30 And it came to pass that Orihah did walk humbly before the Lord, and did remember how great things the Lord had done for his father, and also taught his people how great things the Lord had done for their fathers.
27 And there were no more wars in the days of Shule; and he remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them across the great deep into the promised land; wherefore he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days.
Mormon tells us on the title page of the Book of Mormon that one of the purposes of the book is “to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers.” In the book of Ether, his son Moroni gives us two examples of Jaredite kings who were successful because they remembered what the Lord had done for prior generations. Successful leaders learn from history and remind their people of the lessons of history. Those lessons include avoiding the mistakes of the past, but they also include replicating the successes of the past. Both Shule and Orihah understood how God had blessed their fathers and were able as a result to live in a way that qualified them to also be blessed by the Lord.
Today, I will remember the great things the Lord has done for my ancestors. I will strive to walk humbly before Him so that I may qualify for His blessings as they did.
I'll take the opposite tack on this- One of the great privileges and responsibilities we have as parents and grandparents is to share with our children and grandchildren the great things the Lord has done for us. All to often, we keep the blessings and testimony building experiences we have to ourselves. These are wonderful opportunities to share with our children and grandchildren, and we see from the scriptures they can be a strength to them later. Our children may know that we have a strong testimony of the temple, scripture study, or tithing, but do they know how we gained that conviction? Do we share the experiences that have brought that witness? Definitely an area where I will continue to try to improve. Thanks for the post.
Great insight! Just as we benefit from remembering the spiritual experiences of our parents and ancestors, we also need to leave a record of our own spiritual experiences for our posterity.