One of the hardest-to-swallow, most countercultural, counter intuitive implications of the gospel is that bearing up under a difficult burden with patient perseverance is a good thing.

Brant Hansen
About This Quote

One of the hardest-to-swallow, most countercultural, counterintuitive implications of the gospel is that bearing up under a difficult burden with patient perseverance is a good thing. This passage from the Book of Mormon has been used by many to support their claim that we should be discouraged and discouraged about life and about our role in it. However, the idea that bearing up under a difficult burden is a good thing is actually found in several other places in the Book of Mormon. In fact, this passage appears to be part of a larger pattern of teaching that begins with Nephi (1 Nephi 17:4), which teaches that "the things which [men] desire[d] at [their] hands...are the things which [men] should value." Later we find Jacob (2 Nephi 2:15) and Moroni (Moroni 10:34) quoting and reinforcing this same idea. To understand this point better, we should look at how it is used in other parts of the Book of Mormon as well as how it figures into the entire discourse on adversity and human agency. During his visit to Chol Nephish's people (Mosiah 1:8), the angel Moroni took Nephi along as an interpreter. When Moroni asked them if they would be willing to be baptized, they all said no because they had not been taught about Christ and did not know what he was like.

But when Moroni explained what Christ means and how he saves, they were willing to repent and be baptized (v.9). Nephi understood why they had not been willing to receive Christ before: "[they were] hard hearted; yea, hard in their [own] hearts, which despised his words" (v.9). They didn't think that anything good could come from such a person or such a religion. Therefore, they were unwilling to listen when Moroni explained who Christ was and how he brought peace and salvation.

But when Moroni explained how Christ saves people from their burdens and trials by bearing them up on his shoulder and carrying them through them, they were willing to listen and repent (v.10). Another example of this idea comes from Alma 4:5–6: "And now behold, my son, I will show you my will concerning you; for behold, I do not desire that ye should take upon you the name of Jacob; for ye shall unto this day remain a branch of my vine

Source: Blessed Are The Misfits: Great News For Believers Who Are Introverts, Spiritual Strugglers, Or Just Feel Like Theyre Missing Something

Some Similar Quotes
  1. No woman wants to be in submission to a man who isn't in submission to God! - T.d. Jakes
  2. This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience - it looks for a way of being constructive. Love is not possessive. Love is not anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own ideas. Love has good manners and... - Elisabeth Elliot
  3. In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. - John Bunyan
  4. I choose gentleness... Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of... - Max Lucado
  5. Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible delights of the soul. - Johann Sebastian Bach
More Quotes By Brant Hansen
  1. One of the hardest-to-swallow, most countercultural, counter intuitive implications of the gospel is that bearing up under a difficult burden with patient perseverance is a good thing.
  2. It’s true, though, others won’t understand me. I know that. I’m still an alien in the American Christian subculture. Each evening I retreat from it, and I go straight to the Gospels.It's not out of duty that I read about Jesus; it's a respite.
Related Topics