I told you so!

Tuesday 10Mar09 – 3Ne1 – Why is it that wicked people, or even those who don’t believe, rejoice and are happy when they try to destroy the faith of believers? The Nephites were almost gleeful, prancing about those who were looking forward to the sign of Christ’s birth, because they thought the time had passed and nothing had happened. I can see it in my mind: ‘<Nelson>HA,Ha!</Nelson>You were wro-ong! What you believed in didn’t happen! You’re so stu-pid! We’re going to kill you!’ The obvious answer to the question ‘Does pride make this desire to prove others wrong happen?’ is yes. Why do they enjoy it so much? Does it give so much satisfaction to say ‘I told you so’ to someone?

   ‘Even with the great ability that he had, Jesus did nothing of himself. His whole effort was to do the Father’s will. All that he did, all that he spoke was given of the Father. If Jesus found it necessary to draw his course of action from God, how much more so do we have a need to be dependent upon the Father to determine the course of our lives in every detail! Those who would follow Christ cannot subscribe to the slogan “I did it my way.”’ (E. Richard Packham, Born of the Spirit, p.37) I hadn’t realized that the complete surrender of self comes because of an exercise of faith, and is a gift from the Father. I must desire the gift and exercise my agency in order to ask for it and act in accordance to get it, but it must come from God first.