Scripture of the Day: “And now behold, thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord” (1 Nephi 3:5).
There are stories from ancient history of military leaders getting bad news and executing the messenger who brought it to them, even though that person had nothing to do with it. Can you imagine getting a break-up letter in the mail and being mad at … the postal service? Silly, right?
But sometimes we do that when the prophets tell us things we don’t want to hear. You’ll see several examples in the Book of Mormon of people taking out their anger on prophets like Abinadi and Samuel.
In this verse, Laman and Lemuel are upset with Lehi about being told to return to Jerusalem to get the brass plates. But as Lehi tells Nephi, he didn’t come up with the idea himself—it came from the Lord!
This is good news for everyone who shares the gospel (which hopefully is all of us). If people don’t like what the scriptures and the prophets say, it’s not you they’re mad at, even if you are the one they focus their displeasure on.
We don’t need to be afraid to share the gospel—kindly, and with love—just because people might not like it. It’s the Lord’s gospel, not ours. We’re just the messengers!