How? Moroni 7:19

How? Moroni 7:19

Moroni extends an invitation to everybody who reads the Book of Mormon.

Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the ^alight of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a ^bchild of Christ.

Search diligently

"in" the light of Christ

so that you can know good from evil

and choose good over evil

and not condemn what's good

and that will make you a child, or an heir, of Christ.

I want to write a little bit of my thoughts about each of these concepts.

Search diligently
Part of the point of life is to test our diligence. Will we be consistent in our efforts to know God? Will we cling to our desire to know God? Apparently something about our salvation depends on this period of separation, and what we will do with it. Will we throw away our time, or will we earnestly strive to learn?

"in" the light of Christ
Light is a great metaphor because it's so inclusive. Likewise, I think there are many, many, many positive things, attributes, pieces of wisdom and knowledge that we can and should try to know and learn. They can exist in the secular world and in all kinds of world religions. Things that fall within this light are true. All truth is good. It just is an eternal principle, and I can't explain why it's that way. It just feels right.

so that you can know good from evil
Part of the point of this life is for us to gain knowledge and experience, and from that experience use our agency to choose what's good and leave what's bad. God knows good from evil. We want to be like God. We couldn't without this experience. With permanent training wheels attached, with being on the leash of our divine parents, with always holding God's hand or being cradled in his embrace, we would never have the ability to experience this critical part of our learning. It's the point of life.

and choose good over evil
This seems so self-evident. When we can recognize what is good from what is bad, we should try to focus on what is good and choose that. We should strive to always become better each day. Maybe there aren't perfectly objective metrics out there for what that means. But I do know that when I choose what is good, I know it in my heart because of how I feel. It just feels calm, peaceful, right. Sometimes this comes at surprising times. Many times, though, it's predictable. When I keep the commandments, I feel good!

and not condemn what's good
Not only do we need to choose what's good and shun what's bad, but we need to do so without a grudge in our heart. It's not enough to choose what's good if we are grouchy about it. We need to like, actually change the intents and thoughts of our heart so that we want to choose what's good.

and that will make you a child, or an heir, of Christ.
In other words, you can receive what he has to give, which is forgiveness. Redemption. Repentance. Perfection. Eternal Life and Exaltation. Life with our Heavenly Parents in the hereafter. Eternal Progression and Increase - connection to all of our family from the beginning of time throughout all eternity.

I'm not perfect at this. It's more of a journey, anyway. But it is something I have been taught to live, and which I personally believe in. I want to be a "child of Christ." I really do have a deep desire to do what is right. Danny says that is one of the most attractive things about me. Sometimes I wonder if it can get in the way and cause me to be too much of a perfectionist, but that innate desire to "be a good person" is not really something that I would want to change. What I would like to change a bit is my ability to see myself as already a "good" person. But I'm working on that.