26 And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been slain were righteous people, therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were saved.
27 And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.
We know that God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore, we should not be surprised to see Mormon measuring the outcome of this “battle” in an unconventional way:
Standard worldly metric: death toll
- People of God: 1,005 (Alma 24:22)
- Wicked Lamanites: 0
Mormon’s alternative metrics
- Number of people who died unprepared to meet God: 0
- Number of people brought to the knowledge of the truth: >1,005
Note that the standard worldly metric is competitive in nature. It measures how well one side did compared to the other. In contrast, Mormon sees all participants as children of God, and he is evaluating the event in terms of God’s desire to bring salvation to all of His children.
Today, I will make an effort to see the events of my life as God sees them. In particular, I will strive to see all people as valued children of God and to evaluate the events of the day in terms of their eternal significance to everyone involved.
Great post. It's interesting how our perspective or point of reference changes our assessment of different situations and events. Having an eternal perspective, like Mormon, is so important, not only in the big moments, but as you indicate in the events everyday.