Joy and Peace of Conscience
In part of what we might call Alma’s soliloquy, he said, “He
that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires,
whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience”
(Alma 29:5). In this list of opposites
Alma seems to be suggesting that the opposite of joy is remorse of conscience;
or, in other words, that joy is defined by peace of conscience. I really like that way of thinking about joy—true
joy can only come to us if we are at peace with ourselves and our standing
before God. When our souls are agitated
by our own misdeeds, we cannot truly have joy. We see this very thing in the story of the
people of King Benjamin. After he taught
them of the Savior, we read, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they
were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having
peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus
Christ who should come” (Mosiah 4:3).
They had joy because they received a remission of their sins and they had
peace in their conscience. King Benjamin
emphasized this again a few verses later in the same chapter, “Ye have known of
his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your
sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls” (Mosiah 4:11). Exceedingly great joy comes from having a
conscience at peace because of the remission of our sins through Jesus Christ.
Alma
emphasized this principle again as he told his sons about the forgiveness he
received from the Lord. Alma told his
experience of how he came to the Savior and was forgiven in these words to
Helaman, “And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no
more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I
did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!”
(Alma 36:19-20). To Shiblon he said, “I
receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find
peace to my soul” (Alma 38:8). Joy came
to him as he received peace in his soul and a remission of his sins. From that point on he sought to bring this
same joy that comes through repentance to the Nephites: “I have labored without
ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to
taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born
of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost” (Alma 36:24). Alma had spent many years in his youth trying
to find happiness in the things of the world, but only as he repented and
received a remission of his sins—gaining a true peaceful conscience—did he find
the joy that he was looking for. His
message to all of us is that if we want joy, we must have peace in our hearts,
and if we want peace we must receive a remission of our sins through Jesus
Christ. As he exclaimed to Helaman after
describing his release from the spiritual bondage of his sins: “There can be
nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy” (Alma 36:21). In the words of Isaiah, “There is no peace,
saith my God, to the wicked,” but “joy and gladness shall be found [in Zion]”
where the “pure in heart” dwell (Isaiah 57:21, 51:3; D&C 97:21).
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