives to each one of us: that Jesus Christ is here to take away our sins and bring joy and salvation, glad tidings, to each one of us. And two, I hope that I can remember in the times when I need to talk to friends or family and maybe talk to them about behaviors that are not in alignment with the gospel of Jesus Christ, I can remember that when I talk to them about those behaviors, I also include my testimony of the love that Jesus Christ has for us and the desire he has to take away our sins and declare glad tidings of salvation to us. What a beautiful moment we can learn from Alma as he struggles with the challenge of a difficult son.

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.