There is a simple truth that, despite its simplicity and significance, many people choose to ignore: to reject Jesus Christ is to reject the salvation, comfort, and joy that He offers to those who believe in Him, repent, and obey His commandments. Mosiah 14:3 tells us, “He [Christ] is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” [1]. I can think of fewer things that could cause me more sorrow and regret than to know of Jesus Christ, especially to have a testimony of Him, and then to reject Him and His word. Indeed, the scriptures tell us that the greatest sin, which cannot be pardoned and will condemn whoever commits it to eternal outer darkness, is to have a sure, manifested witness of Christ through the Spirit, and then to turn against Him and reject the truth. Conversely, nothing can bring us greater eternal joy than to be able to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the highest degree of glory of the Celestial Kingdom forever, together with our families. If we reject Jesus Christ, we cannot achieve this ultimate and most desirable goal. Jacob echoed this idea when he wrote, “And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation. And now, my beloved, how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner?” [2].
Pride is often a main cause of a person rejecting Christ. According to the LDS concordance program, the word “reject” in Hebrew can also mean “despise,” “abuse,” and “illegalize” [3]. These meanings are very applicable to the last few weeks of Jesus Christ’s mortal life, as he was despised of, abused by, and unjustly condemned by law of the Jews, who were His chosen people. A good number of these people, most notably the Pharisees and scribes, hated Christ so much because of their pride. The New Testament is full of stories in which the Pharisees, who saw Jesus as a threat to their power, tried to catch Him in wrongdoing or contradicting Himself. They were all the more enraged and resentful of Him when they could not, and this fueled their pride and their hatred toward Him. In 1 Nephi 19:14, it says of the people of Jerusalem, “And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations” [4]. The people in the Book of Mormon, as well, were often motivated by pride when they rejected the Gospel. In Alma 5, Alma the High Priest said, “O ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed up in the vain things of the world, ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not hearken unto his voice!” [5].
Many of the people whose stories are told in the Book of Mormon rejected Jesus Christ, often because of pride, and their lives bear a testament of the sorrow this choice brings to people. Throughout the history of the Nephites and Lamanites we read of what is often referred to as the “pride cycle,” which occurred numerous times (though not always) among both peoples. The people would be righteous for a time, which would cause them to prosper and become wealthy. Then their wealth would make them proud, and in their pride they would turn away from Christ, which would eventually lead to destruction and sorrow, which in turned humbled the people and often caused them to repent. After being visited by an angel along with the sons of Mosiah, Alma the Younger said, I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all” [6]. The story of Alma the Younger’s remarkable repentance after having rejected Christ and the teachings of his father for so many years gives great hope for those who may have turned away from the Gospel or may be refusing to listen to the word of Christ at the time being.
People may reject Christ and the gospel because of fear or guilt stemming from things they have done in the past that they feel that they cannot be forgiven for. This can be caused by an imperfect or incomplete understanding of the repentance process or the Atonement of Christ. In Spanish, the word “rechazar,” or “to reject,” can also mean “to resist” or “to avoid” [7]. Small children avoid their parents when they know they have done something wrong; similarly, children of God may tend to avoid Him and Christ when they are ashamed of something they have done or fearful of being punished. Understanding the Atonement and our Savior’s love for us can help overcome this fear and be willing to accept Christ and abide by His laws.
I once struggled with this very problem when I was about ten years old. I loved to play with fire, and my mom was very strict about letting me use candles in the basement. One day I wanted to have a relaxing bath in the basement bathroom, so I sneaked a couple candles down and lit them in the bathroom. However, the smoke from the candles and match built up in the small bathroom and set off the smoke alarm, which I quickly turned off. I lied to my mom and told her that it had made noise because the batteries were low, and I even went as far as to change the batteries unnecessarily to cover up my disobedience. Even though it wasn’t a very severe mistake with big consequences, it ate away at me for weeks, but I avoided repenting because I was so ashamed of disobeying my mom and lying to her. Finally, though I accepted that I would never feel better until I repented, so I told my mom about my mistake, and she was very kind about it. (She did confiscate my candles for a while, though.) The catalyst for my decision to tell my mom was a scripture we read in Primary the previous Sunday: “O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!” [8]. I have a testimony that Christ is indeed waiting with open arms to receive us if will not reject Him, but repent of our sins and follow Him willingly. I know He loves us and wants us to be happy, which we cannot be unless we obey Him and allow His Atonement to apply to us by repenting and believing.
