Today I read in the Book of Mormon a story about a man named Alma. He heard the words of a prophet named Abinadi and despite the rejection of the general populous, Alma felt the truth of his words and followed that prompting. Because of the ferocity of the peoples rejection Alma was forced to hide and flee the city. I don't doubt that there where nights when Alma was hiding in the woods that he would think to himself, "How much easier would it have been to just concede, to just go along with what everyone else was saying despite the spiritual confirmation that I received." President Monson (the current Prophet or President of the Church) once said, "Let us have courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God's approval (The Call for Courage)." This story of Alma in the Book of Mormon is a stellar example of courage. He knew in his heart what was right and despite the societal pressures he did what the Spirit prompted him to do. It can often be hard in this crazy world to maintain a moral standard that contradicts pop culture but how much more blessed are we to stand for what we believe in? Because Abinadi stood for truth and because Alma stood for his faith millions of lives have been affected as they've been able to read this record. What a blessing it is to have a record such as this to help give us that courage we all need to "defy the consensus."
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