6 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?
(Alma 5:6)
What does it mean to retain something in remembrance “sufficiently?”
When Alma was a young man, an angel appeared to him and commanded him to repent. Among the words the angel spoke were these:
Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of Helam, and in the land of Nephi; and remember how great things he has done for them; for they were in bondage, and he has delivered them (Mosiah 27:16).
In the passage above, Alma, now the high priest of the church, issues a similar challenge to the people of Zarahemla by asking them if they have remembered these things sufficiently.
I think there’s an important message in Alma’s choice of words. To intentionally and actively remember something is different from merely being able to remember it. This kind of remembering implies to me thinking about it frequently, taking it seriously, pondering its implications, and allowing it to influence your behavior.
I can think of several benefits to these people if they follow Alma’s admonition:
- They will be more grateful for what they have, as they consider what their parents lacked.
- They will recognize that their freedom is fragile and must be protected.
- They will be aware that God is willing to bless them, which will increase their faith.
- As they consider how God has delivered their parents from temporal captivity, they will better understand how He can deliver them from spiritual captivity.
Today, I will take time to remember. I will remember what God has done for my family. I will remember what He has done for me. I will remember His power to deliver us from whatever forms of captivity we may experience. I will let that memory strengthen my faith that He can deliver me from the challenges I face today.
Thanks for writing this. I was reading the Title Page of The Book of Mormon this morning and ran across this as I was looking for similar references. The spot that triggered my search: “Which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers.”
Thanks for the comment. I hadn’t connected this passage to the title page before, but it’s not surprising that Moroni would consider remembering our fathers to be one of the most important themes in the book. Thanks for sharing!