The young Ammonites, who were not a party to the oath of nonaggression, desire to fight for the freedom of the Nephites. They enter into a covenant to fight for liberty and right. Their majestic and noble initiative proves to be the tipping point in the fight for liberty and justice. The story of the stripling warriors, the sons of Helaman, is legendary in the Church. These young men, full of faith and having been taught by their mothers, are courageous and indomitable in battle. They are willing to lay down their lives for the higher cause if necessary, but the Lord preserves them. They become the rallying cry and the galvanizing energy that enables Moroni and his generals to redeem the land from the scourge of invading Lamanites and the cancerous influence of internal rebellion. The Lord will strengthen us as we keep our covenants, exercise our faith, and show an abundance of charity.
The bonds between Heavenly Father and His children are always sealed and confirmed by covenants. Zion is a covenant society. Honor and dignity append to the covenant promises made in the name of Christ and perpetuated through obedience, integrity, and faithfulness. There is no greater legacy than an uninterrupted chain of honored covenants that illuminate the lives of God’s people; there is no greater hope in life than the hope of covenants fulfilled and the bestowal of blessings from on high in answer to covenant valor.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell speaks about the strength of covenant vows:
Numerous valiant and faithful individuals are keeping their covenants and steadily developing the cardinal qualities of character necessary to become men and women of Christ. These enlightened ones meet adversity and overcome it; these have that special peace that overcomes even amid adversity. They also sustain the Brethren while knowing that the Brethren too are mortals. Such faithful know by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ and that He was crucified for the sins of the world, enabling still others to believe on their words, which is sufficient for now (see D&C 46:13, 14) (Men and Women of Christ [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991], 3).
Concerning the importance of covenants, the Prophet Joseph Smith said:
And may God enable us to perform our vows and covenants with each other, in all fidelity and righteousness before Him, that our influence may be felt among the nations of the earth, in mighty power, even to rend the kingdoms of darkness asunder, and triumph over priestcraft and spiritual wickedness in high places, and break in pieces all kingdoms that are opposed to the kingdom of Christ, and spread the light and truth of the everlasting Gospel from the rivers to the ends of the earth. (HC 2:375)
Commenting on covenant sanctity, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland writes:
Surely the most plain and precious of all truths lost from the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, are the clear and unequivocal declarations of the mission of Jesus Christ, his foreordained role as Messiah and Savior of the world, and the covenantal elements of his gospel, which have been taught from Adam down through each succeeding dispensation. Thus the Book of Mormon’s highest purpose is to restore to the universal family of God that crucial knowledge of Christ’s role in the salvation of every man, woman, and child who now lives, has ever lived, or will yet live upon the earth. It is written to the convincing of all who read its pages with “a sincere heart, with real intent” that Jesus is the Christ.
Also lost over this same period of time and for many of the same reasons was, as Nephi noted, an understanding of the nature and fundamental role of divine covenants, sacred promises made between God and his children in prescribing the way to immortality and eternal life. The most sacred moments of man’s relationship with divinity have always been marked by the making of covenants. Soon after being expelled from the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were taught the principles of the gospel, after which they offered their oblations and sacrifices and made sacred covenants with God, beginning with their own baptisms. Just as immediately Satan tried to blunt those divine covenants and mar the faithfulness of the first family, succeeding in part when he convinced Cain to covenant to do great evil with him, Satan, rather than righteously serving God the Father. So the world has gone ever since that first moment—forces of evil competing with the power of good for the covenantal loyalty of the children of God. (Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997], 6–7)