The Stripling Warriors as Types of Christ

In what ways were the stripling warriors types of Christ? 

• They were men of truth and soberness.
• They were true at all times to whatever they were entrusted with.
• They obeyed every command with exactness.
• They observed to keep the commandments, statutes, and judgments of the Lord continually.
• They cared more for others’ well-being than they did about their own lives.
• They did for their fathers what their fathers could not do for themselves (fight) because of covenant.
• They were essentially proxies, willing to suffer and die that others might live.
• They received many wounds.
• Fainting with the loss of blood and then reviving again was a type and shadow of Christ’s death and resurrection, and their preservation was acknowledged to be miraculous by all who witnessed it.

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By the way, this happens to be my 700th post for this blog.  I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has stuck with me this long as I continue to babble on about scriptures that interest me!  Hopefully I'll be able to crank out at least another 700!

Firm and Undaunted, Alma 57:20

“As the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted” (Alma 57:20)

I was reading this recently and somehow I noticed that word “undaunted.”  I got curious about it and looked it up.  To be undaunted means one refuses to be intimidated or discouraged by the difficulty, danger, or disappointment that would bother other people. 

How does one stay undaunted?  I think this involves the ability to emotionally dissociate yourself a little when facing difficulty, to mentally step back to view one’s initial emotional reaction and make a conscious choice not to be bothered or worried, but to see it as a challenge that can be overcome.

The ancient historian Herodotus wrote a good example of an undaunted attitude.  “It is said that on the eve of battle, [the Spartan, Dienekes] was told by a native of Trachis that the [enemy] Persian archers were so numerous that, their arrows would block out the sun. Dienekes, however, undaunted by this prospect, remarked with a laugh, 'Good. Then we will fight in the shade.”  An undaunted person sees the danger, but chooses not to be bothered or worried. 

Today let’s practice staying firm and undaunted.

Book Review--Righteous Warriors: Lessons from the War Chapters in the Book of Mormon

 

The war chapters of the Book of Mormon are somewhat neglected in our Sunday school discussions.  The war chapters cover a total of 20 chapters from Alma 43 to 63, yet only two weeks of 45-minute lessons per week are spent discussing the lessons of those chapters.   Thus, a lot of good material gets skipped for lack of time.

Fortunately, a favorite teacher and writer, John Bytheway, has written a book, Righteous Warriors:Lessons from the War Chapters in the Book of Mormon, which gives these chapters a closer look.  His approach is to go chapter by chapter through Alma 43-63, giving solid insights into those intriguing stories to show how relevant they are in our daily life and how the lessons from the war chapters can help us make better choices in our daily battles against evil.

It’s just fun to see how Bytheway livens up the serious topic of war, scriptures, and the gospel.  He writes specifically to teenagers, but adults will also be pulled in.  His goofy trademark sense of humor comes out in titles and subtitles, such as “Kings Are a Royal Pain” and “Sharp Objects in Tents Can Be Very Intense” and in little observations that will make you smile, such as the following:

When the armies of the Lamanites met the Nephites in the borders of Jershon, the Lamanite armies were afraid.  Why? Because the Nephites were equipped with armor—breastplates, arm-shields, helmets, and thick clothing.  The Lamanites had plenty of weapons but no armor—only a “skin which was girded about their loins” (Alma 43:20).

I doubt that any of us would want to go anywhere in a loincloth, and I imagine that going into battle would be one of the least desirable places to be caught in such attire. Can’t you just see the Lamanites preparing for battle?

“Let’s see.  I’m going to fight today. What should I wear? Ah, the loincloth? And some sunscreen. And maybe some extra safety pins.”

