Dissenters

Experiencing sadness for those who leave the church 

As disciples of Christ we will experience being grieved for the hardness of others hearts.( 1 Nephi 7:8 )

In particular we can be grieved because of the hardness of the hearts of even those who once believed in the church, and have fallen away. An increasing trend as the morals of the word decline, and the temptations become stronger, is that we will witness even those who have experienced the great blessings of the gospel falling away and persecuting those of our faith.

                           As Nephi and his brothers returned back to Jerusalem to bring Ishmael and his family into the wilderness, one of the things that he said was that he was grieved for the " hardness of their hearts " because they needed him, their younger brother to set an example for them. Nephi also reminds them that they have seen an angel of the Lord , and yet they still did bind him with cords, and sought to take away his life. In our lives as we see those of our ward families, or even family members fall away from the church I am reminded of even the example later on in the Book of Mormon in Alma 47:36, this explains that those who once believed in the church have fallen away, and even after " being instructed in the same knowledge of the Lord" , they had become more wild and wicked than ever before.

                        I am thankful however for the merciful Savior whom still loves even these individuals and continues to call them back. As I myself did not persecute anyone, but have been inactive in the past for a short time of my life. I am thankful to know as I did, some of these people will come back to church, and then they will be changed forever as I have been through His grace and mercy of the Atonement. I am also thankful for these examples in the scriptures that remind us that us suffering sadness for those who do not follow the gospel is part of our discipleship.