Moroni 7

Moroni 7 is probably my most favorite chapter within the Book of Mormon. Moroni quotes a teaching made by his father Mormon where he speaks of faith, hope, and charity.

When you are a peaceable follower of Christ, you find you have obtained hope to enter the rest of the Lord which is spiritual rest. You don't have to worry about things of the world. You know that you have the eternities as long as you do what is right, and you follow Christ (3-4).

You will know those who are followers of Christ because of what they do. If what they do is good, then they are also good (5). People being evil cannot do good because it doesn't benefit them, unless they do it with real intent (6). If a gift is given grudgingly it is counted as if it hadn't been given (8). Those that are followers of Christ are selfless. They care and love others. They give with real intent of heart.

Also, this chapter contains one of my most favorite scriptures, Moroni 7:13:

"But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God."

If you search my blog, you'll see how I mentioned again and again one of my mottos for life: "Good thought? Do it." All good things come from God. Any good thought you have, don't try to figure out where it came from, just do it. Do what is good. Immediately.

But how do you start recognizing the good? All of us have been given the light of Christ to recognize good versus bad. Anything that invites you to do good or persuades you to believe in Christ is of God (16). But you can hone your skills to recognize good by seeking for it and doing everything you see as good (19).

How is it possible to hold onto every good thing? Through exercising faith (25). A Visiting Teaching Message read:

“Building personal testimony is a matter of desire and of making choices that increase our faith and hope. As we desire to ‘lay hold upon every good thing,’ we of necessity choose actions that increase our faith:
“We set aside meaningful time for prayer.
“We remember and renew our covenants regularly through partaking of the sacrament and visiting the temple.
“We use the scriptures as a personal road map to guide us in our actions.
“We cultivate friendships with people who help us build our testimonies.
“We make service part of our daily routine" (“Lay Hold upon Every Good Thing").

Christ has said: "If ye will have faith in me ye shall do whatsoever thing is expedient in me" (33). When we have faith in Christ, we can do everything good. We can do what is asked of us. We can become better.

Now if we have faith, it means we have hope (42). You will "have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise" (41). When you act on your faith, it means you have hope in the promises of God and you show that surety through faith.


Then there is charity. The Relief Society motto is: "Charity never faileth" (46). What is charity? What are it's qualities?

"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. . . ."Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever;" (45, 47).

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said:

“Unsurprisingly the triad of faith, hope, and charity, which brings us to Christ, has strong and converging linkage: faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, hope is in His atonement, and charity is the ‘pure love of Christ’ (see Ether 12:28; Moroni 7:47)" ("Brightness of Hope"). 

We should try our hardest to be develop faith, hope and charity. Pray for guidance. Pray for strength. Pray for these qualities. As we better ourselves we become more like Christ and we'll be happier than we already are.