Talk Excerpt: Bondage & Self Depreciation (Oaks, 2006)

"All Men Everywhere" - Dallin H. Oaks - May 2006 Ensign
 
I love how Elder Oaks frequently embeds lessons inside his lessons.
 
Take for instance this insight into the true meaning of Bondage in his talk about how the blessings of the Gospel are available to all:

"He inviteth them all." We understand "male and female." We also understand "black and white," which means all races. But what about "bond and free"? Bond—the opposite of free—means more than slavery. It means being bound (in bondage) to anything from which it is difficult to escape. Bond includes those whose freedom is restricted by physical or emotional afflictions. Bond includes those who are addicted to some substance or practice. Bond surely refers to those who are imprisoned by sin—“encircled about” by what another teaching of the Book of Mormon calls “the chains of hell” (Alma 5:7). Bond includes those who are held down by traditions or customs contrary to the commandments of God (see Matt. 15:3–6; Mark 7:7–9; D&C 74:4–7; D&C 93:39). Finally, bond also includes those who are confined within the boundaries of other erroneous ideas.

It really helped me to have a better understanding of things that can drag us down and slow or prevent our spiritual progress.  Looking around, I am starting to realize just how much of the world is in bondage, including those around me and myself.  Even this little things that we may feel are innocuous or are just part of our personality quirks can be holding us down in bondage.  Looks like we have a lot more things that we need the Lord's help in overcoming than we may have thought, but at the same time it is comforting to know the Lord still promises his full assistance in overcoming any and all bondage.

 

The next excerpt gave me pause when I flipped it upside-down.... 


Here is the original:

 

The Book of Mormon promises that all who receive and act upon the Lord’s invitation to “repent and believe in his Son” become “the covenant people of the Lord” (2 Ne. 30:2). This is a potent reminder that neither riches nor lineage nor any other privileges of birth should cause us to believe that we are “better one than another” (Alma 5:54; see also Jacob 3:9). Indeed, the Book of Mormon commands, “Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another, or one man shall not think himself above another” (Mosiah 23:7).

Now take the last two lines and reverse them:

 

This is a potent reminder that neither riches nor lineage nor any other privileges of birth should cause us to believe that we are “worse one than another”.

 

Indeed, the Book of Mormon commands, “Ye shall not esteem one flesh below another, or one man shall not think himself below another”.

 

Just another witness that putting down not only others but also ourselves is against the Lord's commandments, no matter how skilled/un-skilled, wealthy/poor, popular/lonely, uplifting/depressed, healthy/sick, or any other factor, and should be eradicated from our behavior.

 

“Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moro. 10:32).

 

I've been thinking a lot about how "his grace" is sufficient for us, whether we believe it or not.  It is a strange and frightening idea to let go of the things that we rely on for comfort or to sustain us other than the Lord that we feel we have more control over, but thinking we have security in anything but his grace is just an illusion.  There is only one source, name, and way back.

 

Just something to think about.