We Are At War
We are at war with Satan for the souls of men. The battle lines were drawn in our pre-earth life. Satan and a third of our Father in Heaven’s children turned away from His promises of exaltation. Since that time, the adversary’s minions have been fighting the faithful who choose the Father’s plan.
Satan knows his days are numbered and that time is growing shorter. As crafty and cunning as he is, he will not win. However, his battle for each one of our souls rages on.
The Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets for us, in our day. One topic that comes up over and over in the Book of Mormon are accounts of wars.
Why would our Heavenly Father need and want us to know so much about ancient wars? Most of us will never be called on to fight in a physical war, but we are all personally involved in the war for our souls and the souls of those we love.
I recently took the opportunity to reread the story of the Stripling Warriors. Despite having heard and studied this account before, there were new things that impressed me this time that I think are often overlooked when discussing this inspiring story.
For those who might not be familiar with the story of the Stripling Warriors, here is a brief summary.
The Stripling Warriors
The Book of Mormon recounts the history of ancient people on the American continent. There are two main groups of people in this history. The Nephites believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and followed the prophets. The Lamanites did not believe in the gospel or follow the prophets.
In fact, throughout the Book of Mormon the Lamanites were constantly attacking the Nephites in order to enslave them.
The Stripling Warriors were young men rose to the call to fight in a war with the Lamanites. The story of the Stripling Warriors begins with their parents.
The parents of the Stripling Warriors were Lamanites. They were among those who had fought for years with the Nephites. Through the efforts of Nephite missionaries, they came to believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. After going through sore repentance, they made a covenant to never kill again. They even buried their weapons as a sign of the covenant they made.
The other Lamanites viewed the convert’s new faith with disdain and began to slaughter them. Eventually, these new converts fled their homes to join the Nephites. The Nephites welcomed them in as new friends and fought to protect them from the other Lamanites.
Years later, the Nephites again found themselves in a bitter war with the Lamanites. The war became so intense and the situation of the Nephites so precarious, that the converted Lamanites wanted to fight alongside the Nephites who had fought so hard to protect them. It was only at the encouragement of the Lord’s prophet that they continued to honor the covenant they had made so long ago.
The Stripling Warriors were two-thousand sons of these converted Lamanites. They were very young when their parents made their covenanted to never kill again. These young men had not made the covenant to not fight. Because they were not under covenant to not fight, these young men bravely came to the aid of the Nephite army.
Through the rest of the war the Stripling Warriors were protected by the power of God. As we read their story there are many lessons we can learn that can help us in our battles against Satan.
1. We Are At War With a Relentless Enemy
Satan “is the enemy of righteousness and of those who seek to do the will of God.” All day, every day, his only intent and sole purpose are to make the sons and daughters of God miserable like unto himself. … Understanding the intent of an enemy is vital to effective preparation for possible attacks. Precisely because Captain Moroni knew the intention of the Lamanites, he was prepared to meet them at the time of their coming and was victorious. And that same principle and promise applies to each of us.
We must never forget that Satan is our enemy. He is always seeking our destruction. He will never do anything that is for our good.
Because of the relentlessness of our enemy, we too must strive to be valiant and relentless in seeking to follow Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we are tempted to think that something isn’t that bad or that a sin is okay just this once. It is important to remember at these times that the devil and his followers are always seeking to find that one small weakness in our resolve. And we never know when one small thing will lead to a string of consequences.
2. We Need To Be Prepared
Fortifying children to become sin-resistant is a task and a blessing for parents, grandparents, family members, teachers, and leaders. We each bear responsibility to help. However, the Lord has specifically instructed parents to teach their children “to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost” and “to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.”
We can take faith though that our Heavenly Father also works by “small and simple things”. Just as the devil seeks to lead us away from righteousness one small step at a time, we can also move closer to our Savior one small step at a time.
This is why the little things matter. Our path in life is not determined by major events, but rather by the seemingly small, but impactful decisions we make every day.
We need to seek learning and guidance. When we listen to the teachings of the prophets, both ancient and modern, and strive to follow their council we will learn what our Father in Heaven wants us to do.
3. We Must Obey Our Commander
The stripling warriors “were exceedingly valiant for courage … ; but behold, this was not all—they were … true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, … they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.” These young men went to war carrying Christlike virtues as weapons against their adversaries. President Thomas S. Monson reminded us that “the call for courage comes constantly to each of us. Every day of our lives courage is needed—not just for the momentous events but more often as we make decisions or respond to circumstances around us.”
While we work to learn the gospel and follow the Savior, we are sure to make mistakes. The Lord provided a way for us to overcome these mistakes through the Atonement. As we prepare, we can repent and return to the gospel path whenever we stumble and fall.
