Someone was talking badly about me being my back.
I was in high school.
And someone told me about what someone else was saying.
And boy, did that make me mad.
Why was she saying bad things about me that weren’t even true?!
I started telling everyone about how rude she was.
How unfair she was.
How she didn’t understand my side of things.
Then, one day, it clicked.
I was now talking about HER behind her back!
When it was all said and done, this acquaintance said one poor thing about me to a handful of people.
And yet, I spent weeks saying poor things about this person to even more people.
The Lord taught Thomas B. Marsh some personal lessons.
Including that he should “. . . revile not against those that revile.”(D&C 31:9)
“Revile” means to criticize in an angry or abusive way.
Someone yelling at me, being rude to me, leaving me out, or criticizing me may hurt when it happens.
But it doesn’t mean that I yell, criticize, become rude, or intentionally leave others out in return.
I’ve been on a lifelong journey to try to control my emotions maturely, just as the Lord taught Thomas in this verse.
Instead, I try to focus on living the second great commandment:
Loving my neighbor as myself, completely independent of other people’s actions.
“We move toward loving our adversaries when we avoid anger and hostility toward those with whom we disagree.” – Pres Oaks
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