Just one Nephite with a handful of sharp rocks and a good arm could cause considerable physical discomfort for the Lamanite armies. Predictably, when the armies of the Lamanites saw the Nephites with their armor, the Lamanites had a sudden change of plans and departed for the land of Manti instead. (p11-12)

 I bought this book more than six years ago, even before I started this blog (gasp) (so long ago!!), and I felt like it really jumpstarted my ability to find valuable lessons in the Book of Mormon war chapters.  His lessons really stick in the mind too.  I recall that I was very much struck by his explanation of how Amalickiah was a type of Satan when Amalickiah was trying to get Lehonti to come down off his mountain in Alma 47:

            Like Amalickiah, Satan urges us to come down from our mountains, or to leave our covenants.  When we refuse Satan’s invitations, “being fixed in [our] minds with a determined resolution” (Alma 47:6), he says, “Okay, bring your guards with you, and just come down a little.”  See how subtle he is?  It’s interesting that Amalickiah invited Lehonti down three times.  Similarly, Satan tried to tempt Jesus in three different ways when the Savior was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness,” set “on a pinnacle of the temple,” and taken to “an exceedingly high mountain”—but Jesus never came down (Matthew 4:1-11).  

            Brother S. Michael Wilcox commented on Amalickiah’s (and Satan’s) tactic of bringing his prey to lower ground while deceiving him into thinking that he was still in charge:  “’You’re in control!  I only want to talk! You have your guards!  You only have to come down a little bit!’  Amalickiah assures his victim. Lehonti, feeling secure although undoubtedly mistrustful, made his first mistake: He descended from the heights of the mountain.  In his own mind, however, he was still safe, because he was in control.”

 You’ll never read the war chapters in the same way again.

Righteous Warriors can be found on Amazon at the above link, or you can find Righteous Warriors in CD form as a talk at Deseret Book and enjoy Bytheway’s spirited delivery and charm.  

 Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Alma’s people model how to deal with fears

25 For behold, it came to pass that while they were in the land of Helam, yea, in the city of Helam, while tilling the land round about, behold an army of the Lamanites was in the borders of the land.

26 Now it came to pass that the brethren of Alma fled from their fields, and gathered themselves together in the city of Helam; and they were much frightened because of the appearance of the Lamanites.

27 But Alma went forth and stood among them, and exhorted them that they should not be frightened, but that they should remember the Lord their God and he would deliver them.

28 Therefore they hushed their fears, and began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites, that they would spare them, and their wives, and their children.

29 And it came to pass that the Lord did soften the hearts of the Lamanites. And Alma and his brethren went forth and delivered themselves up into their hands; and the Lamanites took possession of the land of Helam. (Mosiah 23:25-29)

When I was reading this recently, I noticed there was a very nice pattern here about how to deal with fears and scary situations that arise.

When the Lamanites show up, the Nephites are understandably very alarmed. I love that Alma goes among them and tells them they should not be frightened. (It is as if he tutors them on emotional response here.) Why should they not be frightened? They should not be frightened because they have a much better alternative—remembering their God and trusting He would deliver them. To me, this seems very effective because it is a change of focus from the thing feared and the anticipation of bad things that might happen…to a focus on God who cares for us and the prospect of eventual escape from the thing feared. It is a change from fear to hope and trust.

Then there is a verse I really love. “Therefore they hushed their fears, and began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites” (v28). I love that it says “they hushed their fears.” It shows me that it is possible for me to turn on my fears and hush them and suppress them. I’ve found that when I do that, I really do almost say “Hush” to myself. I also like that it says that they began to cry to the Lord. Prayer is a great outlet for concern and worry. It is very cathartic. The more heart you put into it, the more comforting it is. That is the Spirit fulfilling its role as the comforter to soothe our souls. And Heavenly Father can actually do something about the problem.

In verse 29, it says that ultimately Alma’s people delivered themselves up into the hands of the Lamanites. That, I think, took a lot of braver to go out and face their fears like that. I think it was good too to not delay, but to resolve the situation quickly because that would also give less scope for fear to arise. Sometimes anticipation of something we fear is more terrible than the thing itself.

There’s another place in the Book of Mormon where a group is filled with fear. The prophet Helaman and his army, including the stripling warriors, found themselves in a very difficult predicament—they had to guard the Nephite border from an innumerable Lamanite army and do it on a shoestring budget while nearly starving to death. Notice their progression from fear to indomitable faith:

7 And it came to pass that we did wait in these difficult circumstances for the space of many months, even until we were about to perish for the want of food.

8 But it came to pass that we did receive food, which was guarded to us by an army of two thousand men to our assistance; and this is all the assistance which we did receive, to defend ourselves and our country from falling into the hands of our enemies, yea, to contend with an enemy which was innumerable.

