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Subscribe!Thu - May 13, 2010 : 02:36 pm
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Helaman : 12 - Happiness
Anyone who knows what Helaman 12 is all about is probably wondering how in the world I could label this chapter as "Happiness". hehe...
Yesterday, I was having a very interesting conversation about happiness with a dear friend of mine, and oddly enough, today's chapter was Helaman 12, which of course, talks all about the frailties of man, and the necessity of God to continually punish his children to keep them in check.
To begin, I have always had a lot of faith in 2nd Nephi 2:25 - "Men are that they might have joy". This being true, I assume that everyone who follow's God's commandments should experience a measure of joy. It sounds logical, right? Well.. I know a few people who really don't seem too happy in general. There could be an infinite amount of reasons for this, but what if these people want to be happy? This, of course, is an incredibly personal topic, and thus everything has to be applied directly to the heart of each person. Only each one of us truly knows whether we are honestly striving for happiness.
Anyway, while I was reading this chapter, the thought occurred to me, "God's work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man", right? What is more important? Man's happiness or man's salvation? I'm just kind of working this out in my head right now, so there very well could be logical flaws all over the place, and if so, please let me know..
So... According to this chapter (Helaman 12), God generally needs to chastise men to keep them humble, or they'll take advantage of the ease of life that the blessings of God brings to them, in the form of wickedness. Thus, God punishes man for his wickedness, and due to the punishment, man humbles himself and thus receives blessings... and so goes on the cycle.
So.. What if someone's general unhappiness, or lack of blessings, or continual state of receiving punishment from God is done in order for that person's salvation? That sounds so wrong to me, but it's interesting, nonetheless.
Hmm... Food for thought, anyway. I've gotta run now, but I'm definitely going to be thinking about this for awhile.
Yesterday, I was having a very interesting conversation about happiness with a dear friend of mine, and oddly enough, today's chapter was Helaman 12, which of course, talks all about the frailties of man, and the necessity of God to continually punish his children to keep them in check.
To begin, I have always had a lot of faith in 2nd Nephi 2:25 - "Men are that they might have joy". This being true, I assume that everyone who follow's God's commandments should experience a measure of joy. It sounds logical, right? Well.. I know a few people who really don't seem too happy in general. There could be an infinite amount of reasons for this, but what if these people want to be happy? This, of course, is an incredibly personal topic, and thus everything has to be applied directly to the heart of each person. Only each one of us truly knows whether we are honestly striving for happiness.
Anyway, while I was reading this chapter, the thought occurred to me, "God's work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man", right? What is more important? Man's happiness or man's salvation? I'm just kind of working this out in my head right now, so there very well could be logical flaws all over the place, and if so, please let me know..
So... According to this chapter (Helaman 12), God generally needs to chastise men to keep them humble, or they'll take advantage of the ease of life that the blessings of God brings to them, in the form of wickedness. Thus, God punishes man for his wickedness, and due to the punishment, man humbles himself and thus receives blessings... and so goes on the cycle.
So.. What if someone's general unhappiness, or lack of blessings, or continual state of receiving punishment from God is done in order for that person's salvation? That sounds so wrong to me, but it's interesting, nonetheless.
Hmm... Food for thought, anyway. I've gotta run now, but I'm definitely going to be thinking about this for awhile.
Comment by velda on May. 13, 2010 @ 10:11 pm
My thoughts: Happiness is less a circumstance than it is the product of gratitude for God's blessings and an effort to do right. I don't think we necessarily deserve all of the trials we go through, any more than anyone necessarily deserves all of their blessings. We really are upheld by his righteous, omnipotent hand, in EVERY condition. And he doesn't let go, either, but he allows us to, and when we do, we fall. So I'm trying to learn to hold on tight, even when things are going well.