Abigail

Abigail is one of my favorite people in the scriptures.  She has so many admirable qualities about her and is not as well known as she should be.  Some things that stand out to me about Abigail are: she was smart and pretty, she was courageous, she is an example of a type of Christ, and she was a good wife and watched out for her household.  I also think it says a lot about Abigail's character that the servant came to her for a solution after Nabal refused to help David.

Abigail acted as a type of Christ when she interceded on behalf of her household and asked that David spare her husband.  She asked that David forgive Nabal for his offenses and accept her peace offering.  I have been thinking about forgiveness a lot lately.  There is a person in my life that I have felt very hurt by over the last year and a half and have began harboring some very negative feelings towards.  This person can be very selfish and very thoughtless at times and it has been very hurtful.  Elder Uchtdorf gave an excellent take about forgiving others and being merciful in conference two years ago, "The Merciful Obtain Mercy".  In this talk he says, "The more we allow the love of God to govern our minds and emotions-the more we allow our Heavenly Father to swell within our hearts-the easier it is to love others with the pure love of Christ.  As we open our hearts to the glowing dawn of the love of God, the darkness and cold of animosity and envy will eventually fade."  This is definitely something that I need to work on and apply in my life.  

Abigail demonstrates the type of love that Elder Uchtdorf talks about.  She could have been very resentful towards Nabal and could have let David destroy him and it sounded like Nabal deserved it.  But because she was "a woman of good understanding (1 Samuel 25:3)" she knew that it was not up to her or David to deal justice but up to God.  I don't necessarily think that the person in my life needs any kind of punishment or judgment but it is a good reminder that all things are in God's hands and that all that is required of me is to trust him and to forgive.