When we strive each day to do the small and simple things the Lord has asked us to do, He will give us strength to resist the attacks of Satan. As we pray, study the scriptures, and seek to serve one another on a daily basis, the Lord blesses us with protection and guidance.
If we continually work to follow the example of Jesus Christ and sincerely repent when we come up short, the Savior is able to change us. Jesus is able to change our desires to be more like His desires. He is able to instill in us the love He has for others. He is able to sanctify us. These Christ-like attributes become a shield and a protection for us against the attacks of the adversary.
4. We Need To Be A Unified Army
Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind
In a great war, no one expects troops to run in to a fight one at a time. The power of an army comes from their unity and the support they give one another.
The devil has united his forces in their assaults on all that is good and pure. We too must unite and lift and support one another in our fight for what is right.
Often, this may be hard to do. Everyone is in different situations and have different opinions and priorities. When we look past our differences and remember that we are all children of our Heavenly Father, we can gain a greater desire to left and strengthen one another.
When we stand together, we gain greater strength against the adversary.
5. We Will All Be Injured
As members of the Church, we are engaged in a mighty conflict. We are at war. We have enlisted in the cause of Christ to fight against Lucifer. … The great war that rages on every side and which unfortunately is resulting in many casualties, some fatal, is no new thing. … Now there neither are nor can be any neutrals in this war.
The battles the Stripling Warriors fought in were bloody, intense scenes of hand-to-hand combat. They were raging battles with a fierce and hateful enemy.
This is the kind of battle we are in with adversary. This battle is not distant and impersonal. It is intense hand-to-hand combat.
Alma it tells us what happened to the Stripling Warriors in one of these great battles. It reads, “And it came to pass that there were two hundred, out of my two thousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood; nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds.” (Alma 57:25)
In the battle the Stripling Warriors were all injured, with many wounds. In fact, we are told 10% of them had “fainted because of the loss of blood”. But none of them perished.
In our battles injuries will occur. What kinds of injuries will we get in these battles? I believe these injuries are the times when we stumble. We are injured when we succumb to the attacks that are thrown at us. They are the times we sin.
None of us should expect to get through the battles of life without getting injured. We will all have times when we fall short of our potential. We all have times of weakness when we sin.
The miracle of the gospel is that as we repent, Jesus Christ can heal us. No matter how deep the wounds, the Savior can heal us, even when we have “fainted because of the loss of blood”.
6. We Need To Go In Search Of Each Other
There are so many young people who wander aimlessly and walk the tragic trail of drugs, gangs, immorality, and the whole brood of ills that accompany these things. There are widows who long for friendly voices and that spirit of anxious concern which speaks of love. There are those who were once warm in the faith, but whose faith has grown cold. Many of them wish to come back but do not know quite how to do it. They need friendly hands reaching out to them. With a little effort, many of them can be brought back to feast again at the table of the Lord. My brethren and sisters, I would hope, I would pray, that each of us … would resolve to seek those who need help, who are in desperate and difficult circumstances, and lift them in the spirit of love into the embrace of the Church, where strong hands and loving hearts will warm them, comfort them, sustain them, and put them on the way of happy and productive lives.
We must remember that many of our children, parents, friends, family, and others we encounter are out on the battlefield, wounded and bleeding.
When the battle was over, the Stripling Warriors went in search of their brothers. They found them. They bound their wounds and carried them to a place of safety.
This is the lesson we really need to learn from the Stripling Warriors.
How many of those we are charged to care for are laying on the battlefield, fainting with the loss of blood, hoping that someone will come to help them?
As Gordon B. Hinkley said, it is our responsibility to seek them out. We can lift them up and help them to know that their Father in Heaven loves them. Let them know that you understand how it feels to be wounded in battle. Help them understand the power of repentance and the hope it brings.
If we don’t seek them out, many of them will perish on the battlefield.
We marvel at the miraculous story of the Stripling Warriors, but I wonder how many of them would have perished had their brothers not found them on the battlefield and brought them back to safety?
Conclusion
Understanding the doctrine of repentance is essential for becoming resistant to sin. Being sin-resistant doesn’t mean being sinless, but it does imply being continually repentant, vigilant, and valiant. Perhaps being sin-resistant comes as a blessing from repeatedly resisting sin. As James said, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
There are so many people around us who need our help. They are lying wounded on the battlefield of life. It is up to us to seek them out and lift them up.
When we do this we can help them gain the healing blessings of the Atonement. Doing so will also strengthen us in our battles with the adversary.
It is my hope and prayer that we can all reach out and find those who are in desperate need of our help. We can and will win the war with Satan, but it is something we must do together.