“Maybe I’m Laman”

Nephi provides us with some good advice on how to read the scriptures. He recommends that we liken the people and events in the scriptures to our own lives and the events around us.

… I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.

1 Nephi 19:23

This method of reading is very instructive. However, if we only identify with the heroes, or the “good guys” in the scriptures, we are missing the point.

I used to always read the Book of Mormon thinking I was Nephi, but now sometimes I read and think, “Maybe I’m Laman.”

Sunday School Class Member

We are all a mix of noble and ignoble intentions and actions. The act of reading the scriptures is a noble one. But if, while reading, we only put ourselves into the shoes of the righteous, we risk missing the most important lessons that the scriptures provide.

The primary purpose of the scriptures (and of prophets, and of revelation) is to get us to repent and improve. If we believe that we are always Nephi (the hero), and never admit the Laman (lazy, stubborn, bullying, selfish) parts of our character, we will be slow to repent and will miss out on blessings we might have had.

They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick:

Mark 2:17

The scriptures were not written for perfect people. They were written to guide and strengthen us in our weakness. The warnings contained in the scriptures are not addressed to outsiders who will never see them, they are warnings directed to the members of the Church. The human weaknesses and foibles that are illustrated in the scriptures are the very weaknesses and foibles we would-be “Saints” are subject to.

When we liken the scriptures to ourselves we need to recognize that we, individually and collectively, are rarely the heroes in the story. We are usually the weak fallen people in the story who need to humble themselves, listen to the prophet, and repent.

We Latter-day Saints are fortunate to have both ancient and modern scriptures to teach us of the requirements and potential blessings of God’s “Plan of Happiness” (Alma 42:8). Let us read them candidly and honestly.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2 Timothy 3:16