It’s notable that the one teaching in Alma 5 was himself a pretty awful person early in his life. Reading the messages about repentance, having faith and charity, being baptized, and everything akin to it is odd coming from someone that not only did a lot of bad stuff, but was actively working to do away with the church.
Perhaps the most popularly cited verse from Alma 5 is also my favorite:
Alma asks the people
- if they’ve experienced a change of heart (and feel to sing the song of redeeming of love)
- if they can still feel the change of heart they had
Having a change of heart is good. Forgetting about those feelings does no service to anyone though. Alma knows this, he experienced a change of heart. If he can’t “feel so now” he’s prone to repeat mistakes of his past.
I find comfort in knowing that Alma is like me, falling short and then converting his heart into something more to persist change moving forward.
