I just read a really neat scripture that says, "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." I was reflecting on what I thought it means. The scripture is towards the end of 2 Corinthians 3 when they have been talking about the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law. I was curious about this concept of liberty. Wikipedia (everyone's favorite quick info resource) says that liberty is the same as freedom and that freedom is found in a person's ability to exercise agency. I think that there are a multitude of ways to interpret this scripture, but here are a few of my thoughts:
1) Immediately I think that when we have partaken of the Atonement of Christ we receive the Holy Ghost and feel the liberty/freedom that comes from knowing that one is redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This liberty/freedom enriches our lives and those around us as we share the peace that come from knowing this.
2) Next I thought of keeping the Spirit of the Lord in our society. There are far too many signs of how the Spirit of the Lord is lacking. People are too quick to argue, too quick to consider themselves first, and too willing to step over others to get what they want. Although some say the 80s was the "ME" generation, I think that it has come back and even stronger. You can't share you opinion without someone calling you stupid, brainwashed, unpatriotic or whatnot. I'll admit, I've said my fair share of rude things to others. But I am trying to change. But it really just hit me how this spirit is missing. Once we start living it by putting others before ourselves and showing kindness, forgiveness and charity to all our society will become free. We are imprisoned by our hatred, narrow-mindedness, and self-absorption. When we have the Spirit of the Lord in our society we won't need to spend money on government assistance because we will naturally be helping our fellow man instead of complaining about them. We would realize that the American dream doesn't equal every man being a millionaire. The American dream is everyone working together to strengthen each other.
3) Lastly, when I thought about it, I considered the concept of the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. As I was reading this chapter a concept came to my mind. It's not that the letter of the law is done away with. We still need to obey the 10 commandments. But the bar has been raised. I think of it like I think of someone who runs hurdles. They don't start off with the highest hurdle. They start with lower ones. Similarly, we can't start off with the higher law that Christ instituted if we cannot live the simple principles of the gospel. The letter of the law is there to train us for the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law is meant to be engraven upon our hearts, not just spoken from our lips. Once we have mastered the simpler things such as paying tithing regularly, obeying the word of wisdom consistently, and reading our scriptures, we can better understand the spirit of the law. By gaining a better understanding of it we gain a testimoney of it and are converted to the concepts. By being converted to them and having this knowledge, the commandments are no longer drudgery. They are a blessing. We are at liberty because we see them as things which free us because they DO free us.
My thoughts are still evolving, but it had a big impression on me and I wanted to share my thoughts before I forgot them.
What do you think this scripture means?
1 day ago
1 comment:
"Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous' sake.
And now it came to pass that when Moroni, who was the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah.
And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it--In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children--and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.
And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should be a band of Christians remain to possess the land--
For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church.
And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, and all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come.
And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians, and the freedom of the land might be favored." [Alma 46:10–16]
hey Megan...couldn't sleep and I thought your post was interesting. Moroni didn't try to define liberty...it wasn't necessary...he knew that liberty came as a result of being a follower of Christ. And he knew that to defend it, you need to do what Elder Bednar told us: "to act... to be an agent unto yourself, rather than be acted upon." That, to me, is true liberty/freedom.
anyway, that's my 2 cents!
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