Alma 41:1-7

I have been reading a lot about proof texting lately, where you just take certain scriptures out of the context of the whole to make a particular point. People talk about it in terms of terrorism, and extreme Islam, how they only use particular scriptures from the Quran to justify their atrocities. But it also happens in our church, not for terrorism, but to prove a point that may not necessarily be true. It reminds me of my philosophy class when we learned about the philosophes, who would get paid to use logic to argue any point, true or not. And we do talk about individual scripture verses a lot, taken out of the whole to learn something. And sometimes I think it is “wresting” the scriptures, as Alma says in verse 1, and it can lead us astray. I think the answer to avoiding that problem is found in 2 Nephi 9:29 where he tells us to be learned is good if we hearken to the counsels of God. We have to rely on the Holy Ghost and not just our own figuring and philosophizing and understanding to know if what we think it means is really what it means. And that makes personal revelation even more critical, even when we have resources to read or hear the word of God, without the Holy Ghost and revelation, we can’t really ever understand the things of God.

I remember in my Book of Mormon class at BYU the teacher pointing out how important it was that we are judged not only by our works but also our intentions, as Alma points out in verse 3. There is a big philosophical discussion about if outcome or intent is more important. I am grateful to have come to understand that what God wants from us is not a checklist of behavior, but a becoming. It is about our hearts changing and reaching for Him and trying to be like Him. It is possible to do good things for really bad and selfish reasons. In fact, I think for most of us our motivations are usually a mixture of pure and worldly. In the case where our motivations are bad, but the outcome is good, it makes sense that we are judged according to our intent, because that shows where our heart really lies. It is also possible to have terrible outcomes from truly pure intentions. And how merciful and loving is our God who looks at our hearts and understands. I love in verse 6 how he describes it as having desired righteousness. When I am feeling like I am failing at being righteous, the Lord often comforts me by letting me know that he appreciates that I desire to be righteous, and that if I keep trying, that is enough.

Alma 41:1-7