9 And now the cause of these our embarrassments, or the cause why they did not send more strength unto us, we knew not; therefore we were grieved and also filled with fear, lest by any means the judgments of God should come upon our land, to our overthrow and utter destruction.

10 Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people.

11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.

12 And we did take courage with our small force which we had received, and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty.

13 And thus we did go forth with all our might against the Lamanites, who were in the city of Manti; and we did pitch our tents by the wilderness side, which was near to the city. (Alma 58:7-13)

Helaman and his armies also poured out their souls in prayer for strength and deliverance. The Lord blessed them with:

• Assurances
• Great faith
• Hope for deliverance
• Courage with their small force
• A fixed determination to conquer
• And they went forth with all their might.

Ultimately, the assurances of the Lord move Helaman and his army to courage, determination, and action.

I think both these stories are valuable because they show us a pattern of what to do when we fear, for whatever reason. We see that in one case, the people of Alma were strengthened to go and submit. In another case, the armies of Helaman were strengthened to go and cook up a strategy to fight the Lamanites. But both of them were strengthened to go and DO something.

Will you tell me about a time when you were afraid and turned to the Lord? How did the Lord help you?

Stripling warriors and self-organization

We are pretty familiar with these verses:

16 But behold, it came to pass they had many sons, who had not entered into a covenant that they would not take their weapons of war to defend themselves against their enemies; therefore they did assemble themselves together at this time, as many as were able to take up arms, and they called themselves Nephites.

17 And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage.

18 Now behold, there were two thousand of those young men, who entered into this covenant and took their weapons of war to defend their country.

19 And now behold, as they never had hitherto been a disadvantage to the Nephites, they became now at this period of time also a great support; for they took their weapons of war, and they would that Helaman should be their leader. (Alma 53:16-19)

“they did assemble themselves together” (v16) I was reading this recently and for the first time it stuck me how extraordinary this was and it just seemed to get more amazing with every verse. It is hard for us to grasp it because it is written so matter-of-factly. I’ll try to explain.

No one assembled them; they assembled themselves. This indicates the level of initiative they had. But not just initiative; they were unified too. (Can you imagine 2,000 of our young men today spontaneously deciding they have to do something about a national problem and assembling themselves for a meeting to discuss it?) Maybe they had some natural leaders among them who passed the word around that there was something important they all had to talk about. But in any case, they came together of their own volition.

And they entered a covenant to fight to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage. I really wonder how they got to that point of decision with so many young men gathered together. I’m trying to imagine how it happened. Some of them had to give speeches and voice their concerns and summarize their position and make the proposal of the cause they had to fight for. And the Spirit of the Lord must have been present too. (Would they have decided to make a covenant if it had not been?)

In any case, it is amazing that such a mass of young men were able to come to agreement that they should take action and that they all saw the need for a covenant and willingly took it. It is a great example of taking collective action, thinking seriously, taking responsibility, and making an extremely serious commitment.

One of the things about organizing in response to a threat is that it is very easy to make all kinds of resolutions when your mind is wrought up with concern about it, but at some point, other concerns come to take their place and then it is difficult to call forth the same fervor of feeling when it is needed to bring ourselves to action well after the first rush of enthusiasm has past. I imagine that it is the continual concern of all leaders to keep their people motivated so that they will act when the moment for action has come. Evil leaders try to keep their people in a continual foment of anger with recitals of the wrongs they suffered and calls for retribution. Good leaders have it harder because they refuse to use anger or hate and they depend upon their people to have proper feeling and be rational at the same time. So, I imagine that the stripling warriors were well aware that their concern might flag over time, but they knew how powerful a motivator it would be to keep a covenant. (They knew very well about how their fathers went to extraordinary lengths to keep their covenant.) So they decided to use the power of covenants to hold them to their determination to fight for their fathers and their country. The covenant would not keep their feelings wrought up; rather, it would become the motivator for the time when they might be less interested in fighting and when the drudgery of army life had begun to wear away their resolve.

Here are some more scriptures about organizing ourselves.

And thus I grant unto this people a privilege of organizing themselves according to my laws. (D&C 51:15)

I love that. We don’t have to wait to be commanded. We can organize ourselves as long as it according to righteous principles.

