So I have been talking about desire, hope, and diligence. Now I want to talk about how they all tie into Faith. Faith is a great thing that we can never get enough of. It is by our faith that God works miracles among us. Christ taught that if we had the faith of a mustard seed we could move mountains (Matt. 17:20) and that would be a pretty sweet miracle.
In the Book of Mormon the prophet Alma teaches us a lot about faith. He said that faith is hoping for something we can't see (Alma 32:21) (Also see Heb. 11:1). So we haven't seen Jesus Christ and we haven't experienced what eternal life is but we still hope that Christ saves us from our sins and that we can live forever with God. So because of this hope we chose to act. This action is our faith. If we want to receive eternal life we have to follow Christ teachings. Applying these teachings into our lives is showing God our faith. As we apply the teachings and exercise our faith we will receive the things we hope for. Living a Christ like life will bring us the eternal life we desire.
Like I have said before it all starts with a desire (Alma 32:27). We have to desire that Jesus Christ is our savior. This desire causes us to act to learn more about him and what he has done. Reading the scriptures is a sign of our faith. Then we will receive knowledge which will help our desires to grow.
Now yesterday I talked about how diligence is working hard and being positive. Faith is about work. If we are to do the things the Lord requires of us it requires us to change and improve. Now improvement doesn't come easy but as we strive to become better and live the standard God has asked us to live we will receive strength from Jesus Christ. That strength is a blessing that comes from our faith (Ether 12:27).
The apostle James teaches us that we show our faith by our works (James 2:17). It is by these works that we show God our willingness to follow him and to accept Christ as our savior. We demonstrate this faith by keeping the commandments, repenting, being baptized, studying the scriptures, serving others, and praying just to name a few. As we do these things God promises us blessings.
Now we could have all of the faith in the world and pray and pray for something to happen but if it is not God's will it will still not happen. God says if we have faith we can do what is expedient unto him (Moro. 7:33). We have to always remember that God's ways our higher than ours. We shouldn't put our faith in the outcome but we should put our faith in God. We should have faith that no matter what happens God will bless us as we do the right things. We need to have faith that God sees the big picture better than we do. We need to have faith that God being the loving Heavenly Father he is will provide us with a greater blessing than we desired. I know that God loves us and will give us exactly what we need. We just have to exercise our faith to do the right things. I know God will provide. We should all exercise our faith by reading the Book of Mormon. I know that as we do so God will bless us with a greater knowledge of our savior. I know that our faith will increase and we will find the path God has laid before us to receive the greatest of blessings. So find a Book of Mormon today and read it and pray about it and ask God if it is true. I know that as you do the Holy Ghost will touch your heart to teach you of its truthfulness.
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