Week 35 is scheduled for study August 26-September 1, 2024. How is Jesus Christ the rock and our sure foundation? How do we choose to make Christ the foundation for our lives?
Day 1
Helaman 1-6 – Pride separates me from the Spirit and strength of God.
Today’s lesson talks about the Pride Cycle, the process of the people becoming hardened in their sins then softened through repentance over and over again. Being softened through repentance is pretty straightforward. We choose to believe in Christ and his ability to help us and save us from our own stubborn ways. We choose to obey his commandments and we exercise our faith in him. This brings us joy.
Pride, on the other hand, is more complicated and insidious. Anytime we choose our will over God’s will we are demonstrating pride, for we are pitting our will against His. If we know we need to keep a particular commandment, but make excuses for not doing it, we are being prideful. Pride’s root is to be a personal enemy. It is to have enmity, hatred, or to be opposed to others. Pride is a form of willfulness that pits our own will and desires against all other’s desires for us, whether for good or ill. We simply feel a need to exalt ourselves above all others and be the best, or at least better than the other person. That usually means taking from others and making sure they fail so that we win. Pride starts small, but grows with practice. This is the same with love, it starts small and grows with practice.
Pride feeds upon itself. We choose to put off keeping a commandment or we make an exception today. Tomorrow it is easier to find a reason not to be obedient. We would rather do something else anyway. Pretty soon we begin to resent those who want us to continue to be obedient, and we don’t want to have to be around them. Eventually we grow to hate anything that smacks of someone else’s will dictating to us what is needed, whether or not they claim we will be happier if we do what they say. We want them to just shut up and go away. Anger begins to rule our soul. There is a certain sense of freedom (for a time) in being able to do what we want and not feeling like we have to answer for our actions. This doesn’t last, but it is intoxicating while it lasts.
This inability to accept the rules and dictates of anyone else is why we have the scriptures tell us that one of the signs of pride in a people is that they cannot be ruled by law, except to their own condemnation. They are rule/law breakers, choosing to do what they like and seeking to get away with it. Life is all about today and what I can get out of it in the here and now. The future is not considered, for I want to be satisfied and feel good now.
Pride leads to all the behaviors that are the opposite of virtues. Because of pride we live by greed, we become uncaring of others, we use others for our own purposes, are self aggrandizing, wanting to lift ourselves above others at any cost. We lose the ability to truly love another person, because we are so focused on our self. This is why those trapped in pride are willing to commit secret murders, rob, plunder, steal, to take from others in order to gain for themselves.
Pride is the opposite of love. We will all experience one or the other. They are the tools of the only two philosophical camps available to us in mortality. God uses love to rule us, while the adversary uses pride to drive us. Every time a society is destroyed it is because of pride. Pride is the cause of all their wickedness. Destruction is the natural path for those led by pride, for it pits us against each other. It all depends on how far down the path of pride that society has traveled. Happy societies are always based on mutual respect and love for one another. Lasting prosperity is only available in a society based on the principles of love.
We are all in charge of which path we choose. If we bristle at having to be obedient to Christ then we have already chosen the path of pride. Repentance helps us become happier and happier with the choice to love one another and to honor Christ and his sacrifice for us. Repentance is the act of turning from our prideful choices and choosing instead to accept Christ as our Redeemer, the one who will save us from our hurtful choices. Peace and joy are only available through Jesus, and that requires that we choose to obey him in all things. If we don’t then peace and joy will not be available for us to experience. It all depends on what we want out of life.
Day 2
Helaman 3:24-35 – Faith in Christ fills my soul with joy.
Yesterday we looked at love and pride. By definition pride is a willfulness that doesn’t allow the person to be led or subjected in any way, for they want to be the one to call the shots in their life. They resent being told what they need to do. They want to be the supreme voice in guiding their own life. Yet look at what Helaman 3:35 says.
35 Nevertheless they did and oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their , and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the and the of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their their hearts unto God.
The very reason they waxed stronger in their humility and firmer in their faith in Christ, “unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation,” was because they yielded “their hearts unto God.” All sources of lasting happiness come from God, because those sources of happiness are based on love and the goodness that only comes from God. We simply cannot find love, joy, and happiness anywhere else. But we must be willing to submit to God’s laws and instructions, for He alone can show us how to achieve lasting happiness.
The counterfeit is the happiness that selfishness, willfulness, and sin offer. Their form of happiness is only temporary, and cannot last under any condition. Unfortunately, many don’t see the difference between the two until they have chosen the temporary version and have indulged themselves in willful ways so long they can’t remember what it feels like to genuinely feel the sweet peace that only the Spirit of God can give us. Perhaps they have never experienced that kind of peace. It can be difficult for someone who has been steeped in the ways of the world for a long time to acknowledge or understand that God’s peace and satisfaction are eternal, while that which they have chosen in the world is only temporary at best.