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing;….That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord; that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord; that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High….Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege. (D&C 88:119-122, emphasis added)

This has a number of important ideas about organizing ourselves. First, the importance of preparation. Evidently these things can’t be completely spontaneous but require some planning. Second, that everything be “in the name of the Lord,” which I think means something that the Lord would approve of. Third, a teacher is chosen from among the group so that there can be some leadership and order. Fourth, that everyone gets to have their say with the complete attention of the whole group. Fifth, that those speaking should do their best to edify the group (so that no one’s time is wasted). And sixth, that everyone in the group has equal privileges (so there has to be enough privilege that people want to participate, but not so much privilege that the operation of the organization becomes unwieldy or collapses under its own weight).

Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, to prepare and organize yourselves by a bond or everlasting covenant that cannot be broken. (D&C 78:11, emphasis added)

It is notable that after the stripling warriors organized themselves, they sought for priesthood leadership, asking the prophet Helaman to be their leader. To me, this indicates that no righteous self-organization is complete without priesthood leadership.

In a number of ways church has done what the stripling warriors did. In Nauvoo, the women decided to organize themselves into a Relief Society and they went to Joseph Smith with their proposal and constitution and he led them to organize under the direction of the priesthood. The D&C scriptures above describe three separate ways that the church organized itself: establishing a storehouse, starting the school of the prophets, and building temples.

Organizing ourselves isn’t just for the young. It can be any age group that is concerned about something in society and feels the need to do something about it.

What I’m not sure about is how and when this can be applied in our lives. When is it appropriate to self-organize? I’ve had difficulty trying to come up with a way to apply this in life today and it seems to be for several reasons.

First, it seems that the cause for concern has to be serious enough to unite large numbers. This kind of organizing can’t be for unimportant or frivolous purposes. Sorry, but craft night is out.

Second, we face an uphill cultural battle to organize ourselves because our culture values individualism over collective action. When purposeful movements grow beyond a certain point, naysayers argue that all the participants are “sheep.” Also, the movement undergoes greater scrutiny because naysayers will try to find fault with the movement to justify themselves for not joining in, even if it is a good cause. (There are people who fear becoming too passionate about a cause because they fear how it will affect the rest of their lives and take over. They forget the words of Christ that whosoever will lose his life for Christ’s sake will find it.)

There two ways that the Book of Mormon gives us insight on times that is not appropriate to self-organize—seeking revenge and forming secret combinations.

Mormon tells about how the Nephite armies of his day swore by all that was forbidden them to avenge the death of their brethren. It could be that these Nephites were taking their cue from the old story of the stripling warriors, but they were perverting it and applying it to a corrupted cause—revenge. This was why Mormon utterly refused to lead them any more. It would certainly offend him to find religious oaths taken for such an unjust purpose. Any good priesthood holder would want to decline to lead such a group with such a purpose.

Mormon also tells how groups of Nephites self-organized into secret combinations. In one case the goal was to assassinate the leader who had condemned their leader to death (see Helaman 1:9-11). In another case it was to deliver from the grasp of justice certain judges who had overstepped their authority and had prophets killed. (see 3 Nephi 6:25-30). In other cases the goal was to get gain and acquire complete control of the government so they could do what they wanted with impunity (see Helaman 6:21-23). These negative cases help us know what self-organization purposes should be avoided.

The Lord gives us the privilege of organizing ourselves and wants us to do it according to celestial laws. What causes do you see that seem to call for self-organization?

Bonus link only slightly related to this topic: The Theology of Counsels by Richard Bushman gives great insights on how revelation leads the church today and how counsels evolved. Check it out!

Follow the Brethren and Never Fall

Today I happened to be thinking about the story in the Book of Mormon of the 2000 stripling warriors and how not one of them was killed in battle. I began to wonder why the Lord wanted this story written and transmitted to us. How does it apply to us? How many of us have to fight on the front lines? (Some of us do, but what about the rest of us who don’t?)

But wait, all of us fight spiritual battles EVERY DAY. That’s when I realized what a great lesson and promise this story has. Those stripling warriors were firm and undaunted and obeyed and observed to perform every word of command with exactness and according to their faith it was done unto them (Alma 57:20-21). And they were commanded by a prophet. The result of their zealous obedience was that not one of them died.

