My week went well, but lets get into the spiritual thoughts:
Faith. What is it? What does it mean to have it? How do we increase it?
Normally, we define faith as a belief in something, as a missionary you learn pretty quickly that "Faith without works is dead" like it says in James 2:26. Therefore Faith, is a lot more than just a belief, Faith leads us to action. In the Guide for the Study of the Scriptures, Faith is defined like this: (more or less, I wrote this down in my notes in Spanish so I´m translating right now) " Have trust in something or in someone." In general, " Faith is the someone´s trust in Jesus Christ that leads them to obey Him."
Prophets and Apostles have testified in the scriptures that Faith is like a hope too. For Example, Alma testifies, "...if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." Alma 32:21. I also know that in the Bible, Paul says something super similar, but I don´t have the reference on hand right now. From my personal studies about Hope, I know that Hope is also a trust. Hope, generally, is trusting in the promises that God makes. Trust that God, being a perfect being, has no need to, and would never lie. So we should know, that we can trust completely in what he says, and in what he promises us. Faith then, is a hope in something, that leads us to act. Let´s think about it then, using related words too. More specifically, Faithful.
Faithful, seems to mean full of faith, right? Why then does it seem to take on another meaning? Is it really something different? Or is it what it really means to be full of faith? Whenever I think of the word faithful, I think more of Fidelity, Loyalty, or Trustworthiness. It means perseverance. Perseverance even when we don`t understand why. We persevere faithfully, trusting in our hope, even when we don`t understand why. What I`m trying to say is that faith, is more like fidelity, dedication, or devotion. Someone who is full of faith, is someone who´s faithful.
Let´s return then to the teachings of Alma. In the same verse I shared earlier, Alma says, "And now as I said concerning faith- Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." Like Alma said, Faith is not a perfect knowledge. In fact faith isnt even wanting to believe something when we don´t know if it´s true. Faith isn´t a replacement for a lack of knowledge, they´re not related in that way. Rather, Faith perfects knowledge, by practicing fidelity to it.
How does that work? Alma also teaches that. (He`s basically the expert). Some people told him, "If thou wilt show us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe." and Alma replied, "is this faith? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it." Alma 32:17-18 This still doesn`t mean faith is an incomplete knowledge, there´s a reference to another scripture that explains why we wouldnt need faith when there is a perfect knowledge. The reference is for Ether 12:12, which goes like this, " For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore he showed not himself until after their faith." Ok, so no miracles until AFTER faith...
in the same chapter it says the same about a testimony, "faith is things hoped for and not seen; wherefore dispute no because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."
Alma, in the same chapter we were in earlier (Alma 32) gives an example comparing the word of God to a seed, which if we plant in our hearts, and with diligence, patience, perseverance, and faithfulness will grow until we have a perfect knowledge of that thing. Do you understand yet? I`m not the best at explaining things simply (just look at the length of this letter) but I`m trying to say that faith, is a lot more like being faithful then wishful thinking. If we`re faithful to knowledge, when we don´t quite understand everything, if we persevere in the study, the result of our faithfulness is a more perfect knowledge. If we`re faithful to a belief, even during tough times, the result of our faithfulness is a testimony. If we´re faithful in our prayers, even when the answers don´t seem to come, the answers will come. These are the miracles of faithfulness. The miracles that come after our faithfulness. From now on rather than saying "Have faith", I´m going to focus on saying, " Be faithful." A more precise knowledge of things, helps us get one step closer to the perfect knowledge.
Lastly I want to explain the most important thing we can be faithful to. I know, that faithfulness in Jesus Christ is the only way to receive salvation. Not necesarily in some dreary sense that we´re all doomed, but rather, salvation from the burdens and trials of this life. From depression and sadness, from darkness and hopelessness, from loneliness. From every pain or trial we could ever pass through. To be faithful to Him, to be worthy of His trust by keeping the commandments and living His Gospel, is how we receive this Salvation.
May we all try a little harder to be faithful.
...And there it is! Now I have basically no more time to write, but this week was awesome. In other news, some members from my other area came to visit which was awesome, and we attacked a tree all week for service.
(tree pose)
I am the tree.
I am Groot.
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