Alma 8

(March 20, 2015)

                One of the things that is particularly difficult for me to deal with is similar to what Alma went through – how do we continue to love people who are hurtful to us and who reject the Gospel.  I have those in my life who are making decisions that are directly contrary to the principles of the Gospel, and I am able to watch them self-destruct as they do so.  I see the pain they invite into their own lives, and that pain spills over into the my life and the lives of others that I love.  The choice of what they would need to do to bring peace to their lives and escape the pain and misery they have brought upon themselves is only too obvious to me and others around them, and yet they reject this.

                And so I am left looking towards them.  It would be easy to turn my back on them, and consign them to the fate they have chosen for themselves.  But instead, like Alma, I am instead leaving them (weighed down in much sorrow for them), and yet unlike Alma no angel is instructing me to return.  Loving those who reject the Gospel is a difficult and painful experience.  But I can see and understand why the Lord does it, and if He chooses to continue to love those that reject Him how can I do any less?