Becoming Like Christ

What is the point in reading the Book of Mormon? It’s long. There are a bunch of people with strange names. It doesn't have a happy ending. So why read it?

The title of the book has the answer – The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the reason we read it. Through the Book of Mormon, we can learn of Christ and his teachings. But we must do more than just read of Christ; we must emulate him. Christ is the way to eternal perfection. As we emulate Christ, we become like Christ, perfect and holy.

Moroni, in some of his closing words to us, summarized what Christ did, and what we must do. Moroni did this by describing charity. Today, we may think of charity as giving money, or donating time. These are consequences of charity, but charity is something more. As Moroni explains, “Charity is the pure love of Christ…” (Moroni 7:47). There was only one true example of charity, and that was Jesus Christ. As before, the best we can do is emulate him. But, as we emulate and become more like Christ, does this not involve coming to possess some of that pure love of Christ? Indeed, it does.

Lucky for us, Moroni also supplied us with a quick blueprint of this charity:

“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” (Moroni 7:45).

Just as we could easily replace the word “charity” with “Christ” in this verse, we should one day hope to replace “charity” with our own name. And then, as Moroni points out, “Whoso is found possessed of it (charity) at the last day, it shall be well with him” (Moroni 7:47).

The Book of Mormon may not have a happy ending for the Nephite nation, but it was never intended to be just a story of them. It was also a story of us. And with that ending, we have full control.

Trial of Our Faith

Faith is an incredible thing. During his ministry on earth, Christ promised “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove” (Mattew 17:20). In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Moroni explains “Yea, and even all they who wrought miracles wrought them by faith, even those who were before Christ and also those who were after” (Ether 12:16). But what is faith exactly?

As the prophet Moroni additionally explained, “And now I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6). In this, Moroni points out two important principles: one that faith is a hope for things not seen, and two, our faith and hope is not confirmed until after it has been tested.

Faith need not start out big. In fact, it can start as a tentative hope. As mentioned earlier, an important principle that Moroni points out though, is that our faith must then be tested. It is through this testing that our faith can consequently grow. For example, we may start out with a tentative hope that there is a God. If we give up that hope after one day because God didn’t show himself to us, well, we did not develop much faith. But each day we continue in that hope that there is a God, even though we can’t see him, our faith, out of necessity, grows stronger and stronger. Through trials, whether they simply be one more day without a heavenly manifestation, or a tragic, life-altering event, our faith is tested. Each time we refuse to let it go however, it grows stronger as well.

Thankfully, in this we are not left entirely alone. We may not see Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ face-to-face in this life, but there is a third member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, which provides us with a witness in our minds and hearts that our faith is in something true.  Eventually one day though, we will stand before our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, and then we will no longer possess faith, but knowledge.

Until then, we must decide whether or not we will continue to build our faith. We must do this with the understanding that trials of our faith must come before the witness, and the eventual undeniable confirmation, of that which we hope for. 

For Our Day

“Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing” (Mormon 8:35).

There is a reason The Book of Mormon is so powerful and important – it was written for today. While the above verse was written my Moroni, the son of Mormon and the last prophet to write in The Book of Mormon, he was not the only one with that knowledge. In fact, as Mormon was abridging all of the Nephite records and selecting parts to make up The Book of Mormon, he did it with us in mind.

It should come as no surprise then that so much of it is applicable and relatable. Mormon and Moroni knew us, and knew what we needed to hear. For example, in a time when so few know or understand the Plan of Salvation, it is explained multiple times in The Book of Mormon.  Additionally, in an age when the very existence of Jesus Christ is doubted, he is taught and testified of repeatedly in The Book of Mormon. In fact, one of the greatest ways for a person to gain their own testimony of Jesus Christ is to sincerely read The Book of Mormon.

Personally, I enjoy The Book of Mormon because it is easy to understand, and yet something new can be constantly learned from it. Moroni’s words bring great comfort to me as well, because they serve as proof that God still loves and cares for us today, so much so that he preserved an entire work of scripture specifically for our day.