The Gospel in a Nutshell, High Ideals, The Man in The Glass
The Disciple-Leader Newsletter #28 // August 5, 2023.
Discipleship. Leadership. Mental Performance.
DISCIPLESHIP
"(3 Nephi 27:20) is the gospel plan in a nutshell."
President Russell M. Nelson
3 Nephi 27:20
Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.
Here's a list of 10 other verses that illuminate the beauty of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. They are succinct, clear, penetrating, and true. These are contained in the Book of Mormon, which “provides the fullest and most authoritative understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to be found anywhere … The full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ is contained in the Book of Mormon. Period.”
1 Nephi 21:14-16
Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me - but he will show that he hath not. For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me.
2 Nephi 31:13,19-20
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism--yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.
And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this trait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
Jacob 6:5
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.
Mosiah 16:9
He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.
Helaman 5:12
O remember my sons ... that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
3 Nephi 9:13-14, 17
O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me ... And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name.
3 Nephi 18:24
Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold, I am the light which ye shall hold up--that which ye have seen me do.
3 Nephi 27:27
Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.
Moroni 7:33
And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.
Moroni 10:32
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.
LEADERSHIP
“(America) is founded on a set of ideals that brought a group of people together in 1776. We live by those ideals, or at least we aspire to those ideals today. A nation that aspires to ideals, that’s not made up of Gods, but that’s made up of human beings, will always fall short of those ideals. Our worst hypocrisies as a nation are our best evidence that we have ideals at all. Take a look at other countries. Nobody ever calls the Chinese Communist Party hypocrites. Why is that? Because to be a hypocrite, you at least had to have ideals in the first place.”
Vivek Ramaswamy
While this quote is from an interview I heard from a current presidential candidate, this is not a political endorsement or message.
But he does share a fascinating idea with leadership parallels.
Leaders should have higher ideals (standards) than anybody else. Leadership is about lifting others to a higher plane, and you can't lift yourself or others if you don't have high ideals.
If you do have those ideals, you'll inevitably be a hypocrite. You'll fail to always reach those ideals. To live by those standards. But just because you can't be perfect doesn't mean you shouldn't strive.
Jesus, who invited us to live by the highest of standards, knew we wouldn't be capable of perfection. So how does He measure our efforts?
You should judge yourself and others by that same standard. Give others grace if they fail to live by their high ideals. And don't use the human tendency toward hypocrisy as an excuse to lower your standards.
MENTAL PERFORMANCE
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartache and tears,
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.
Dale Wimbrow
Don't cheat the man in the glass.
Disciple-Leadership: Jesus-led. Lead like Jesus.