Works Cited
[1] Book of Mormon, Mosiah 14:3
[2] Book of Mormon, Jacob 4: 15, 17
[3] LDS Concordance Language Program
[4] Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 19:14
[5] Book of Mormon, Alma 5:37
[6] Book of Mormon, Mosiah 27:30
[7] LDS Concordance Language Program
[8] Book of Mormon, 6:17
Pride is often a main cause of a person rejecting Christ. According to the LDS concordance program, the word “reject” in Hebrew can also mean “despise,” “abuse,” and “illegalize” [3]. These meanings are very applicable to the last few weeks of Jesus Christ’s mortal life, as he was despised of, abused by, and unjustly condemned by law of the Jews, who were His chosen people. A good number of these people, most notably the Pharisees and scribes, hated Christ so much because of their pride. The New Testament is full of stories in which the Pharisees, who saw Jesus as a threat to their power, tried to catch Him in wrongdoing or contradicting Himself. They were all the more enraged and resentful of Him when they could not, and this fueled their pride and their hatred toward Him. In 1 Nephi 19:14, it says of the people of Jerusalem, “And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations” [4]. The people in the Book of Mormon, as well, were often motivated by pride when they rejected the Gospel. In Alma 5, Alma the High Priest said, “O ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed up in the vain things of the world, ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not hearken unto his voice!” [5].
Many of the people whose stories are told in the Book of Mormon rejected Jesus Christ, often because of pride, and their lives bear a testament of the sorrow this choice brings to people. Throughout the history of the Nephites and Lamanites we read of what is often referred to as the “pride cycle,” which occurred numerous times (though not always) among both peoples. The people would be righteous for a time, which would cause them to prosper and become wealthy. Then their wealth would make them proud, and in their pride they would turn away from Christ, which would eventually lead to destruction and sorrow, which in turned humbled the people and often caused them to repent. After being visited by an angel along with the sons of Mosiah, Alma the Younger said, I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all” [6]. The story of Alma the Younger’s remarkable repentance after having rejected Christ and the teachings of his father for so many years gives great hope for those who may have turned away from the Gospel or may be refusing to listen to the word of Christ at the time being.
People may reject Christ and the gospel because of fear or guilt stemming from things they have done in the past that they feel that they cannot be forgiven for. This can be caused by an imperfect or incomplete understanding of the repentance process or the Atonement of Christ. In Spanish, the word “rechazar,” or “to reject,” can also mean “to resist” or “to avoid” [7]. Small children avoid their parents when they know they have done something wrong; similarly, children of God may tend to avoid Him and Christ when they are ashamed of something they have done or fearful of being punished. Understanding the Atonement and our Savior’s love for us can help overcome this fear and be willing to accept Christ and abide by His laws.
I once struggled with this very problem when I was about ten years old. I loved to play with fire, and my mom was very strict about letting me use candles in the basement. One day I wanted to have a relaxing bath in the basement bathroom, so I sneaked a couple candles down and lit them in the bathroom. However, the smoke from the candles and match built up in the small bathroom and set off the smoke alarm, which I quickly turned off. I lied to my mom and told her that it had made noise because the batteries were low, and I even went as far as to change the batteries unnecessarily to cover up my disobedience. Even though it wasn’t a very severe mistake with big consequences, it ate away at me for weeks, but I avoided repenting because I was so ashamed of disobeying my mom and lying to her. Finally, though I accepted that I would never feel better until I repented, so I told my mom about my mistake, and she was very kind about it. (She did confiscate my candles for a while, though.) The catalyst for my decision to tell my mom was a scripture we read in Primary the previous Sunday: “O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!” [8]. I have a testimony that Christ is indeed waiting with open arms to receive us if will not reject Him, but repent of our sins and follow Him willingly. I know He loves us and wants us to be happy, which we cannot be unless we obey Him and allow His Atonement to apply to us by repenting and believing.
Works Cited
[1] Book of Mormon, Mosiah 14:3
[2] Book of Mormon, Jacob 4: 15, 17
[3] LDS Concordance Language Program
[4] Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 19:14
[5] Book of Mormon, Alma 5:37
[6] Book of Mormon, Mosiah 27:30
[7] LDS Concordance Language Program
[8] Book of Mormon, 6:17
7 comments:
I liked the scriptures you used, and the commentary that went along with them, and i also really liked the picture that you used because it goes perfectly with your topic!
Your personal experience about when you were ten made me giggle. :) But you also used it to make a powerful observation. Great job!
How true it is that we often avoid the Lord when we make mistakes! When you compared it to being like a little kid avoiding their parents, it made me laugh. I guess doing that is a little immature :) Thanks for the insight!
I like how you compared rejecting to avoiding; it really made me think about why we don't repent at times. You also show through this blog that we are free to choose weather we are happy or not, according to weather or not we come unto the Lord. Thanks.
Mallory,
Thank you for sharing your insights about this topic. One of my brothers fell away from the church a number of years ago, and it has been very hard on my family. It has taught us a lot about love, patience, and the enduring, eternal nature of the family. Something I really liked that you did in your paper was making God a little more "human" and easy to relate to by comparing him to our earthly parents.
What you said in the part that Jesus was rejected for people I think also was because they have fear of what he was saying were true.
The personal experience you used was a great way to inspire us all. Thank you for sharing your testimony. May it continue to grow.
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