I finished the Book of Mormon challenge today. Barely made it!
In October our church had a big conference and our prophet who leads the church challenged all the women to read the Book of Mormon (our companion scripture to the Bible) by the end of the year. It's 531 pages. I like a good challenge so I accepted it and finished up today. (I got super behind but lucky for me my baby has been a horrible sleeper the past few weeks so it meant a lot of middle of the night reading. Yay!)
Anyway, it was good. Yes there are some weird things in the Book of Mormon that I don't get (like, why do certain parts sound exactly like the same translation we have King James bible? Or what is going on with all the skin color changes or lack there of according to wickedness or righteousness? I am hoping that one was just what FAIR says-an expression like "thick skinned" or something. Not sure.) There are some pretty weird things I don't get in the Bible as well (eh hem, the bald head story?). But overall my take away from reading it all in a short amount of time is that there the really is a lot of GOOD in the BOOK.
Here is a sample of some of the goodness:
2 Nephi 26:33 "He (Jesus) inviteth them ALL to com unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female, and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.
Why I like this verse: He invites us all. He's in no way a racist, sexist, classist, or any other kind of -ist. If there is anything that ever sounds like God might be that way, then something is not right whether it be my misunderstanding, or something mistranslated, or the philosophies of men mingled with scripture. Because he is goodness and wants all of us to come back to him no matter who or what we are.
Mosiah 4:16 (King Benjamin speaking): And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of succor, ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. (The rest of these verses are awesome too 17-19):
Why I like this verse: Because I feel like this is the essence of Christ's life and what makes the world a better place: taking care of one another, and if your read the other verses you'll read that we are not to judge the poor, only to love and take care of them as Christ loves and takes care of us.
Mosiah 26:30 (Christ speaking): "Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me."
Why I like this verse: Because it is a reminder that God is ALL forgiving. I am human and I fall short in every day in every way but he does not ask for perfection, he just asks us to keep trying. And he gives us the strengthen and grace to even do that if we will let him.
Mosiah 18:8-10 (Alma speaking inviting people to be baptised) "As ye are desirous to come into the fold of God and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those who mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God....if this be the desires of your hearts, what have ye against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him..."
Why I like these verses: I LOVE the phrase "mourn with those who mourn". Not try to fix those who mourn. But mourn with them. Sit in their pain with them. Empathize. Bear their burden. What a world this would be if we all tried to do this more. I also feel that is exactly what Christ does. Because of his sufferings (Alma 7: 11-12) he knows our exact pains and can mourn with us better than anyone can because through the atonement, he's been there.
2 Nephi 10:24: "Wherefore, my beloved bretheren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh, and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.
Why I like this verse: Because grace is one of my favorite topics. We are saved by grace. It's his power and strength that saves us, redeems us, and helps us do and be better each day of our lives. We can't do it on our own, we need the grace of our Savior.
That is just a tiny bit of the goodness that is in the Book of Mormon. And all though I still have endless amounts of questions, I can say I am grateful for the goodness of the Book of Mormon and for the motivation I feel to do and be better through Christ's grace.
In October our church had a big conference and our prophet who leads the church challenged all the women to read the Book of Mormon (our companion scripture to the Bible) by the end of the year. It's 531 pages. I like a good challenge so I accepted it and finished up today. (I got super behind but lucky for me my baby has been a horrible sleeper the past few weeks so it meant a lot of middle of the night reading. Yay!)
Anyway, it was good. Yes there are some weird things in the Book of Mormon that I don't get (like, why do certain parts sound exactly like the same translation we have King James bible? Or what is going on with all the skin color changes or lack there of according to wickedness or righteousness? I am hoping that one was just what FAIR says-an expression like "thick skinned" or something. Not sure.) There are some pretty weird things I don't get in the Bible as well (eh hem, the bald head story?). But overall my take away from reading it all in a short amount of time is that there the really is a lot of GOOD in the BOOK.
Here is a sample of some of the goodness:
2 Nephi 26:33 "He (Jesus) inviteth them ALL to com unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female, and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.
Why I like this verse: He invites us all. He's in no way a racist, sexist, classist, or any other kind of -ist. If there is anything that ever sounds like God might be that way, then something is not right whether it be my misunderstanding, or something mistranslated, or the philosophies of men mingled with scripture. Because he is goodness and wants all of us to come back to him no matter who or what we are.
Mosiah 4:16 (King Benjamin speaking): And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of succor, ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. (The rest of these verses are awesome too 17-19):
Why I like this verse: Because I feel like this is the essence of Christ's life and what makes the world a better place: taking care of one another, and if your read the other verses you'll read that we are not to judge the poor, only to love and take care of them as Christ loves and takes care of us.
Mosiah 26:30 (Christ speaking): "Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me."
Why I like this verse: Because it is a reminder that God is ALL forgiving. I am human and I fall short in every day in every way but he does not ask for perfection, he just asks us to keep trying. And he gives us the strengthen and grace to even do that if we will let him.
Mosiah 18:8-10 (Alma speaking inviting people to be baptised) "As ye are desirous to come into the fold of God and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those who mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God....if this be the desires of your hearts, what have ye against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him..."
Why I like these verses: I LOVE the phrase "mourn with those who mourn". Not try to fix those who mourn. But mourn with them. Sit in their pain with them. Empathize. Bear their burden. What a world this would be if we all tried to do this more. I also feel that is exactly what Christ does. Because of his sufferings (Alma 7: 11-12) he knows our exact pains and can mourn with us better than anyone can because through the atonement, he's been there.
2 Nephi 10:24: "Wherefore, my beloved bretheren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh, and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.
Why I like this verse: Because grace is one of my favorite topics. We are saved by grace. It's his power and strength that saves us, redeems us, and helps us do and be better each day of our lives. We can't do it on our own, we need the grace of our Savior.
That is just a tiny bit of the goodness that is in the Book of Mormon. And all though I still have endless amounts of questions, I can say I am grateful for the goodness of the Book of Mormon and for the motivation I feel to do and be better through Christ's grace.
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