The reward for obedience to, and faith in God is always joy and peace. That is the nature of the life He lives, and what He offers to each of us if we choose to learn to live as He does.
Day 3
Helaman 5:6-7 – I can honor the Savior’s name.
Our family names are all different. Some family names have achieved honor in the world, and it can easy for us to honor our family name, because the world already recognizes that someone in our family has done great things in the past. But for most of us our family name is only important to those who bear that name, for we love those who have come before us. We should honor those who paved our way into this world, even if they were humble by worldly standards.
Learning to respect our family name helps us also demonstrate respect for the name of Christ, whose name we all bear as members of his earthly kingdom. He is our king and our ruler, and as such deserves our loyalty and devotion. Jesus sacrificed his all for us. What are we willing to sacrifice for him?
Day 4
Helaman 5:12-52 – If I make Jesus Christ my foundation, I cannot fall.
Sometimes I am far more literal than is good for me. When someone says Christ is my rock I see exactly what is pictured in the manual at the top of the page 175, a big rock. Fortunately, most of the time Jesus is referred to as our rock he is also referred to as our sure foundation. This I understand. I served my mission in the Bay Area of California. We weren’t allowed to go into the temple at that time, but we were allowed to give tours to investigators if we wanted to. The Oakland Temple was special to us.
The Oakland Temple is one of the only temples that has a rooftop garden. On each corner of the roof is an olive tree from the holy land. It has a waterfall that drops from the roof down into a reflecting pool just outside the entrance to the visitor’s center. Beautiful temple. One of the features of the Oakland temple is that to build it the church dug down to bedrock. The whole building is anchored into stone. This sets it apart from all the buildings around it in the Bay Area. On top of the temple is a geologic survey marker. Since they know the temple isn’t going anywhere they set the marker on the top of the temple so they can go up and see how far down the Oakland hills the houses are sliding each year. They measure their slippage from on top of the temple, because the building doesn’t move.
When we anchor our lives on the teachings of Christ we attach ourselves to a sure foundation, one that can’t be moved. It doesn’t matter what philosophical winds blow, what political circumstances rage, or what moral tremors shake our world, we are safe and secure when all our decisions are made based on the foundation of Christ’s teachings, his gospel. Figuratively speaking Jesus is our rock, that which anchors us and gives us a sure footing in life, preventing us from slipping down the hill to our harm. When we attach ourselves to any other person or ideology we have built our lives, our “home” upon a sandy foundation, and when the winds come and the rains descend, we will find our lives slipping and sliding away, like a home on a sandbar in a storm.
Personal Study
And thus we see …
Mormon points out the lessons he found in the history of his people by telling us “and thus we see …”. But what about us? Are we finding lessons we learn from when we read the scriptures? Do we also have our “and thus we see” moments? We should. I would like to share one such insight with you I just learned. This isn’t earth shattering, and it won’t save my soul. What it does is give me a better appreciation for what these people had happening in their lives.
Pahoran and Helaman were both righteous men. Both of them taught the gospel and fought wars together and apart. I can’t help but think that their children also knew each other. When Pahoran died he had three of his many sons who all wanted to take their father’s place at the head of the government. Each of them had very different dispositions and personalities. His son, also named Pahoran, was elected to fill his father’s place at the head of the government. Once he was elected Pahoran’s brother, Pacumeni “united with the voice of the people.”
Unfortunately, their brother Paanchi wanted the position so badly that he was angry and was going to start a civil war to force them to give him the title of Chief Judge. Because of his sedition his brother, Pahoran, had to arrest him, try him for his crimes against the people, and put his own brother to death. That is one brother dead. Paanchi’s followers weren’t going to let this go, so they sent the assassin Kishkumen to murder Pahoran. Two brothers dead.
The voice of the people called for Pacumeni to take Pahoran’s place at the head of the government. But now their father’s old rival Ammoron had a son, Coriantumr, who was appointed by the king of the Lamanites to lead his army into the heart of Nephite lands. He attacked Zarahemla (Helaman 1:21).
21 And it came to pass that Pacumeni, who was the chief judge, did flee before Coriantumr, even to the walls of the city. And it came to pass that Coriantumr did smite him against the wall, insomuch that he died. And thus ended the days of Pacumeni.
Now all three of Pahoran’s sons who wanted to be Chief Judge were dead. Helaman’s son, also named Helaman, was the new head of the church and keeper of the records. This must have caused him much sorrow to see this much pain in his family friend’s household. Considering how close the two generals were I wouldn’t be surprised to find that their children were good friends with each other growing up.
This insight or realization about Pahoran’s family and Helaman’s family is one of my “and thus we see” moments. My heart goes out to Pahoran’s family for their loss – three sons in a matter of a year. This “moment” isn’t doctrinal, just situational, but we can also have these same insights come to us as we study the scriptures and see how doctrines relate to each other and support each other. When that happens it is important that we record somewhere the knowledge we have just gained, so we don’t lose it from neglect.
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