The lesson is clear. If they followed their prophet-general and not one of them fell, then if we follow the prophet and our leaders, then not one of us will fall away. If everyone in our families follows the prophet, none of our families will fail. We will look back on our mortal lives with wonder and say:

And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of [our] exceeding faith in that which [we] had been taught to believe—that there [is] a just God, and whosoever [does] not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power. Now this was [our] faith… and [our] minds are firm, and [we]… put [our] trust in God continually. (Alma 57:26-27)

A Mother’s Day tribute

We often rehearse the valor of Helaman’s 2,000 stripling warriors. I’ve written previously about the stellar qualities of the stripling warriors here, but today I want to point out something different.

And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. (Alma 53:20)

It is hard for young men (or young women) to become like that without help. If fact, the odds of 2,000 young men acquiring these same wonderful characteristics without help are extremely slim. It is plain to me that they became exceedingly valiant for strength and activity because they were following in the footsteps of parents who were exceedingly valiant for courage, strength, and activity. They had been taught by their mothers’ words AND by their examples.

47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it. (Alma 56:47-48)

Not only did they remember the words of their mothers, they rehearsed them to each other and their leaders so that all could be strengthened. They were unashamed of having been taught by their mothers, they were not ashamed of what they had been taught, and they were willing to share it with others when times were difficult.

The stripling warriors also bore testimony to the testimonies of their mothers. They were willing to take the word of their mothers and even stake their lives on it.

I’m not a warrior, but I feel like my mom would fit in with these women. So I’m going to rehearse some of the words of my mother that made an impact on me as I was growing up.

“The Lord wants obedience more than sacrifice.”

“There’s more than just you in this family; I have to take into account everybody else too.”

“You are my jewel; I have to keep you safe.”

“You need to use self control.”

“You can find joy in Christ.”

“Have you prayed about it?”

My little brother Nelson remembers the following:

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

“Keep your hands to yourself.”

“Listen more.”

He also remembers how she taught him to repent with prayer by asking forgiveness, to pray for comfort when angry, and how she helped him out of a socially awkward stage with practical advice. She taught me these things too.

She also told a generous number of stories about struggles that she went through and the things that she learned from them. These stories helped us learn from her experience.

I remember her telling a story of how she had to take care of a nursing home all by herself for a summer job and how it taught her to not spend time complaining about what needed to be done but to just get right to work. I remember her telling a story about dating guy from another faith and how he kept her from going to a church activity and she realized that would be a danger of marrying out of the church and she decided to make sure to marry a good man in the church. I remember she told stories of trying to find a good man to marry. I remember she told stories about being teased in school and how she didn’t have very many friends. I remember she told stories about when she starting reading the scriptures on her own. I remember she told stories about serving in various church callings and how she tried to reach out to people under her responsibility in Young Women.

There were many times when stories she had told came to my mind when I needed them, and I would try to put into practice what I had learned from them. Some of these stories I rehearsed to other people when they needed encouragement.

Thanks, Mom! I love you!

What must we do to become like the stripling warriors?

I made a study of their characteristics and what I found was amazing.

“they became now at this period of time also a great support” (Alma 53:19) Anyone who is in favor of truth and makes that known, anyone who is willing to do what is right becomes a support, one who can be depended on, and the more we are willing to do to help the church, the more of a support we become.

“they were men of truth and soberness” (Alma 53:21) They were serious about the things that were sacred. We are the same way when we are serious about keeping our bodies sacred and treating with respect all the sacred things we have learned.

“they would that Helaman should be their leader” (Alma 53:19) Since they were men of truth and soberness, they wanted a leader who was also a man of truth and soberness, so they chose the best that they could find—a prophet of God. We are like the stripling warriors when we choose a prophet to be the one we will follow.

“they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives” (Alma 56: 47) They didn’t just want liberty for themselves, they wanted liberty for their fathers and families. We are like them when we want liberty for others more than we care for our own lives.

“they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage” (Alma 53:17) They actually made a promise to God that they would not just argue and fight to protect themselves, but also others from captivity.

