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Caleb Marlan Walker

** UPDATE **

Sally and I have different reasons for liking the name (or I maybe I am wrong). But I have always loved the story of Caleb and Joshua being the only among the scouts of 12 tribes that had faith when faced with the armies of the Canaanites. As a result, the Children of Isreal wandered for 40 years, and of those who originally left Egypt, only Caleb and Joshua were permitted to enter the promised land.

6 ¶ And ^aJoshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.

8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

9 Only ^arebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: ^bfear them not.

24 But my servant ^aCaleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath ^bfollowed me fully, him will I ^cbring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

A recent conference talk got me thinking about these verses:

41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy , and without guile —

43 Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost ; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;

44 That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.

Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-44

I have read these verses many times over the years. As I was reading them today, however, I asked myself how one recognizes when they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost to reprove with sharpness? The default is to reprove mildly, with kindness, love, and long-suffering. The long-suffering part is hard, especially as a parent because you want to deal with the behavior in the NOW (for example, my wonderful first born’s incessant screaming when she is excited or playing).

But how does one recognize the prompting to reprove with sharpness? Generally, reproving in this way is done in a spirit of frustration or anger – not exactly the right frame of mind to be in tune with the spirit of God. In thinking about the scriptures, the only time I can really recall this type of reproof is when Christ cleaned the temple. Certainly, he was full of the spirit of God, and certainly he was sharp in that instance. In nearly every other example of the Savior’s life, however, we see a gentleness. My favorite example is repeatedly finding Peter, James, and John asleep in the garden while he paid the price of all of our sins – in each instance when he returned to find his disciples asleep, his reproof was mild and loving.

In what instances is sharpness appropriate, in light of the default prohibition to reprove with long suffering, meeknees, and love unfeigned? How do we know it is the spirit moving us and not a spirit of frustration or anger?