Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. (D&C 4:2)
It’s natural for people to want to be blameless. Or rather, it may not be so much that many humans truly want to be blameless as it is that they don’t want to be blamed. How often do we see individuals (maybe ourselves) caught at something they’ve done wrong then turn around and pin the blame on someone else or on external circumstances?
But truly being able to stand blameless before God doesn’t mean we have wiggled don’t have anything to be blamed for.
The prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon asked us some probing questions that we can in turn ask ourselves about how blameless we really are.
14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
17 Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say-Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth-and that he will save you?
18 Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God? (Alma 5:14-18)
Alma makes it clear that we cannot hide our shortcomings from the Lord. We may be able to fool those around us, but we cannot hide our sins from the Lord. At that point, we won’t even be able to hide our sins from ourselves.
Now as humans, we all make mistakes. The Lord has provided the process of repentance to help us to change and grow and overcome these mistakes. So certainly someone who can stand blameless before God would turn to the power of repentance.
Alma’s words are powerful. Certainly they are questions we should ask ourselves often. But I admit that the power behind them can make them slightly unnerving. Hang in there and don’t get discouraged. Our Heavenly Father wants nothing more than to see His children return home to Him, and this is possible through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ.
How else can we stand blameless before God? D&C 4:2 gives us another way: “See that ye serve (the Lord) with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.”
So one thing that we need to do in order to stand blameless before God is to serve the Lord diligently, with all we have to give and more. As we strive to serve the Lord, something interesting happens. Those people we serve as we do the Lord’s will may or may not draw closer to the Lord and enter His kingdom. Some will. Others will not. They have their free agency to make these choices. But at that point, we will have done what the Lord has asked of us. And at that point, perhaps we can imagine with confidence that, in Alma’s words, the Lord will say unto us, “Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth.” (Alma 5:16)
