Did you know that during the Jaredite civilization, Morianton came and won over the land, establishing himself as king?

“He did ease the burden of the people, by which he did gain favor in the eyes of the people.” (Ether 10:10)

He took away all of their grievous taxes and let them live wonderful lives!

But the catch?

“He did do justice unto the people, BUT NOT unto himself because of his many whoredoms; wherefore he was cut off from the presence of the Lord.” (Ether 10:11)

He sought to gain favor with his subjects and to ease their burdens.

But he never turned to the Lord and repented of sins.

He was a blessing outwardly to many people, but he didn’t save his own soul and turn to the Lord.

Did you know it’s possible to do good things without gaining a relationship with Christ?

It’s possible to go to church and fulfill your calling just to socialize.

It’s possible to pay tithing just to keep your temple recommend, so you aren’t left out of the temple for the upcoming wedding.

It’s possible to post a bunch of #givethanks pictures just so other people don’t judge you for not doing it. 😉

But…

We often hear that we gain testimonies of principles as we follow them – so how do we do this without being hypocrites?

I think it all comes down to one thing.

Desire.

When we are struggling to want to go to church in order to worship the Lord, we can still go with a desire to want to go to church more often in the future.

If paying tithing becomes a big challenge, we can still pay it with a desire to gain a stronger testimony of it in the future.

If we don’t want to participate in another social media challenge, we can try to post with a desire that it will become more authentic and fill us with gratitude and peace.

Doing righteous actions is fantastic. Blessing lives through our example, our service, our money, our testimony… that is amazing.

But are we neglecting our own hearts? Or are we using our actions to turn our hearts to our Savior?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

Share:

Facebook
Pinterest
Email
Print

2 Responses

  1. Thank you for the words and thoughts you share. I had that tithing struggle in the past, paying it with the wrong attitude, but over time it has become a testimony from my heart that we are so blessed as a family to fulfill this wonderful commandment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept the Privacy Policy

Keep Studying

Related Posts

Asking for help 

Those silly Nephites. ⁣ They were struggling for their lives. They were being slaughtered. Their peace was being destroyed. ⁣ And yet they didn’t call

Church-y Christmas Gift Guide 2024

With the holiday season upon us, are you looking to gift something that is memorable and meaningful?! I have gotten the opportunity to connect with

Team Lead 

After my first year teaching, I felt like I was drowning. ⁣ Teaching middle school was tough. I prayed that there would be some kind

Mormon refused

Mormon refused to be the military leader anymore. Not out of hatred, or disgust, or annoyance. ⁣ But out of love. ⁣ “I… had loved

Remembered 14 years later

MORMON REMEMBERED what Ammaron said to him as a 10-year-old boy. Do you remember anything that someone told you when you were 10 years old?