Come, Follow Me
4 Nephi
Happiness in Unity
One chapter in the Book of Mormon shows how we can be one through Jesus Christ and His gospel.
They Brought Their Little Children, by Walter Rane
As true followers of Jesus Christ, we yearn for peace in a world of discord and disputation. Instead of living in a community filled with contempt and contention, we actively seek to build a society founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ. He taught, “Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:27). Unity is essential in the true Church of Jesus Christ.
How do we achieve unity?
One chapter in the Book of Mormon can help us. In 4 Nephi we learn how people lived after the Savior had visited them, taught them, and established His Church among them. It shows how they achieved a blissful and peaceful unity, and it gives us a pattern we can follow to find happiness in attaining this same unity ourselves.
1. Conversion
First, we learn that “the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ . … And [people] did come unto them, and did truly repent of their sins” (4 Nephi 1:1).
As you learn about Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His Church, the Holy Ghost witnesses of the truth to your heart. You can then accept the Savior’s invitation to have faith in Him and follow Him by repenting.
This begins your journey of conversion—away from selfish, sinful desires and toward our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of our faith. We unite around Him. As we look unto Him in every thought (see Doctrine and Covenants 6:36), He becomes a unifying force in our lives.
2. Covenants
Those who came to the Church and repented of their sins “were baptized in the name of Jesus; and they did also receive the Holy Ghost” (4 Nephi 1:1). They entered into a covenant with the Lord.
When you make and keep covenants, you take the Lord’s name upon yourself. This covenant relationship gives you a common cause and a common identity with others who have bound themselves to the Lord through covenants. The Lord then helps us have our “hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another” (Mosiah 18:21).
3. Fairness and Equality
We also learn that “there were no contentions and disputations among [the people], and every man did deal justly one with another.
“And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift” (4 Nephi 1:2–3).
The Lord wants us to be fair and just. As we grow closer to Him, we “will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due” (Mosiah 4:13).
To be unified with the Lord’s people, you must not only treat others as equal, but you must also truly view them as equal and feel in your heart that all are equal—equal before God, of equal worth and equal potential (see Doctrine and Covenants 38:24–25).
4. Obedience
After the Lord had taught the people His doctrine, given them commandments, and called servants to administer to them, “they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God” (4 Nephi 1:12). Obedience to the teachings of the Lord and His servants is essential to becoming unified.
5. Meeting Together
The people in 4 Nephi “[continued] in fasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord” (4 Nephi 1:12).
Weekly worship meetings are an important opportunity for us to find strength. Not only do we partake of the sacrament, but we also learn, pray, and sing together and support one another. Other gatherings also bring a sense of belonging, friendship, and shared purpose.
6. Love
We learn in 4 Nephi that true unity was achieved “because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people” (4 Nephi 1:15).
The first and great commandment is to love God—more than anyone or anything. As you develop love of God and Jesus Christ, love of family and neighbor will naturally follow.
The greatest joy you will ever experience is when you are filled with love for God and for all His children.
Charity, the pure love of Christ, is the principal characteristic of a true follower of Jesus Christ. When you humble yourself before God and pray with all the energy of your heart, God will grant you charity (see Moroni 7:48).
As you seek to have the love of God dwell in your heart, the miracle of unity will seem completely natural to you.
7. Divine Identity
Another sign of unity was that “there were no … Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God” (4 Nephi 1:17).
Instead of using labels that once divided them, the people viewed themselves—and everyone—according to their relationship to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We are all children of God and disciples of Jesus Christ. While diversity and differences can be good and significant, our most important identities are those related to our divine origin and purpose.
Be One
We may differ in our cultures, politics, ethnicities, tastes, and in many other ways. But as we unite in Jesus Christ, such differences fade in significance and we strive to be one—so that we may be His.
As we take to heart the elements of unity found in the people in 4 Nephi, may it be said of us, as it was of them, “Surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God” (4 Nephi 1:16).