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"His Servants... Stand Forth and Testify," Alma 18:1-7

Alma 18:1-7

This set of verses is the first step in King Lamoni's conversion. A plain testimony of the king's own servants of what Ammon had done. The conversations and conclusions that transpire between the king and his servants reveal their spiritual understanding, or the traditions of their fathers. It's interesting that they concluded that there was a spiritual force at play. What is more interesting though is that suddenly, though the king had always had a belief in a Great Spirit, now he began to fear because of past actions.

There is a subtle point in here that I find insightful in my approach to parenting: The king had slew many of his servant because others had succeeded in scattering the king's sheep. This caused the servants of the king to be very fearful, because of the consequence of death that seemed inevitable. The king was governing his servants in fear, which the king had had no reservations about doing, until suddenly Ammon shows up to protect the servants of the king. There was fear on the part of the king, because now there was knowledge that there was a better way to govern. Ammon had acted in selfless love. So it is in parenting!

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