Probably the best decider of a person's character or the way to best see what a person's character is is to watch them during and after the act of sacrifice. In other words, you can tell what the character of a person basically is after watching them make choices throughout the day, throughout their life, but if you really want a glimpse into that person's soul; if you really want to see how they are deep-down inside; if you really want to see how their rubber hits the road and what sort of material this person is made of: notice how they act when their character is put to the test as they make a sacrifice or are asked to make a sacrifice.
This goes along nicely, and is more straightforward than just seeing how they act in an ironic situation. See how they act while they are making a sacrifice.
When they are in the act or middle of making a sacrifice, their true colors will shine through. You will be able to see whether or not they truly believe in what they are saying that they believe in. They will show what they truly value and believe in as they continue to make the choice to make the sacrifice.
They also may be showing what they believe in during the rest of their life and from their other many choices, and this doesn't mean that they only believe in the thing that they have sacrificed for, but a sacrifice or a sacrificial act tends to strip away the superfluous or the light-minded choices and leave a more pure character trait. When I was in elementary school, I first learned about "chaff." It is only when the chaff or impurities are melted or burned out of the gold or silver, you have a more pure metal and are able to look into the molten silver or gold and see your reflection more-so after the chaff has been removed.
A sacrifice is a sort of chaff removing process. You are left more pure after those impurities have been removed.
JPS
14.9.11
13.9.11
The Lord's Fierce Anger?
As I try to understand the character of God, and His son, Jesus Christ (because they are one in character, perfection, attributes, and will), I remember having to explain to a relative once that Jehovah (in the Old Testament) was not fierce and angry and a punishing God--although He could and can be seen that way.
I was reminded by a passage in the Book of Mormonv when Abinadi is preaching to the people under King Noah (or wicked King Noah if you'd like) when he reminds the people that if they do not start remembering the commandments and of God, that He will visit them in His anger; yea, His fierce anger.
So what does that mean? If, you remember what I was explaining to that relative-of-mine, Jehovah is simply the pre-earth name of Jesus Christ's spirit, and you also remember that God has been teaching His Son for a long, long, time and has been teaching, creating worlds with him, teaching other Earths (more than man can number...), that He has been a God for that long, long, time, you will also remember that He has had the same characteristics and attributes as God the Father (since He has always been tutored by Him), God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ are One. Jehovah wasn't a tyrant God. Jehovah did not punish the Israelites. Remember, Jehovah and Jesus Christ are the same person. If you think of Jesus Christ in the New Testament or in the Book of Mormon (or other Latter-Day scriptures...), you cannot reconcile those two actions coming from the same being.
What you're left with, is either a paradoxical conundrum or a lesson to be learned. When Abinadi tells the Nephites that God will visit them in His fierce anger, he is reminding them how much it hurts to fight against the good and the right. Like I have often told my sons, when they hit me or karate chop me, the pain that they feel isn't from me hitting them back (I haven't moved...), but it's the pain they similarly would feel if they were to try and karate chop a stone or a brick wall (not that I am telling you readers that I am built like a brick wall, but it doesn't hurt for my sons to believe that...). Both my sons and the disobedient Nephites are feeling the same pain--all attributable to themselves. They hurt themselves. They are fighting against an immovable object.
Jesus Christ, like His Father, loves us. Neither of them want to see us hurt or in pain. Their perfection, though, comes from not only having perfect attributes but from perfectly living God's life. They are Gods because They live God's lives. Just like I don't want to my sons to be hurt when they punch me, I can't change my body to make it softer and squishier--neither can God change His character, His laws, His attributes, His commandments. It will hurt when we try and fight against His immutable truths.
The trick, I guess, is to try to live in harmony with those perfect characteristics. Accept His love and accept His ways. That is the only way to not feel His wrath (and, it just so happens that, live in harmony long enough, and we will become like Him, just like His Only Begotten Son has done; perfectly, might I add...)
JPS
I was reminded by a passage in the Book of Mormonv when Abinadi is preaching to the people under King Noah (or wicked King Noah if you'd like) when he reminds the people that if they do not start remembering the commandments and of God, that He will visit them in His anger; yea, His fierce anger.
So what does that mean? If, you remember what I was explaining to that relative-of-mine, Jehovah is simply the pre-earth name of Jesus Christ's spirit, and you also remember that God has been teaching His Son for a long, long, time and has been teaching, creating worlds with him, teaching other Earths (more than man can number...), that He has been a God for that long, long, time, you will also remember that He has had the same characteristics and attributes as God the Father (since He has always been tutored by Him), God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ are One. Jehovah wasn't a tyrant God. Jehovah did not punish the Israelites. Remember, Jehovah and Jesus Christ are the same person. If you think of Jesus Christ in the New Testament or in the Book of Mormon (or other Latter-Day scriptures...), you cannot reconcile those two actions coming from the same being.
What you're left with, is either a paradoxical conundrum or a lesson to be learned. When Abinadi tells the Nephites that God will visit them in His fierce anger, he is reminding them how much it hurts to fight against the good and the right. Like I have often told my sons, when they hit me or karate chop me, the pain that they feel isn't from me hitting them back (I haven't moved...), but it's the pain they similarly would feel if they were to try and karate chop a stone or a brick wall (not that I am telling you readers that I am built like a brick wall, but it doesn't hurt for my sons to believe that...). Both my sons and the disobedient Nephites are feeling the same pain--all attributable to themselves. They hurt themselves. They are fighting against an immovable object.
Jesus Christ, like His Father, loves us. Neither of them want to see us hurt or in pain. Their perfection, though, comes from not only having perfect attributes but from perfectly living God's life. They are Gods because They live God's lives. Just like I don't want to my sons to be hurt when they punch me, I can't change my body to make it softer and squishier--neither can God change His character, His laws, His attributes, His commandments. It will hurt when we try and fight against His immutable truths.
The trick, I guess, is to try to live in harmony with those perfect characteristics. Accept His love and accept His ways. That is the only way to not feel His wrath (and, it just so happens that, live in harmony long enough, and we will become like Him, just like His Only Begotten Son has done; perfectly, might I add...)
JPS
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