A king drunk with power was set on destroying a peaceful civilization. He secured his reign over the Lamanites by treachery, first gaining the trust of the former king and then slaying him. His desire was to have dominion over all and force their obedience to him.
This king, Amalickiah, was a former member of the Nephites, the God-fearing civilization he now vowed to destroy. But the Nephites had Moroni, a military leader who was guided by true principles and the just cause of defending innocent life and liberty. “Moroni had kept the commandments of God in preparing for the safety of his people.”
Amalickiah assumed the Nephite cities were weakly fortified, so he sent his armies to conquer. But Moroni was prepared and “built forts of security” for every Nephite city. One example was the city of Noah, which had “formerly been a weak place,” but when the Lamanites came, they found new, impenetrable fortifications. The Lamanites tried to break through but were unsuccessful, and many died, while not a single Nephite was killed.
This account is found in Alma 49 in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The idea of fortifying weak areas applies to our lives. Personal weaknesses can be strengthened and those who would seek to hurt or destroy us will have no power to do so.
One common area of weakness for many is self-esteem. Often, mean-spirited people prey on those with low self-esteem through verbal abuse. But we can be fortified by the true principle that the worth of the human soul “is great in the eyes of God.” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10) The sharp arrows of demeaning insults will have no power over us.
Most see parts we don’t like about ourselves and wish we could be better. Whatever the weakness, I am a firm believer that who we are today does not have to be who we are tomorrow. People can change. People can grow. We can be fortified by the true principle given to us by the Lord:
“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” (Ether 12:27)
This doesn’t work when we are like Amalakiah, blinded by power and thirsty for the praise. We must be like Moroni, aligned with true principles and a just cause. And we must be humble enough to see our weak spots and willing to learn and change – always remembering that our worth is already set beyond any value this world can define.
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