It's Not What You Say, It's Who You Are

 

More than 2,000 years ago, one of the greatest discourses ever delivered sprang from the mouth of the well known prophet/monarch, King Benjamin.  His speech was so powerful that every single person that heard it made a promise right there and then to spiritually reconstruct their lives and to serve God until their final breath.  Imagine if that happened during a sacrament talk.  How would it make you feel to know that you personally changed the lives of everybody in attendance just because you talked to them for a few minutes?  Even more importantly, what is the difference between King Benjamin's inspired efforts and our own?  Even more intriguing to me, if King Benjamin's speech was so powerful, why doesn't it produce the same affect when we read it as it did when it was originally given? 

Doubtless, the written words themselves are powerful and inspiring, but you probably didn't fall down and beg "O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that [I] may receive forgiveness of [my] sins" the first time you read it like King Bejamin's people did.  To me, there is only one conclusion:  there was far more to King Bejamin's discourse than the words themselves.

It's interesting how learning in the Gospel works.  For so long we hear the same words about a Gospel principle over and over again, and then all of a sudden they catch fire, touch our hearts, and become special to us.  It happened to me a couple weeks ago as I was pondering about the oft-quoted family history scripture, Malachi 4:5-6:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Before a couple weeks ago, I felt like this was one of the most boring scriptures in the whole world.  But a combination of being in the right mind frame, following the Spirit, and reading the right words completely transformed the way I thought about it.  I now consider the passage one of the most interesting scriptures I know of, with more layers of meaning than what my mind is currently able to grasp.  In total, when the right spiritual atmosphere was in place, the words of the scripture became the sparks that set my heart on fire.  What did King Benjamin do to create the right kind of spiritual atmosphere so that his words could take effect?  The first factor has to do with what he did even before the speech was given.

"I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you; Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor that ye should make slaves one of another, nor that ye should murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery; nor even have I suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord, in all things which he hath commanded you— And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne—and of all these things which I have spoken, ye yourselves are witnesses this day." (Mosiah 2:12-14)

          King Benjamin had spent his whole life serving his subjects and building relationships with them.  He had dedicated himself to their welfare so whole-heartedly that he was confident that all of those he now spoke to would witness that that was true if they were asked.  His audience had learned to trust him and to believe that he had much to teach them.  Their hearts were open and willing to receive the message he had prepared for them.

Verse 15 explains further:  "Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might boast, neither do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse you; but I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this day."

          In other words, King Benjamin's motivation was pure.  He was not there to tell the people how much better he was than them, or to complain about what they were doing, but because he honestly, truly, loved them, and he wanted them to be better than they were.  The most powerful moments of testimony come when we bear testimony to people instead of merely in front of them, and when we do it for their welfare as opposed to ours.

Even more importantly, King Benjamin was a Christ-like person.  When we speak by the Spirit, something of who we are crosses the gap between speaker and listener.  As important as building relationships and having pure motivations were, they would not have had the power that they did if a part of King Benjamin that was deeper even than his actions and desires had not been transformed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  The words he chose may have served to knock over the first domino in the chain, but it was the great depth of his heart that set them all up in the first place.  When the essence of who we are is like Christ, when our motivation is pure, and when the people we are talking to trust us enough, the Holy Ghost can bear witness of what we say with power.  Even after all we can do, we are still not in complete control of the power of our words, or of their affect on others.  Those things are in God's hand; they are subject to His agency, not ours.  However, if we will rely on Him and trust that He loves His children, He will exercise His limitless powers to help us to help them according to His will and according to what our agency allows.  He will use our efforts to create an atmosphere of unparalleled spiritual sublimity, allow us  to speak miracles with the tongue of angels, and make it possible for us to literally change the lives of others.  The power you are given to wield may vary from situation to situation, but the conviction that you are changing lives and the approbation of the Lord will not.  By relying on the Lord and using your agency to allow Him to make you what He wants you to be, you can become an effective advocate for the cause of truth in everything that you do--even through a Sacrament Meeting talk.