Sunday, October 1, 2017

Alma 12: 3-8-ish

Now Zeezrom, seeing that thou hast been taken in thy lying and craftiness, for thou hast not lied unto men only but thou hast lied unto God; for behold, he knows all thy athoughts, and thou seest that thy bthoughts are made known unto us by his Spirit;
And thou seest that we know that thy plan was a very asubtle plan, as to the subtlety of the devil, for to lie and to deceive this people that thou mightest set them against us, to brevile us and to cast us out—
Now this was a plan of thine aadversary, and he hath exercised his power in thee. Now I would that ye should remember that what I say unto thee I say unto all.
And behold I say unto you all that this was a asnare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his bchains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity.
Now when Alma had spoken these words, Zeezrom began to tremble more exceedingly, for he was convinced more and more of the power of God; and he was also convinced that Alma and Amulek had a knowledge of him, for he was convinced that they aknew the thoughts and intents of his heart; for power was given unto them that they might know of these things according to the spirit of prophecy.
What stands out to me in these verses is that Alma was careful to point out that the devil was Zeezrom's adversary. Alma was subtly inviting Zeezrom to join his team, which was Christ's team. He was direct in pointing out Zeezrom's plan, but above any pettiness or unkindness. He and Amulek were so far above him spiritually; they didn't want to waste any time with sniping, contention, anger, or rejection. They just invited him to listen and learn and repent. They loved him.
I would love to be that kind of man. I would love to be able to view others, even others who, while not beneath me, have little to no understanding of the things about which I have a testimony, and just love them. See them as my brother or sister who at one point made the decision to follow Christ. Perhaps they just know not where to look for redemption and reformation.
There is no room for fear or being intimidated from that perspective. Just love.

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