“And Despair Cometh Because of Iniquity”

D. Kelly Ogden, Andrew C. Skinner

“No hope” means that we are in despair. The word despair in the Spanish translation of the Book of Mormon is desesperación (English, desperation).

President Gilbert Sandberg of the Guatemala City Temple observed once that we should never feel true desperation; in fact, he concluded that the word desperate shows a lack of faith. Perhaps we should never feel desperate about any event or condition in our life if we really trust Heavenly Father and the Savior that our life is in their hands, and they know what they are doing with us. We should have confidence in them. Desperation, like doubt, is the antithesis of faith.

If sometime we find ourselves without hope, we will experience despair; and despair, as Moroni said, comes because of sin. When we get rid of the sin and are rid of the effects or consequences of that sin, we will discover hope once again.

Verse by Verse: The Book of Mormon: Vol. 2

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