Book of Mormon Project #4

For this project, I chose to memorize 3 Nephi 11:29, which reads: "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another." I was not so much learning something new by memorizing this scripture, but rather reinforcing a truth that I have heard before; however, it is one that is very important and one we should all remember. Sometimes we get to caught up in our daily lives that we don't stop to think of the little things we might say or do. We might have a bad morning, and snap at a roommate or loved one, or fight with that person, and think nothing of it. However, when we are doing things like this, the Spirit is leaving us and we are inviting Satan into our lives. I don't think that people really think about this, and I know I certaintly don't; this scripture has reawakened me to the truth that when we are contentious we are of the devil. It may seem harsh to say that, but that's the reality of the matter. Since I decided to memorize this scripture, hopefully I will be able to keep this truth in my mind as I go about my life now, and try to be as kind to my fellow man as I can. I know that I whine and groan about people, and even get into verbal fights with some people; I'd certaintly forgotten about this scripture up until I happened upon it when looking for one to memorize. However, maybe because of some things that have recently been happening, God wanted me to find this scripture, to reinforce this truth in my life. It is certaintly something that I can work on, being non-contentious, and I'm sure there will times when I will need to work on it further. However, because God is patient, He will allow me to work on it as much as I need to; hopefully I will take advantage of His patience and mercy and live my life according to the things Christ taught, so that I may return and live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again.