12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall
always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a
remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him
that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.
13 And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but
to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his
due.
14 And ye will not suffer your children that they go
hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God,
and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master
of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he
being an enemy to all righteousness. (Mosiah 4:12-30)
King Benjamin tells his people if they are faithful and
repent, they will be filled with the love of God. They will always have
forgiveness for their sins. Their knowledge of the glory of God and that which
is true will grow.
“No matter what your current status, the very moment you
voluntarily choose honest, joyful, daily repentance by striving to simply do
and be your very best, the Savior’s Atonement envelops and follows you, as it
were, wherever you go. Living in this manner, you can truly ‘always retain a
remission of your sins’ every hour of every day, every second of every minute,
and thus be fully clean and acceptable before God all the time.”[1]
They will have no desire to injure each other. “Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
“And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them
that make peace” (James 3:18).
They will live in peace and give to each person according to
what is appropriate for them.
“No doubt Benjamin
faced several crises during his lifetime. As has been discussed above, one of
his most urgent needs was to promote unity among his people. The first and last
things said in reference to Benjamin in the Book of Mormon are about
contentions. Judging by Benjamin’s comments to the rich and the poor, class
stratification was a problem that had developed among these people. To strengthen
his community, Benjamin’s first covenantal stipulation for the people was that
parents should teach the youth that they should ‘not have a mind to injure one
another, but to live peaceably’ one with another (Mosiah 4:13).”[2]
Speaking of
children, Benjamin tells us our children…
·
should not go
hungry.
·
should be
clothed.
·
should not break
the commandments.
·
should not fight
and quarrel with each other.
·
should not serve
the devil (“the enemy to all righteousness”).
“But if any provide
not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the
faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Timothy 5:8).
“All children have claim upon their parents for their
maintenance until they are of age” (D&C 83:4).
If we fail to take care of our children, we will serve the
devil, the master of sin.“And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye
ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning
this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to
pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man
to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray” (2 Nephi 32:8).
“But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions
among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit, which was spoken of by my
father Mosiah” (Mosiah 2:32).
All of this is to be
done by parents as their children grow. M. Catherine Thomas looks at the
importance of fighting the devil.
“The priesthood
holder labors with all his faculties to rout Satan from his loved ones as Satan
is manifested in physical violence, mental warfare, and contention among the
people. For any Melchizedek Priesthood holder to become a prince of peace, he
must in some degree wrest his little kingdom from the adversary and halt the
plans of the destroyer on behalf of his loved ones.”[3]
“The home is the
great laboratory of love. There the raw chemicals of selfishness and greed are
melded in the crucible of cooperation to yield compassionate concern and love
one for another.”[4]
Children are to be taught to walk in the ways of truth and
soberness. “And it came to pass that [King Benjamin] had three sons; and he
called their names Mosiah, and Helorum, and Helaman. And he caused that they
should be taught in all the language of his fathers, that thereby they might
become men of understanding; and that they might know concerning the prophecies
which had been spoken by the mouths of their fathers, which were delivered them
by the hand of the Lord” (Mosiah 1:2).
“Wherefore teach … your children, that all men, everywhere,
must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean
thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam,
Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of
Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of
time.
“Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these
things freely unto your children” (Moses 6:57-58).
“And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws [OR laws
and doctrine], and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work
that they must do” (Exodus 18:20).
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in
truth” (3 John 1:4).
“Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite
my heart to fear thy name” (Psalm 86:11).
They should love and serve one another.
“From the scripture we see that King Benjamin points out in
a very positive way how we can help our children, for he said we shall teach
them truth, teach them soberness, teach them to love one another, and teach
them to serve one another. Fathers and mothers, may I remind you that we are
always teaching.
“The home should be the great workshop of the Lord. Here is
where children must be taught to walk in ways of truth and soberness, of love
and service to each other.
“The most effective examples a child will ever have—for bad
or for good—are his own parents. Few of us realize how very pliable and
teachable children are in their primary years of life. How quick they are to
pick up parental habits and traits and teachings!”[5]
[1] Approaching
the Throne of God with Confidence, Elder Jörg Klebingat, October 2014
General Conference.
[2]
Benjamin’s Speech: A Masterful Oration, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute.
[3]
King Benjamin and the Mysteries of God, M. Catherine Thomas, Maxwell Institute.
[4] Our
Sacred Duty to Honor Women, President Russell M. Nelson, April 1999 General
Conference.
[5] Harmony
in the Home, Bishop H. Burke Peterson, April 1972 General Conference.
No comments:
Post a Comment