Alma 50:22 And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times, whilst thousands of their wicked brethren have been consigned to bondage, or to perish by the sword, or to dwindle in unbelief, and mingle with the Lamanites.
This verse makes some generalizations that I'm not fully comfortable with, mostly because they're not always true. Those who are "faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord" are not always "delivered at all times," and those who are wicked are not always punished. Oftentimes, God allows good people to suffer because such suffering builds characters and qualifies them for great blessings hereafter. Meanwhile, sometimes bad people go unpunished for seemingly no real reason at all, except perhaps that God, being reluctant to hurt any of His children, extends them some mercy, hoping that they'll repent before any punishment is necessary. Sometimes, people don't get what they deserve, at least not in this like.
In the hereafter, it's a different story. In the Final Judgement and Resurrection, the righteous are delivered from all their trials and troubles and are given unimaginably great blessings. Meanwhile, the wicked also get their just desserts, which could, poetically, be described as death or bondage. In life, people don't always get what they deserve, but in death, everyone always does.
That's why I think it's more important to consider the eternal consequences than the consequences we face in mortal life. In mortal life, people are often given blessings and/or afflictions that they don't deserve, but people always get what they deserve (or better) in the end.
We shouldn't fixate on the outcomes in mortality. Mortality isn't always fair, but immortality always is.
No comments:
Post a Comment