Firmness of Mind

Jacob spoke unto the pure in heart and gave this invitation and promise: “Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions…. Lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever” (Jacob 3:1-2).  Twice in these two verses he suggested that we need to have a “firm mind” to receive the blessings the Lord has for us.  Helaman later described the stripling warriors with the same words: “Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually” (Alma 57:27).  Their minds were firm despite the terrible risks they took to go into battle, and the Lord miraculously preserved them because of it.  Mormon also suggested that to receive the great blessing of having angels minister to you, you need a firm mind: “For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness” (Moroni 7:30).  If we are strong and firm of mind in the cause of the Lord, unwavering in our commitment to continue faithful, He will console us, give us His love, preserve us, and even minister to us with His holy angels. 

               Many other passages similarly show us the need to be firm in the work of the Lord.  Lehi pleaded with Lemuel in these words, “O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!” (1 Nephi 2:10).  Perhaps paraphrasing Lehi, Mormon described in the same way some of the righteous at a time of increasing wickedness who “were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord” (3 Nephi 6:14).  Samuel the Lamanite similarly spoke of those who were “firm and steadfast in the faith” after their conversion to the Lord (Helaman 15:8).  Once they were converted, the people of Ammon were also firm: “[They were] perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end” (Alma 27:27).  Captain Moroni was also “a man who was firm in the faith of Christ” and he wore out his life as a firm defender of the faith and the liberty of his people (Alma 48:13).  Later at a time of increasing pride among the Nephites, the righteous “did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation” (Helaman 3:35).  Amulek invited the Zoramites to also be firm in their hope of Christ, telling them to have “a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions” (Alma 34:41).  We are, to use Moroni’s words, simply to have “firmness unshaken” (Mormon 9:28).  All of these scriptures invite us to be firm in the gospel of Christ: firm in our minds, firm in keeping the commandments, firm in hope, and firm in our faith in Christ.  Whatever happens, we must not be shaken from our commitment to the Lord.