Discipleship means a willing and consistent alignment with God’s decrees. What does one do when commanded by God to pursue a course contrary to one’s deepest values? Nephi learns the answer to this when he is constrained by the Spirit to kill Laban for the purpose of preserving the sacred record for an entire nation. He learns that the Spirit will direct us in all things. Sometimes a command is so difficult that we need to be taught by the Spirit concerning our specific instructions. Such was the case in regard to Nephi’s taking the life of Laban. As Nephi faced the challenge of taking a human life by divine commandment, he must have come to an understanding of what the prophet Isaiah meant when he said: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).
The angelic instruction given to Nephi is a spiritual lesson in logic and its application (see 1 Nephi 4:11–17):
Having been taught, and having come to realize that the Lord truly has delivered Laban into his hands, Nephi proceeds to take Laban’s life.
When we understand and appreciate a doctrine, principle, or commandment through the Spirit, it is easier to accept and live it.