Scripture of the Day: “Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.” —Mormon 9:31
In other words, Moroni is saying, “Sure, there might be some mistakes here. If you spot any, try to learn from them.”
This applies not just to the writing of the Book of Mormon but also to the people in it. Nobody was perfect! Even the “good guys” made mistakes and had moments of weakness. For example:
- Lehi murmured (see 1 Nephi 16:20).
- Captain Moroni falsely accused Pahoran of treason (see Alma 60–61).
- The brother of Jared slacked off in his prayers (see Ether 2:14).
- And, of course, we all remember Alma the Younger’s conversion after his years of disobedience (see Alma 36).
Oops! Awesome people still make mistakes. We all need the Savior and His gift of repentance. As it says in the FSY Guide, “Repentance isn’t punishment for sin; it is the way the Savior frees us from sin. To repent means to change. . . . It’s an ongoing process.”
Maybe another reason we have a record of these imperfect people is so that we can learn from their mistakes instead of living through the hard consequences in our own life. We are so grateful these folks were humble and faithful enough to share their experiences!