We had an awesome lesson in Relief Society on Sunday and wanted to share this quote and some of my added thoughts and feelings about it. It was on faith. What faith is, and how to obtain it.
This quote is from Bishop Edgley: Because of the conflicts and challenges we face in today's world, I wish to suggest a single choice--a choice of peace and protection and a choice that is appropriate for all. That choice is faith. Be aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire, or effort. It does not come as athe dew falls from heaven. The Savior said, "Come unto me" and "Knock, and it shall be {given} you" (Matthew 7:7). These are action verbs--come, knock. They are choices. So I say choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism.
Faith is more than things hoped for and not seen, it is a deep conviction, a deep feeling of knowing without assurance. It's deep hope in our soul, in our hearts. Faith begins with hope and desire. We learn this from Alma 32:27-43. With this hope and desire we become motivated and begin to experiment, to see if will work.
I had made the comment that when we want to lose weight we often go to the gym, you can't just go to the gym one time and expect to lose weight you have to keep going to the gym and not only that but going to the gym isn't the only way to lose weight so you could follow the Word of Wisdom, eat healthy, stay active, you don't go to the gym and then come and sit and veg in from of the TV or computer all day, you need to keep going. It's the same with faith. You need to have desire to receive it, motivation to prove it, and you have to keep doing it, but also try a variety of ways to receive it. You can pray, pay tithing, read in our scriptures, be chaste, keep the commandments, fast, keep the Sabbath Day holy, and a huge variety of other things to do to receive faith. We need to not only do one thing but do the variety of things to make the faith more balanced.
Remember you can't just wish for strength to overcome weakness or wish to have faith, it takes effort, action, we have to work at it. Is it hard work? Not really, it's quite simple but then again it isn't, it is work and like anything worth having it takes sacrifice and effort. It is a process, we are not going to be perfect all at once but as we keep at it we will become perfect in that thing we are experimenting in. The key is--we must keep trying. We mustn't give up on our faith, we must keep nourishing it like a seed that will someday with special care will turn into something beautiful, useful and sweeter than anything we have ever known because of the accomplishment we feel in achieving it. Faith is so essential in living the Gospel Plan. Without it we will never reach our highest potential. Faith is like a key which is used to opening a door to happiness and eternal life. We have the key within reach, we have the choice....do we want to be happy, do we want our families to be happy? Those things are obtainable even here in this crazy world that we live in. We have to have faith, we have to live the gospel principles which have been taught to us. We need to be a strength for each other, to be the cheer leader our for families and friends that we love. We have to help them by encouraging, teaching, and by being the example ourselves. We must work to overcome, to master weakness not the other way around. We can do it, some days will be harder than others, because there is someone out there wanting us to fail. He wants us to fall on our faces and give up. He doesn't want us to be happy, he doesn't want families to stay together. He is hoping we choose to give into the worldly ways, to stumble and hope we forget who we are and what we can do if only we make up our minds to do it and to work at it. "He never said it would be easy, but He promises it will be worth it".
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