Real intent

Gotta love Moroni - he knows a thing or two about being real. This is a man that spends all of his life in a war zone, and most of his life fearing for his life as the last known man who is on the side that lost.

He probably knew something about real vs. fake people because if his side were real in relying on Christ, he probably wouldn't have been the last man standing. Christ would have found a way to save that people, but in other verses he was clear that the so called good guys were as evil as the bad guys. I believe it's much worse to be a good guy gone bad than a bad guy that never knew good. A gift given, but rejected, can only be a curse to the rejector. That's what I suspect.

So Moroni includes some of what his dad, Mormon, had written. He speaks of one of my trigger words: gifts. He says that his calling is a gift in verse 2, and because of that gift, he is permitted to speak.

So - a calling by itself can be a gift from God. We have so many things we can be grateful for, so many gifts. And among those gifts are the callings we receive - or at least they can be gifts.

Then in verse 3, he refers to the rest of the Lord. I have written about this previously - what a gift this is! Julie came to know what a gift this is - it changed her life.

But it's the intent thing that caught my eye today. He refers to real intent at least twice in this chapter, and I know he did so again in chapter 10. Not nice words, not flowery words, not so called impressive words that may be really meant for the other people in the room. Real. Intent.

v 6"..except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing. 7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness." and 10 "if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yeaa, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such."

I go back to my mission in El Salvador and Guatemala. I am reminded of one individual who took about 20-30 seconds to get started. He began by calling on the Father, and listed a number of His traits. At first I thought it was kind of impressive, but soon I realized it was repeated with each prayer. The words weren't meant, they were memorized. Father knows what he has done - and my guess is he didn't need this guy to remind him. I was always uncomfortable with this guy's repetitive monologue, and now I have scriptural reason to back up my discomfort. If you're speaking to appear to have grandeur, then you might just be a poser. Posers don't win any points with men on earth, and even fewer, I suspect, in heaven. The power in the words come from the humility of the speaker, not the length of the phrases.

Harsh words. But hey - I'm a guy. It's not usually in my nature to speak diplomatically. This is a reminder to me that being real comes first. And appearing to be whatever? That's not last - because it's not even on the list.