There is a beautiful story in the Book of Mormon about rejoicing in righteousness that I love. It begins in the 2nd Chapter of Mosiah. In this chapter King Benjamin begins a powerful address to his people. He knows that he is about to die and wants to share his testimony, specifically, the messages of the gospel with his people one last time. He wants them to experience the joys that he knows come from living a life like Jesus Christ would want them to live. His message is lengthy and covers several chapters. The part I love comes after King Benjamin stops speaking to the people and starts asking how they feel about what he has said. We learn that they are rejoicing because of the wonderful things he has told them.
In Mosiah 5:2 the people respond in this manner: “And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”
Their hearts had been changed; they had truly become disciples of Jesus Christ because of the words of their king. This mighty change of heart left them with “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”
Do you remember the feelings you carried when you first began to understand how important Jesus Christ was to you? The desire you had to shout for joy, to share what you felt with others, to do everything in your power to be the type of person Christ would have you be. What an amazing feeling to first hear the call to “come and follow me;” to first realize you have a testimony of Jesus Christ. It changes you, it changes your heart. Is it any wonder one of the first things you express is a loss of desire for things that would compromise that wonderful spirit.
This isn’t to say that once you are converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ you never do anything wrong again. It does mean that you truly want to be good. Fortunately there are steps that can be taken to help you along your path. Once again, the people of King Benjamin set a good example of what to do with that joy of conversion. They made a covenant with God.
Mosiah 5:5 “And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days. . .”
Covenants are amazing things; they are promises between you and God. The covenant that King Benjamin’s people were willing to make was the covenant of baptism: a promise to take on Christ’s name, to do His will, to always remember Him. In return, God promises to bless those who make this covenant, and keep it, with His Spirit. We are given a guide, a continuation of that peace and joy we previously felt, to help us do good continually. We take no joy or pride in the times we stumble into iniquity, but rather we do all in our power to return to righteousness. It also means we become uncomfortable in situations where the Spirit cannot be our companion. It may mean changing some of our associations or activities, turning away from those who do still rejoice in iniquity. Even here, the Savior is the Exemplar, providing a loving and compassionate example to those on different paths, and in doing the same we can still reject the inappropriate behavior.
We possess a disposition that truly wants to do and be good. Yes, we make mistakes, but we also recognize and feel sorrow for those mistakes. We truly want to correct them, to do better, to be better. We try to surround ourselves with those things that encourage that good in us. We find that the more we strive to be better, the happier we become. The more often those initial feelings of joy and conversion can return. It is the blessings of peace and happiness that make the path a disciple of Christ follows worth the walk.
