Our Inner Sanctuaries

Our Inner Sanctuaries

Allma 21

This chapter speaks about Aaron, his brethren, and their teachings.

They go to a Lamanite/Amalakites/Amulonites city named Jerusalem and there they begin to teach the people in their synagogues. A disbelieving Amalekite comes along and contends with Aaron and tells him:

“How knowest thou that we are not a righteous people? Behold, we have built sanctuaries, and we do assemble ourselves together to worship God. We do believe that God will save all men.”

In other words, the man was telling Aaron to look upon the outside of them, because the things they did qualified them to be “righteous people.” Yet they are lacking in their hearts. Christ compared these types of people to a secplecure saying:

“ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”

We can apply all this to our day. We are a generation of people who are very concerned with what we are on the outside. There are so many social media accounts dedicated to fitness, time spent to increase our fitness to better our appearance, there is so much money, time, and effort spent on making our outside appear worthy. I am not saying that we should not put for much effort to be beautiful and healthy, I wholeheartedly agree that we need to do this. However, what I am proposing is that we spend at least equal time working on the inside of ourselves, that we are feeding our souls with the beautiful words of Christ every day, that was are enlightening our minds with positive affirmations, that we are broadening our hearts by loving and serving our fellowmen. In other words, that we are striving to “strengthen and beautiful” our insides just as much or more that what we are doing to the outside of ourselves.

What does Aaron respond to this Amalekite?

“Now Aaron began to open the scriptures unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and that there could be no redemption for mankind save it were through the death and sufferings of Christ, and the atonement of his blood.”

There is not one thing that he mentions that has to do with the outward appearance of anything. He speaks of the coming of Christ. That is the most important event this earth has or will ever experience except for his second coming. By Christ coming to the earth, we have the correct perspective of life, he represent all that is good, all that will bring us joy and happiness, all that is real. He is our ROCK, our firm foundation.

He spoke of the resurrection of the dead, that there is hope after this life, that this life is not the end, that we will continue to live, therefore, this life matters, the decisions we make in this life are important, life is about learning to do good so that after we are resurrected, we can, if our works will qualify us, to return to live with Christ and our Heavenly Father in a state of never ending happiness.  Then he focuses on the life of Christ and his atonement. Yes the atonement, that which changes everything, that which covers all that is unfair, all of our sufferings and sins, and gives us strength to go forward in life.

Again, all that Aaron mentions pertains to what happens to us on the inside. I will strive to focus more on what is happening to my heart, to my soul, and to my mind.  

It’s Part of Life

Being on this earth provides many wonderful, great experiences that make us happy and excited to be here. We are grateful for each of these experiences we are blessed to have. However, as we all know, not everything will be paradise, there will be those times of suffering as well.

It is a fact that you will have to go through many, if not all of the following experiences in order for you to gain the knowledge and the understanding in this life that you came here to this earth to gain. This is just a short list of many of those trials and difficulties:

Rejections

Failure

Extreme sadness

Hopelessness

Ridicule

Anxiety

Death of a loved one

Hurt by a close family member, friend, acquaintance, or somebody else

Insecurity

Loneliness

Frustration, distress, and worrying

Sickness (physical and/or mental)

Injustice

We do not look forward to any of these difficulties and sufferings but we know that they are inevitable and whether we know it or not, these adversities will give us experience, knowledge, understanding, and patience, which is the reason we have come to this earth. So what do we learn from each of these trials we endure?

Think for just a minute why it is important for us to go through these hardships. You will most likely realize it is so that we can gain EXPERIENCE and STRENGTH!

Here is an exercise for you to do. Take each one of the adversities on the list above (or from your own list) and write about two things. Number one, write about how the Saviors has suffered that feeling and hardship so that “he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities [problems, difficulties, emotional distresses, etc].”

Then we can look back on our life and see how we may have caused pain to others because of our actions and faults, then we can repent. As those feelings become a part of us, we will most likely feel the desire to not be the cause of any other human being having to go through these hardships, we will make more of an effort to go out of our way to ease the suffering and burdens of others. Then the purpose of our own personal suffering will be fulfilled and we will be more “fit for the kingdom!”

Here is an example: When we experience rejection, whether in the workplace or other situations, we begin to doubt our self worth and feel like we are of no value. Our self-confidence drops and we feel confusion about our dignity as a human being.

1. Our Savior Jesus Christ, the most perfect being on this earth who was the least deserving of any mistreatment, was rejected, falsely accused, and crucified without any reason or rationality.  
2. We may ponder on the times we have either purposely or inadvertently rejected, without cause, some of our fellow men here on this earth. It is possible that we have been in a click and have failed to notice those around us who may feel they could have benefited from our friendship and kindness yet we chose to ignore them because we were having too much fun and pleasure in our own special group. It is also possible that we have, on purpose excluded people because either they were not “like us” or they could not advance our personal agenda. Experiencing rejection will cause us to contemplate on these experiences and to feel sorrow for our actions. Hopefully these events will cause us to repent and to determine that we will make sure we are not the cause of rejection others, we will be more caring, loving, and aware of those around us who will benefit from our friendship and we will make more of an effort to be inclusive instead of exclusive.

Gaining understanding of our purpose here in life will help us endure and to try to overcome all these trials placed before us for our own good.

Elder Orson F. Whitney said: "No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. … It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire."