Alma 5:1–32

Alma’s Questions for Self-Evaluation

Moments of self-evaluation can help us see the strength of our relationship with Jesus Christ more clearly. Alma, knowing how pride and contention had become a part of the Church, asked the Church members in Zarahemla a series of questions that encouraged them to reflect on the focus of their hearts and their standing before God. This lesson is intended to help you evaluate your spiritual progress and strengthen your conversion to Jesus Christ.

Self-evaluation

Think about opportunities you have had to be interviewed by someone else, including temple recommend interviews, annual interviews with your bishop or branch president, and job interviews.

• What is the purpose of interviews?

• How might you have an interview with yourself?

President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles shared some of the benefits of regularly taking time to evaluate our spiritual progress. You may want to watch the video “Return and Receive,” available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 8:14 to 8:58 or read the text below.

I have found that to stay focused on returning [to God’s presence] and receiving the promised blessings, I need to regularly take time to ask myself, “How am I doing?”

It’s kind of like having a personal, private interview with yourself. And if that sounds unusual, think about it: who in this world knows you better than you know yourself? You know your thoughts, your private actions, your desires, and your dreams, goals, and plans. And you know better than anyone how you are progressing. (M. Russell Ballard, “Return and Receive,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 64)

Think about how often you take time to evaluate your spiritual progress.

• What kind of benefits can come from doing this regularly?

A skill you can utilize when studying your scriptures is taking time to pause and evaluate how well you are living the teachings or principles you are studying. Today you will have an opportunity to practice that skill as you study Alma 5. This chapter contains many questions that Alma asked his people. You can also ask yourself these questions to evaluate your spiritual progress. As you study, seek guidance from Heavenly Father to help you know what you are doing well and how He would have you improve.

Alma preaches to the people of Zarahemla

Recall that after seeing the pride and greed among his people, Alma stepped down as chief judge of the Nephites to dedicate himself more fully to teaching God’s word (see Alma 4:19).

Alma began his preaching in the land of Zarahemla. He reminded these people of the spiritual and physical captivity the Nephites had experienced during the days of King Noah (see Alma 5:3–5).

Read Alma 5:6–13, looking for what Alma wanted his people to remember about the previous generation of Nephites.

• Why do you think Alma wanted his people to remember these things?

• What did Alma want his people to know about Jesus Christ in verse 7?

Read Alma 5:14, 26, looking for the questions Alma asked his people after reminding them of their spiritual heritage.

• What do you think Alma wanted his people to understand by asking them these questions?

• How do you think asking yourself questions like the ones from verses 14 and 26 could impact your life?

Using Alma’s teachings to conduct a self-evaluation

Take time to study Alma’s words to the people of Zarahemla in Alma 5:14–30 and reflect on whether you have or are experiencing the change Alma described. As you study, conduct your own self-evaluation by using some or all of the questions Alma asked in these verses. Here are some ways you could do that.

1. Pause and reflect every two to three verses, evaluating how Alma’s questions in those verses relate to your life.

2. Select a few of Alma’s questions that you feel are most meaningful and relevant to you. Write these questions in your study journal and record your responses to each question as well as any other thoughts or impressions you may have.

3. After identifying the questions Alma asked in these verses, create two or three questions you could use to evaluate your own spiritual progress. Record your responses in your study journal.

1. Answer at least two of the following questions:

   • Which of Alma’s questions did you feel were most meaningful to you? Why?

   • What words or phrases did you find from these verses that could give you the desire and courage to repent?

   • What did you learn about God and His desires for you from what you have studied?

Think about what you have learned or felt today as you have used Alma’s words to evaluate your spiritual progress. Identify one or two things you’d like to work on as a result of what you’ve studied. Think about what you will begin doing today, what obstacles you might face, and how you can seek God’s help in overcoming your obstacles. Record your thoughts and impressions in your study journal.

Optional: Want to Learn More?

Alma 5:9, 26. What can prevent us from maintaining a change of heart?

Elder Wilford W. Andersen of the Seventy taught:

When we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism, we are filled with the heavenly music that accompanies conversion. Our hearts are changed, and we “have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). But the Spirit will not endure unkindness or pride or envy. If we lose that delicate influence in our lives, the rich harmonies of the gospel can quickly become dissonant and can ultimately be silenced. Alma asked the poignant question: “If ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (Alma 5:26). (Wilford W. Andersen, “The Music of the Gospel,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 55)

Alma 5:14. What does it mean to be born of God?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

The Lord’s authorized servants repeatedly teach that one of the principal purposes of our mortal existence is to be spiritually changed and transformed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. …

We are instructed to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny [ourselves] of all ungodliness” (Moroni 10:32), to become “new creature[s]” in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17), to put off “the natural man” (Mosiah 3:19), and to experience “a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). Please note that the conversion described in these verses is mighty, not minor—a spiritual rebirth and fundamental change of what we feel and desire, what we think and do, and what we are. Indeed, the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ entails a fundamental and permanent change in our very nature made possible through our reliance upon “the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8). As we choose to follow the Master, we choose to be changed—to be spiritually reborn. (David A. Bednar, “Ye Must Be Born Again,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 19–20)