Hebrews 12:2 reads "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." We have been challenged to read all of the "Jesus Christ" references in the topical guide in the King James Version of the Bible. I was reading the other day and came across this scripture. The first line really caught my attention, 'author and finisher of our faith'.
Christ is the author of our faith in the sense that faith starts with him. It's hard to have faith in anything else in this world if we don't have faith in a sure foundation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Once we have acquired faith in Jesus Christ we don't stop there. It is a life long journey of adversity, tears, love, and most of all, true happiness. If our faith and life is centered around Jesus Christ, he will come to us.
Christ is also the finisher of faith. If we hold out faithful to the end, we will be granted the gift of eternal life. We will be with Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ for all eternity. Faith is not a one time declaration and that's it. It is a process. Faith is an action. We show our faith in Christ by living his teachings and following the commandments.
I know that by living and studying the Gospel the best we can our testimonies will grow stronger. We will become true disciples of Christ in all aspects of life. We will no longer dwell upon worldly success and recognition, but we will have our sights on a much higher goal.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
"The 3 Rs of Choice" -- Pres. Monson
President David O. McKay said it perfectly when he said, "Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct that life is God's greatest gift to man." We spend too much time getting mad at choices we have made in the past and dwelling on things that are long gone, rather than learning from our choices and moving forward. We also forget how much of a blessing it is for us to have choice and not just be forced to do things. Sometimes we like to think "maybe it would have been better if I didn't have the opportunity to choose because then I wouldn't be in this circumstance". Well as good as that may sound at the moment, it couldn't be more wrong. We have to make choices in this life to learn and to progress and ultimately to return and live with our Heavenly Father. President Monson spoke in this last general conference in October on choice. His talk was titled "The 3 Rs of Choice" and can be found on lds.org. I would like to touch on his talk for a minute.
The first one is right of choice. This is also known as agency, or the right to choose. We have used our agency as long as time can tell. We first used our agency to come to this earth and to be tested to see if we could live the commandments that our Heavenly Father would set forth. Adam and Eve used their agency to partake of the fruit. We use our agency every day. Some things are not important at all, and some have eternal significance. We must strive to use our right of choice to our best ability. There will be times when we don't use it correctly. It is not the end of the world. Jesus Christ laid down his life so we could be forgiven for those wrong choices we make if we truly humble our selves and repent of the things we have done wrong.
The second one is responsibility to choose. We are accountable for all our decisions. President Monson said, "As long as we live upon this earth, Lucifer and his hosts will never abandon the hope of claiming our souls." This is why it is so important that we are cautious when we make decisions. They can have a much bigger impact on our life than we can imagine. We all have the brain power and mind to make right decisions. We are literally sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, and as such, we can not make a wrong decision and feel good about it. In Moroni 7:16 in the Book of Mormon it reads, "The Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil."
The last one is results of choice. All of this may sound a bit repetitive, but we must stay focused on that goal which is eternal and worth any price we will have to pay, regardless of the sacrifice we must make to reach it. We will make many decisions in our life that will be extremely important, what better help could we get for those hard choices than that of our Heavenly Father's? He is all knowing and His love is unconditional. Regardless of the choices we make in this life He still loves us, but He can not do everything for us. We must reap the consequences from our choices, whether they be good or bad. It is our blessing in this life to exercise our agency in a righteous manner. Choose righteousness and live happily. As Alma said to his son Corianton, "wickedness never was happiness".
The first one is right of choice. This is also known as agency, or the right to choose. We have used our agency as long as time can tell. We first used our agency to come to this earth and to be tested to see if we could live the commandments that our Heavenly Father would set forth. Adam and Eve used their agency to partake of the fruit. We use our agency every day. Some things are not important at all, and some have eternal significance. We must strive to use our right of choice to our best ability. There will be times when we don't use it correctly. It is not the end of the world. Jesus Christ laid down his life so we could be forgiven for those wrong choices we make if we truly humble our selves and repent of the things we have done wrong.
The second one is responsibility to choose. We are accountable for all our decisions. President Monson said, "As long as we live upon this earth, Lucifer and his hosts will never abandon the hope of claiming our souls." This is why it is so important that we are cautious when we make decisions. They can have a much bigger impact on our life than we can imagine. We all have the brain power and mind to make right decisions. We are literally sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, and as such, we can not make a wrong decision and feel good about it. In Moroni 7:16 in the Book of Mormon it reads, "The Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil."
The last one is results of choice. All of this may sound a bit repetitive, but we must stay focused on that goal which is eternal and worth any price we will have to pay, regardless of the sacrifice we must make to reach it. We will make many decisions in our life that will be extremely important, what better help could we get for those hard choices than that of our Heavenly Father's? He is all knowing and His love is unconditional. Regardless of the choices we make in this life He still loves us, but He can not do everything for us. We must reap the consequences from our choices, whether they be good or bad. It is our blessing in this life to exercise our agency in a righteous manner. Choose righteousness and live happily. As Alma said to his son Corianton, "wickedness never was happiness".
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