“Our Fears Did Cease”

Can we rely on one another to do what we say we will do?

When Nephi made an oath to Zoram “that he need not fear; that he should be a free man…if he would go down in the wilderness with us,” Zoram took courage. When Zoram responded with an oath to stay with Nephi and his family, Nephi’s “fears did cease concerning him” (1 Nephi 4:33-37).

Many years earlier, a Moabite named Ruth made a similar promise to her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi:

Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

Ruth 1:16-17

Elder Ronald A. Rasband posed several self-reflective questions to help us assess whether we are as reliable as Zoram and Ruth:

Do we stand by our promises and covenants, or are they sometimes half-hearted commitments, casually made and hence easily broken? When we say to someone, “I will pray for you,” do we? When we commit, “I will be there to help,” will we? When we obligate ourselves to pay a debt, do we? When we raise our hands to sustain a fellow member in a new calling, which means to give support, do we?

“Standing by Our Promises and Covenants,” General Conference, October 2019

Elder Rasband went on to observe: “When we keep promises to one another, we are more likely to keep promises to the Lord.”

Today, I will fulfill the commitments I have made to other people. I will remember that God is perfectly dependable, and I will strive to emulate that attribute.