FROM THE GALL OF BITTERNESS AND THE BONDS OF INEQUITY

by: Norberto Betita

No matter our great desires to live a life of righteousness and shun evil influences that surrounds our circle of life we still stumble into the dark and dreary abode of sin and error. While in mortality we are subject to this condition. Paul made this clear as he wrote to the Romans saying: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” The Apostle John made it even well-defined: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him [the Lord] a liar, and his word is not in us (1 John 1: 8, 10).”

As a result of our sinfulness we suffer from the very unpleasant feeling of guilt. Every one of us has at least tasted the pain of conscience which follows our mistakes. Soon enough we are brought to the realization that guilt is harder to bear than physical pain. Many prophets in the scripture described how painful guilt can be. The prophet Alma speaks of it as “gall of bitterness and bonds of inequity…darkest abyss”, and being “racked with eternal torment harrowed up to the greatest degree.” (see Mosiah 27:29). The pain of guilt is compared to the “torment…as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable.” (Mosiah 3:27). Brimstone is another term for sulfur. However, we can be redeemed from all our sins. “We believe that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, all mankind maybe saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.” (Articles of Faith 3). The atonement offers redemption from spiritual death and from suffering caused by sin.

Alma expressed his experience after deep and sincere repentance of his sins: “My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvellous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more (Mosiah 27:29).” So it can be with us. The Atonement of Jesus Christ can be our source of daily power when we are burdened by remorse of conscience because of our sins. 

Am I a disgrace? This is a question once asked by a beloved daughter. I told her in a letter, “You are never a disgrace. We hate the term to describe our dearly beloved children; not even while in a most serious of sins. The same as your siblings, you are, to us, like beams of sunlight shining in the break of day or a shining star in the night sky which once was covered by windswept dark clouds passing by, and eventually cleared to glimmer and shine even brighter at noon of day and at mid of night. Never be bothered by the past, just learn from it. We “all sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Nephi of old, a very righteous prophet even acknowledged his own sinfulness. Said he, “O wretched man that I am, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh. My soul grieveth because of mine inequities. I am encompassed about because of the temptations and the sins, which do so easily, beset me. And, when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins. Nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. He hath filled me with His love even unto the consuming of my flesh” (2 Nephi 4:17-19, 21). The Lord invited us, “Come and let us reason together…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). What is therefore most important is that after we have stumbled, we arise and change for the better, recharging our light of life to shine even brighter until the perfect day, as you have truly done. You are now advancing with increased faith and hope for the dawning of a brighter day in your life, carry on, carry on. We love you very much. We thank you for the opportunity of having our hands extended in a loving grasp and joyful embrace for you and your beloved family. May you continue to hold fast to the iron rod and press forward with eyes focused towards the Temple and ‘single to the glory of God’." 

At times in the wake of our failures and mistakes, and together with guilt resulting from our sinfulness, we self-judge ourselves and mark our person with descriptions of ignominy and dishonor, which we are not supposed to do. Self-judgment does not in any way correct our errors nor relieves us of our guilt. Our failures and sinfulness are but insignificant parts of our great worth as a person. Through sincere and genuine repentance the guilt can be easily healed through the power of the Atonement. As it was with the prophet Alma, we are healed and freed “from the gall of bitterness and the bonds of inequity (Mosiah 27:29).” And better still as we continue in obedience and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then like Nephi we may say: “Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.” (2 Nephi 4:28).

Indeed, we can be forgiven, we can be released and liberated from the gall of bitterness and be freed from the bonds of inequity through the redeeming love of Him who atoned for all the sins of the world, even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.