Applying the Book of Mormon to Your Life
3 Truths I Know about Jesus Christ Because of 3 Nephi
It took most of my life for me to realize the significance of the Book of Mormon.
I’ve always loved reading. In fact, reading has always been an integral part of my personality and life! So, growing up in the Church and regularly reading the Book of Mormon, you would think that by the time I reached young adulthood, I knew this book backward and forward, right?
Wrong.
All my life I tried to crack open the Book of Mormon, and I did love the parts I could understand! I believed what our leaders said about it. Like President Russell M. Nelson’s promise that “few things build faith more than does regular immersion in the Book of Mormon. No other book testifies of Jesus Christ with such power and clarity.”
But when I entered young adulthood, I had yet to see these life-changing promises come to pass.
Nowadays, my older and somewhat wiser self wishes she could shake the old me and gush over this book! (10/10 recommend!)
After years of study and pleading with Heavenly Father to help me understand its significance, I can see now why the Book of Mormon is such an essential key to learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Why?
I could tell you loads of reasons why this book strengthens my relationship with Jesus Christ. However, there is one specific section I find especially sacred: 3 Nephi.
Here are three miracles of Jesus Christ that 3 Nephi teaches:
1. He is the Light in the Dark
When the Savior was crucified, the aftereffects didn’t just rock Jerusalem; the Nephites and Lamanites in the Americas experienced fires, terrible tempests, and great earthquakes. There was destruction and thick darkness that cloaked the land so much that the Nephites could “feel the vapor … and there could be no light” (3 Nephi 8:20–21).
I can’t imagine enduring such harrowing events. But our time in the last days isn’t so different, metaphorically.
What we see more often is an abundance of spiritual destruction and evil in the world. Sometimes the world feels so dark that I am tempted to curl in a ball and do the same kind of “howling and weeping” (3 Nephi 8:23). (Maybe not so dramatic, but I’m sure you can relate.)
But when all hope seems futile, what follows in 3 Nephi 9 changes everything.
Jesus Christ’s voice pierces the souls of those who are mourning in the darkness—before it’s dispersed. He explains who He is, “the light and the life of the world” (verse 18), and testifies that He gave His life for all mankind to be redeemed. He then invites them to come unto Him and be saved (see verses 21–22).
To me, this pivotal moment shows that Jesus Christ is with me always, offering His light and strength, even if the darkness of my trials isn’t instantly dispersed.
2. He Knows You Personally
The Savior invited the Nephites to “come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel” (3 Nephi 11:14). And as the multitude of followers accepted this invitation, they went forth “one by one” to see Him with their own eyes (verse 15).
I can imagine that there were so many people in this multitude who wanted to know with certainty that He was real. And He took time for every soul, showing Them that He knew and suffered for each one of them personally.
This tender moment with the Lord always reminds me that He knows me personally. He wants to have a relationship with me, and He has time to help, heal, and teach me if I accept His invitation to follow Him.
3. He Lives
The more I learn from the Book of Mormon, the more I see how significant its account of the Savior ministering to His “other sheep” is (John 10:16). It’s a miracle that we have this record available to us!
Reading about His loving interactions with His other sheep has been transformative for my faith and discipleship.
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified of the power of this section, saying: “We cannot stand as witnesses of Jesus Christ until we can bear witness of Him. The Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ because throughout its sacred pages, one prophet after another testifies not only that Christ would come but that He did come.”
3 Nephi reminds me of the miracle that Christ lives, that He came, and that He will come again.
Don’t Take the Book of Mormon for Granted
President Nelson has testified, “Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.”
And what better resource do we have for learning about Him than the miracle of 3 Nephi and the entire Book of Mormon? I wish I had put my full heart into understanding the significance of its pages and truths sooner. But now that I have, I’ll never lose sight of the gem that this book is. It enriches my life with hope, faith, and a deeper relationship with my Savior.
I know studying its pages will do the same for you.