“we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus” (Alma 56:46) They were even protective of other armies. They would not allow someone else to be ganged up on. We are like them when we defend others from verbal or moral or physical attack.

“they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity” (Alma 53:20) Not only were they brave and strong, but they were extremely active. They were up and doing, more than anyone else. These were hard workers.

“never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites” (Alma 56:45) My dictionary defines courage as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty” and it says that courage “implies strength in overcoming fear and in persisting against odds or difficulties”. If the stripling warriors felt fear, they overcame it with their faith in Christ and so they were willing to try anything good, they would persevere through difficulty and resist evil. Their faith in Christ gave them greater courage then any of the Nephites. We can be like them if we trust that Christ wants us to do and succeed at anything that is righteous and He will help us.

“they never had fought, yet they did not fear death” (Alma 56:47) They knew that if they died, they were saved in the kingdom of God and if they didn’t die, they were saved to live another day and continue to do good. We can be like them if we remember that the gospel of Christ saves us whether we die or live. If we are pure we are prepared for either event.

“they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them” (Alma 56:47) Such an empowering doctrine!

“they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers” (Alma 56:48) Not only did they remember the words of their mothers, they rehearsed them to each other and their leaders so that all could be strengthened. They were unashamed of having been taught by their mothers and they were not ashamed of what they had been taught and they were willing to share it with others when times were difficult. We are the same way if we share the good things we have been taught by our parents with others who are going through the same difficulties.

“We do not doubt our mothers knew it.” (Alma 48) The stripling warriors also bore testimony to the testimonies of their mothers. They were willing to take the word of their mothers and even stake their lives on it. We are the same way when we can take the word of our parents and leaders about what they know is dangerous or what they know is safe.

“they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power” (Alma 56:56) Because of their covenant with God to protect liberty, their efforts to fight for it were attended by God’s special power. We can enjoy the same kind of miraculous strength and power from God when we fight hard against temptation to keep our baptismal covenants.

“as the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted” (Alma 57:20) Having covenanted to fight for liberty in all cases, retreat would be unthinkable. We are the same way when we are firm and undaunted at upholding our standards, even when others feel like giving up.

“they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted” (Alma 53:20) They didn’t have to be nagged to do something; they were dependable and did whatever good thing they were asked to do. We are the same way if people can ask us to do things and know that that they don’t have to worry about it any more.

“they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them” (Alma 57:20) They made sure they understood what it was they had to do and then they did an excellent job at it and if they didn’t get it right the first time, they worked until they got it how it should be. We are the same way when we do our best job all the time so that it is what people want done.

“their minds are firm” (Alma 57:27) No feeble minds here. They were educated, careful thinkers who, once they got the right idea in their mind, they would hold onto it and never let it go.

“they do put their trust in God continually” (Alma 57:27) They knew that if they kept the commandments they would be prospered in the land, so they constantly trusted God would pour out blessings.

“they do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually” (Alma 58:40) They did what they could to bring the blessings of God to their endeavors.

“and their faith is strong in the prophecies concerning that which is to come” (Alma 58:40) They believed in the coming of Christ.

“they have received many wounds; nevertheless they are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day” (Alma 58:40) Even when their valiant efforts resulted in painful wounds, they still did what they could to keep the commandments. Our lives are the same way in that we will endure many hurtful wounds from enemies of truth and sometimes even from our friends when we are trying to do what is right, but we will be like the stripling warriors if we continue to remember and trust the Lord even when we are spiritually wounded.

“And it came to pass that there were two hundred, out of my two thousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood; nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds.”(Alma 57:25)

To me, this is the greatest example. The stripling warriors were so determined to fight for freedom, that even when they were wounded, they continued to fight on. Other soldiers might get a wound and decide they were done fighting, but not these warriors. They fought on and on until their bodies simply could not take it any more and they collapsed. By the end of the battle, all of them had many wounds, and yet they still fought determinedly.

We are like them when we refuse to give up the battle for truth and decency even when our feelings have been hurt. Some people, when they have been insulted, will immediately withdraw to lick their wounds, but when we continue to uphold good standards, even with multiple insults and putdowns, we are like the stripling warriors.