Line upon Line

I am concerned about prosperity. I am worried about the national debt and inflation, which I can do almost nothing about. I feel apprehensive about preparing for the future and making the best use of the resources with which our family has been blessed. Then I realize that prosperity is about the temporal and spiritual, not just finances.

There are many definitions of prosperity on the Internet. To paraphrase a few: a life worth living; financial success; flourishing; being in the flow of personal growth; a positive way of thinking and being; being able to pay the bills; living a balanced and satisfying life; being able to do what you want when you want to do it; a blend of wealth and self-satisfaction; balance and harmony; making the best use of what you have; having cash for emergencies; being debt-free; being able to help others; weathering life’s storms.

There are many formulas for prosperity on the Internet. You can find lists and lists with advice on money, happiness, and self-confidence. Some lists center on self: be generous with yourself; stay focused in getting what you want; build your self-love. Some advice puts self aside and encourages thinking about what we can give rather than get.

There are insightful definitions of prosperity in scripture:

• “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8-10, italics added).
• “If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence (Alma 37:13). (“Prosper in the land” is found twenty-one times in the Book of Mormon and not in any other book of scripture.)

There is a sixty-eight-verse list in Deuteronomy 28 of blessings for commandment keepers and cursings for commandment shunners. Here is an abridged sampling:

Blessings you will receive if you diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God:

• You shall be blessed in the city, in the field, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your ground, in the fruit of your cattle and sheep, in your basket and store.
• You shall be blessed in your travels when you come and go.
• You shall be blessed when your enemies rise up against you.
• You shall be blessed in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
• The Lord will establish you as a holy people.
• All people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of theLord; and they shall be afraid of you.
• TheLord shall open unto you his good treasure, the heaven to give rain in season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend unto many nations, and you shall not borrow.

Cursings you will receive if you do not hearken unto the Lord your God:

• You shall be cursed in the city, in the field, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your ground, in the fruit of your cattle and sheep, in your basket and store.
• You shall be cursed in your travels when you come and go.
• You shall be cursed, vexed, and rebuked by your enemies.
• TheLord shall make pestilence cleave unto you; he will smite you with consumption, fever, inflammation, extreme burning, sword, blasting, mildew.
• You shall betroth a wife and another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house where you will not dwell; you will plant a vineyard but not gather the grapes; locust will consume your trees, fruit, and fields.
• Your sons and your daughters will be captured by another people.

Fourth Nephi is another lesson in prosperity. Mormon, as he abridged the record, explained in the first twenty-two verses why the Nephites had two hundred years of prosperity, following the ministry of Jesus Christ among them. In verse twenty-three he summarized: “And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know that the people had multiplied, insomuch that they were spread upon all the face of the land, and that they had become exceedingly rich, because of their prosperity in Christ.” Those last four words were highlighted for me on the page, and I received a new understanding of prosperity.  Prosperity comes from, in, and through Christ. This is the secret. This is what is missing from the definitions and lists on the worldly world wide web. There is so much to this statement:

First, the Nephites became prosperous in Christ together. Their two hundred Zion-like years came by unifying their efforts and talents toward one purpose. What was that purpose? To prosper in Christ’s way. When a family or a community works together in Christ, individual flaws and weaknesses are compensated for by others’ strengths, and the prosperity of all increases.

Second, “prosperity” was comprehensive in temporal and spiritual. It was not about self or individual wealth. Think of words that prosperity in Christ includes. Substitute these words for prosperity—consecrating, being productive, having a positive attitude, being happy, expressing gratitude, being kind, studying, obtaining an education, working hard, building relationships, ministering, serving, helping, earning a living, reading scripture, and even folding laundry and pulling weeds.

Third, prosperity in Christ comes through the Spirit. It’s the weekly promise of the sacrament to me, “that you may always have his Spirit to be with you.” The Spirit can alert me to things that concerns my individual prosperity, both generally and specifically.

Fourth, Prosperity in Christ comes when I remember what Jesus Christ observed about Martha: “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.” Like Martha, I chase away the Spirit when I am worried and anxious about many things. I need to remember what Sister Tamara Runia said in conference. It was something like: “Worry may feel like love, but it’s not.” My lack of prosperity increases with negative emotions such as worry, anxiety, fear, and self-doubt.

Compare these two situations in the Book of Mormon.

Mosiah 21 gives the account of King Limhi’s people who are in bondage to the Lamanites. After futile attempts to escape, “They did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions.” Little by little the Lord began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites and, while still in bondage, Limhi’s people began to “prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger.” As their righteousness increased, so did their prosperity.

On the flip side: Alma 47 gives the account of a group of Lamanites, under the command of Lehonti, who did not want to go to war against the Nephites. Through treachery and deceit, Amalickiah, a Nephite traitor who was positioning himself to become king of the Lamanites, convinced Lehonti to join forces, saying that he would be second in command to Lehonti. After they made this deal, “Amalickiah caused that one of his servants should administer poison by degrees to Lehonti, that he died. Now, when Lehonti was dead, the Lamanites appointed Amalickiah to be their leader and their chief commander” (Alma 47:18-19). They lost prosperity by degrees when they submitted to wicked people and their persuasions.

Prosperity in Christ is quiet, affirming, welcoming, happy, comforting. Prosperity in Christ means “the Lord prospers those who put trust in him” (Helaman 12:1). We trust in prophets, in scripture, in prayer, in the Holy Ghost, in commandments and covenants, and in daily repentance. Prosperity in Christ means not trying to superimpose our own will over His. That is what “let God prevail” means. Living in Christ can be tranquil even when chaos surrounds and abounds and when others try to disrupt and corrupt our serenity. Prosperity in Christ gives the faithful power to make difficult decisions and do hard things in a cohesive, selfless, Zion-like way. “And, now, behold, if Zion do these things she shall prosper, and spread herself and become very glorious, very great, and very terrible. And the nations of the earth shall honor her, and shall say: Surely Zion is the city of our God, and surely Zion cannot fall, neither be moved out of her place, for God is there, and the hand of the Lord is there” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:18-19). Following our Savior is the secret to prosperity now and in the future.