Moro 7:6-10
From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
The Book of Mormon > Moroni > Chapter 7
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Questions
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Verses 6-10
- If we know we should give a certain gift (e.g. help a neighbor) but don't feel a real desire to do so, what should we do? Is going ahead and giving the gift what Mormon calls here doing it grudgingly?
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Lexical notes
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Verse 6
- Real intent: Webster's 1828 dictionary defines real as "1. Actually being or existing; not fictitious or imaginary; 2. True; genuine; not artificial, counterfeit or factitious; 3. True; genuine; not affected; not assumed." These 3 definitions are all similar to each other. Interestingly, there is another definition listed with a different connotation: "5. In law, pertaining to things fixed, permanent or immovable, as to lands and tenements; as real estate, opposed to personal or movable property." This suggests that transient intentions, no matter how fervent, may not qualify as real intent.
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Exegesis
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Verses 6ff
- The teaching of these verses is similar to that of 1 Corinthians 13:3. Just as Mormon tells us here that doing good without real intent provides no benefit, so Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that he could give everything he has to the poor, but if he doesn't have charity/love, doing so provides no benefit. Clearly charity and doing good with real intent are used similarly. It is consistent with these verse to view charity as a requirement for doing good with real intent. In that interpretation, we cannot do a good dead for someone with real intent if we don't love them.
- These teachings are also similar to the the first verses of Matthew 6. There Jesus teaches that those who give help to others for the right reasons have a reward from their Father in heaven, but those who do so for earthly glory are not similarly rewarded. The same is said of praying: if we pray to be seen of men we have no heavenly reward. Mormon's message here is a more general version of the same message. Mormon tells us that praying without real intent profits nothing the person who prays and is, in fact, counted as evil.
- Compare also King Benjamin's comments in Mosiah 4:24-25 that those who would give to the needy if they had the means, are not condemned like those who have the means but do not give. All these teachings emphasize intent over action. (See also 1 Sam 16:7.) Of course, intent cannot be completely separated from actions--it is impossible to have the right intent and the ability but not to do the good work (see James 2:15-16).
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