Mosiah 7

I appreciate Ammon’s humility, and recognition that all good things come from God. When the king tells him he has allowed him to live, Ammon’s gratitude is to God, immediately, and not even King Limhi. I feel like this is a weakness of mine, and I don’t remember to acknowledge God in all things. I need to have a prayer in my heart more often.

King Limhi’s reference to the God of the children of Israel was very timely when talking to a conquered people and trying to convince them of the possibility of escape. Without faith, it would have seemed, it would have been, so impossible. But with God nothing is impossible.

The 50% taxes on everything they had to the king of the Lamenites seems like so much, yet the real average totals for taxes paid by U.S. citizens is reported to be over 50%. In perspective it makes me feel more reasonable in my outrage over the taxes we pay. Even the more conservative estimates of 30%, still make it a third of all our increase to taxes. That has to be the real reason American families are struggling so hard!

King Limhi reminds his people that the Lord won’t help them in their times of transgression. As I read this I know that the Lord chastises us and makes life hard when we are wicked to remind us to turn to him, as Nephi talks about. You can see that illustrated here. The people were finally humbled enough to repent. What are the implications for parenting? I guess it goes along with letting your children suffer the natural consequences of their bad decisions instead of trying to keep life from ever being hard for them.

And then King Limhi assures his people that if they repent the Lord will help them, even though they have been wicked. I think that is an important parenting lesson, too. To really forgive and forget and complete love people again, and especially your children, the way Heavenly Father does for us. He never doesn’t listen or let us know He loves us when we turn to Him. He does everything He can to help us see and remember what to choose, including letting us suffer the consequences of our choices. I think that might be the hardest part of parenting. 

It’s hard for me to enforce consequences sometimes because the consequences were not thought out and made up on the fly, and then regretted because they are inappropriate. I have been feeling like lately that I need to parent more carefully and think before I speak to make sure that I believe in what I am saying. And then it will be easier for me to follow through with what I have said the consequences will be.