REFERENCE, PLEASE!
Often, during lesson discussions or talks, I hear members of the church quoting what supposedly, are the Saviour's comforting words whenever one is beset by trials and adversity: I never said it would be easy...I only said it would be worth it. Many times, there would be tears and an accompanying heartfelt testimony. Consequently, I never had the zeal to challenge them to find me the book, chapter and verse because I didn't have the heart to see the blank look on their faces, the stuttering of their words or their embarrassment or mortification when it finally dawns on them that those words simply do not exist in any scripture that we accept as the standard works of the church. But the frequency with which I find myself in this deliciously high octane moment is so high and I am now convinced that studying the scriptures and essential gospel principles are not as popular as I expected it to be.
I want to list some of the common Mormon rhetoric that seems to make sense on first blush and yet, if we wake up from the catatonia of complacency, becomes a conundrum of triteness and befuddlement.
"I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it" negates the very words of Christ as quoted in the New Testament:
Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden for I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)
Clearly, the abundant life that follows the teachings of the Saviour is one that is free from the shackles and devastation of sin. Life indeed does come packaged with strife, challenges and hardship---that is a given. But the blessings and untold treasures that come from availing of the gifts of the Atonement through faith, repentance, baptism and the right to the companionship of the Holy Ghost brings us the balm of Gilead. Indeed, Christ never told us it would be 'difficult' but rather, the opposite. He provides us the easy way where our burdens can be made light.
I fear that my head will explode if I hear this common false and to a degree, dangerous rhetoric that is haplessly being propagated. I wish to curtail it's proliferation and replace it with truth.
