Do Good Continually

After King Benjamin taught his people, they declared this, “Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). They had no more desire to do evil but sought to “do good continually”—surely that is an attitude that we should aspire to have. When Alma taught his son Corianton, who had had quite the desire to do evil, he counseled him in these words: “Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually” (Alma 41:14). We found out later that Corianton did indeed take this message to heart, for Mormon described Shiblon this way: “And he was a just man, and he did walk uprightly before God; and he did observe to do good continually, to keep the commandments of the Lord his God; and also did his brother” (Alma 63:2). So both Corianton and Shiblon did “observe to do good continually” like the people of King Benjamin.

Mormon suggested that seeking to do good continually means that we seek to be inspired by God: “But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God” (Moroni 7:13). And Moroni yearned for the time when we would indeed follow that counsel to do good continually as he wrote in these words: “Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved” (Ether 8:26). To do good continually is to love God and to come unto the Savior who is the fountain of all good. These passages in the Book of Mormon encourage us to strive each day to do those things that the Savior would do, He who “went about doing good” all of His life (Acts 10:38). Like the injunctions to “pray always” and “always remember Him” and “seek the face of the Lord always,” we are encouraged to always do good. I’m not quite sure that’s a description any of us will fully merit in this life, but surely it is the kind of person we ultimately should strive to become. Jesus gave us the kind of life we should strive for when He declared, “I do always those things that please him” and we should seek to be able to say that one day as well (John 8:29). To do that surely we need the kind of change of heart that the people of King Benjamin had. Daunting as such an injunction seems, perhaps the way to start is by following the simple boy scout slogan: “Do a good turn daily.” And, one day at a time, line upon line, we can even as He is.