Alma 17:5. What does it mean to labor in the spirit?
I think it means that we work hard--that we work hard at understanding what God wants us to do and then doing it.
President Ezra Taft Benson taught that the secret to missionary work is work! That if a missionary works, he will get the spirit.
I think that President Benson learned the virtues of work in his youth. As a boy, he took over his father’s farm as his father was called on a mission! (No surprise that each of the Benson children followed in their father’s footsteps and served missions!)
So, what does it mean to labor in the Spirit? I've been thinking about this a bit. I've also been impressed lately by another statement in this chapter about the sons of Mosiah:
. . . they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God (Alma 17:2-3).What struck me here, is that they didn't teach with their own knowledge. They read the scriptures and studied them that they might know the word of God, but to me it seems that they still relied upon God and upon His spirit to give them utterance. As I studied this scripture, I also came across this interesting verse from 2 Nephi 28.
And they [rival churches] shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance (2 Nephi 28:4).I realized when I read this, that I am sometimes, and perhaps often, guilty of using my own knowledge, wisdom and pride to teach. The point of reading the scriptures, as I see it, is to get the Holy Ghost in our lives. I need to learn to trust more in that spirit (see Doctrine and Covenants 11:12).
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