If you've read the Book of Mormon or gone to any youth lesson about sexual purity you have heard about Helaman, The Prophet, and Corianton, The Rebel. But what about Shiblon... The Average? Ever heard of him? It's alright, he's not a main character in the Book of Mormon. He is the second son of the great prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon, and served a mission the Zoromites. That's all we really know about him. But then his father, the great political leader, victorious army general, and the mouth piece of God, becomes old. And being a father he wanted to leave some last words of wisdom for his three sons, Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton. Helaman, The Future Prophet, gets 2 chapters, 77 verses, and whole book later. Corianton, The Rebel, gets 4 chapters, 91 verses, and is cited in every lesson about chastity for the rest of eternity. Shiblon, The Average, gets 1 chapter, 15 verses, and forgotten. Are you sensing the injustice? Shiblon is a good person, served a faithful mission, and then is pushed to the side as neither The Future Prophet nor The Rebel, but The Average.
As I once again read through these chapters this week, I did what most of you probably do. I skimmed the chapter, because it was so short. But then something stopped me (Maybe because the next chapter was about sexual sin), and it told me, "Read it again." So I slowed down and re-read the chapter in depth and I learned something about being An Average. I served a faithful mission but never reached a record amount of baptisms, or trained right away. I only became a senior companion a year into my mission and most of my interviews with the mission president were good, but were 5 minutes long. Nothing spectacular. Grades in college? Average. Number of friends? Average. Except for my height, my whole life I've been nothing but average. I usually have to introduce myself three or four to someone before they even remember I exist. I invite myself to things and play the role of the third wheel quite often. Completely An Average. As I read this chapter again I sympathized with Shiblon. So I decided to look for advice to The Average. One Average to Another.
1. 'Inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence.' Basically keep the commandments of God. It doesn't matter if you are A Leader, A Average or A Rebel, when you keep the commandments, you are blessed.
2. 'Steadiness' Steadiness does not denote quickness or sporadic activity, but consistently doing good and being right.
3. 'Faithfulness' Faith is an action word!
4. 'Look to the Lord your God' Trust Him. Trust that you can look to Him for answers and help. Trust that when He says you can, that you can.
5. 'Blessed is he that endureth to the end' Enduring to the end is steadfastly, faithfully keeping the commandments and knowing God will provide or your needs.
6. Develop Christ-like Attributes. 'At the beginning of His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ walked along the shore of the sea of Galilee and called out to two fishermen, Peter and Andrew. "Follow me." He said, "and I will make you fishers of men" The Lord has also called you to His work, and He invites you to follow Him. The incitation to follow Christ is an invitation to follow His example and to become like Him.' (PMG How Do I Develop Christlike Attributes)
7. 'For I know that thou wast in bonds... now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee' Remember God will deliver you out of any bondage.... because He is with you, and He loves you.
8. 'That ye may learn wisdom.' Learn from The Leaders and The Rebels. Learn wisdom from others.
9. 'Be diligent and temperate in all things.' Ok, ok, to be honest the first thing that popped into my head when I read this was, 'Now, girl! Don't go crazy!' in a southern accent. But it's true! Know you don't have to be perfect right this moment. It's a process. Diligently be temperate.
10. 'Bridle your passions.' Although there is a great lesson to be learned here when it come to the law of chastity, I'm not thinking about it that way this time around. We all have passions and loves! And it's a good thing. This has been so clear this year to me, that if we are all passionate about one thing, we'll have it all covered! Just take me and my roommates. Between the six of us we are going to help people with special needs, troubled teenagers, the homeless, people with bodily limitations, the environment, and kids that hate math! Whoa! Talk about passion! Bridle it towards something good and worthwhile.
11. 'Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren.' Don't think you are better than someone just because their sins and their faults are different than yours.
12. And the final, 'And may the Lord bless your soul, and receive you at the last day into his kingdom, to sit down in peace.' Not so average after all, eh?
This counsel and these blessing apply to all Averages out there. So the next time you are feeling overlooked, underappreciated, just plain average, just remember you are in good company. God sees you. God uses your personal strengths, and to God you are never just average.
"This is the paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing, yet we are everything to God."
- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
PS There are many more I did not cover I suggest reading Alma 38 and visiting lds.org
