I realize that this one likely stood out to me so I could prepare myself for some chastening. :/ I’m still working on being altogether happy about that. :) Laman and Lemuel famously, and perhaps even humbly, said to their brother, "Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.” (1 Nephi 16:1) That might sound something like, “Dude?! That’s harsh!” or even “You can’t say that!” today.
What if we heard only good things though? What if no one corrected us; no one checked us as we tread dangerous paths? Is that really what we want?
Elder Holland said that some people at least think they do:
"Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don't rock the boat but don't even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds." (GC April 2014 "The Cost and Blessings of Discipleship").
The ultimate sugar daddy, such a god would spoil his children rotten instead of grow them into gods themselves. Elder D. Todd Christofferson laments:
"[M]uch of of modern Christianity does not acknowledge that God makes any real demands on those who believe in Him, seeing Him rather as a butler "who meets their needs when summoned" or a therapist whose role it is to help people "feel good about themselves ." It is a religious outlook that makes no pretense at changing lives." "By contrast," as one author declares, "the God portrayed in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures asks, not just for commitment, but for our very lives. The God of the bible traffics in life and death, not niceness, and calls for sacrificial love, not benign whatever-ism." (GC April 2011, "As many as I Love, I rebuke and chasten").
Joseph Smith taught:
"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." (Lectures on Faith 6:7)
One of the things we must sacrifice, Laman and Lemuel are learning, is the deception that we are doing just fine and don't need to change. Sometimes times its a mortal messenger our Father in Heaven uses to break the news to us too.
Nephi teaches his brothers, "The guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center." (1 Nephi 16:2) Rigid things often cut more easily. Could hard hearts and fixed mindsets be a big part of their problem? Nephi continues:
"If ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed to it... then ye would not murmur because of the truth and say: Thou speakest hard things against" (1 Nephi 16:3).
The word "willing" sounds like a more patient, growth oriented mindset. That great sacramental word can bring a softness to our hearts that allows them to resist the the cutting of sharp correction and grow stronger because of it. Elder Christofferson challenges us not just to receive correction then, but even to seek it. He said:
"Though it is often difficult to endure, truly we ought to rejoice that God considers us worth the time and trouble to correct" (GC April 2011, "As many as I Love, I rebuke and chasten").
How do you soften yourself to receive hard feedback? How do you seek and even invite correction in your work? How about those you teach - I'm sure sometimes you have to give correction. How do you make sure to give it with great love?
