Foundational Faith

I'm not a preacher and this isn't a sermon. The following is a talk I was asked to give recently, and I prayerfully prepared and shared it in sacrament meeting in front of our congregation.

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Faith is at the core of all that we do in Christ’s restored Church - The Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints. It’s who we are, and is the motivation behind every decision made, ordinance

performed, and covenant kept.

It’s worth mentioning that it was the pure and simple faith of a 14 year old farm boy 200 years

ago that began the greatest work this world has ever seen. A marvelous work and a wonder; a

plan that was laid before the foundation of the world.

It was the young Joseph Smith Jr’s willingness to act on his faith in the promise found in James

1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and

upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

It was Joseph Smith’s sincere intention to act on the answer he had faith he would receive, that

fulfilled the requirements we’re each expected to meet in order for the Lord to bless us as

He desires to when we pray.

In Alma chapter 32, Alma explains faith to the poor whose afflictions had humbled them.

He first gives an example of what faith is not, saying, “Yea, there are many who do say: If thou

wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.”

He then asks, “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.”

He continues, “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.”

Alma goes on to explain that if all we have is the desire to have faith, it’s a start. This was really

helpful to me, as someone at the bottom looking up. Once it clicked in my mind, my perspective

of my own journey back to the covenant path no longer seemed as utterly impossible. I realized

I had already taken the first step.

In verse 28, Alma compares faith to a small seed. He says, “Now, if ye will give place that a

seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast

it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within

your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves -

it must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my

soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.”

By “giving place” for the word to be planted in our hearts; we have to suspend any disbelief we

may have about the gospel. Our minds and hearts have to be genuinely open to truth, no matter

what we may have heard or read on the internet. We have to sincerely seek to sincerely find

out.

Once we’ve done this, a good “seed” or in other words, “truth,” will ring true within us, causing

good feelings. Whereas, a bad “seed” or something false, has the opposite effect.

This sense of knowing when something is good or bad, truth or falsehood, by the way it makes

us feel can also be explained as the Spirit of Christ or the Light of Christ, also known as our

conscience. Every child of God is sent to earth with this inner guidance system.

After establishing how to recognize truth, Alma teaches the poor that, just as a seed requires

constant nourishment and light in order to grow, faith, too, requires each of us to nourish it

regularly, and expose it to as much Light as possible, which can only be gotten from the Son,

the Only Begotten of the Father, or faith withers more quickly than it was gained.

No matter how strong our faith may once have been, or how long we carefully nourished it, if left

to starve, or neglected in a darkened corner, the result is the same as it is for those who merely

desired it.

Once I realized I’d taken the first step toward having faith just by sincerely wishing I had more of

it, I was faced with the question of, “How do I get more faith?”

In Ether 12 Moroni gives us another perspective on faith - “And now, I, Moroni, would speak

somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are

hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness

until after the trial of your faith.”

In other words, faith isn’t something we’re given, any more than it’s something we’re shown. If

our faith hasn’t been tested yet, I can promise you it will. If it has, I can promise it will be again.

That’s how faith is strengthened, by being tested. We use the term ’exercising our faith.’ This

means doing things that take faith. It takes faith to pray, faith that God hears us and loves us

and has the power to answer our prayers. It takes faith to make time each day for reading

scriptures, doing Come, Follow Me, and having Family Home Evening.

Some faith-trying things are unique to every individual, while others are more common.

It takes faith to accept a calling way outside of our comfort zone. Maybe even 2 of them, and

maybe at the same time.

It takes faith to pay tithing when it doesn’t seem logical, especially when the bills and our budget

don’t match.

Faith to bear our testimony, give a talk or teach a lesson.

Faith to have high standards, even when it singles us out or there’s peer pressure.

Faith to get up early for seminary. Faith to get up and teach seminary.

It takes faith to embark on the covenant path, even when we don’t understand every detail yet.

It takes exceptional faith to go on a mission, even if you have other opportunities, a girl or

boyfriend that doesn’t want you to go, or just terrified of the unknown.

One of the acts of faith I’ve most admired, is those who join the Church, even if their own family

alienates them.

President Jeffrey R. Holland: I think there are a couple of variations of this quote, but “If the

harder you try the harder it gets, take heart, for so it was with the best of those who ever lived.”

I’ve had to exercise faith in situations in my life where I didn’t have faith that I even had the faith.

But not once in my life have I regretted acting on it. I always learned, and always, however long

it may have taken or in what form it came, saw results for good.

Faith is just a word unless it’s been placed in Jesus Christ, and His atoning power.

Faith does have its likenesses, misguided, and which only subtract from true faith.

In November 2017, I was released from Maury County jail and, for the first time in about a

decade, I was staying clean by choice. The following January I started college and even

managed to make the Dean’s list for that semester.

Just days after spring semester ended and about 2 weeks before the summer semester began,

I slipped up. I’d gotten comfortable and, though I was still reading my scriptures each day, I was

distracted as I did so and my heart wasn’t in it. I knew better, or I should’ve. It takes really

buckling down and staying anxiously engaged in a good cause to keep me looking ahead.

In that same 2 week period, I broke 2 of the 8 titanium pins in my left shoulder and went in for

my 3rd surgery in a year and a half on it. This included 12 pins, a rod from elbow to socket, a

new ball joint and other random things, with the socket in reverse. At 30 years old, he said I was

the youngest person to receive it to his knowledge and told me don’t even try it without

painkillers.

I still went back for summer semester, but after a few weeks had a massive overdose, a

common occurrence throughout my adult life, and dropped out. I tried again in the fall, but was

back in jail in a month’s time. I remember multiple times that month, driving home when I would

pray out loud, crying like a baby, saying I was sorry for having more faith in substances than I

did in Him. I prayed a lot, but I just said I was sorry instead of asking forgiveness, because I

knew I would do it again.

It wasn’t really faith. Just misguided, desperate hope. But it did fill the place in me where faith

was meant to live and grow. Leaving less space for true faith.

I had plenty of down-time to ponder and pray about what worked and what hurt my spirituality

while back in jail, and I failed to nourish my faith, and keep myself fortified for when trials and

temptations came, and when they came, I wasn’t ready. I started thinking of things I could do

daily to stay strong, and thought about ways to react next time I was faced with temptation or

loss. Ways to cope that could replace the old patterns.

One of the very first things I did was start a ‘gratitude journal,’ which I just called ‘daily

blessings.’ Each morning I began writing a blessing for the day. Something that happened

recently or something I’d always been grateful for, just something to help me focus on the good

in my life. I still do it years later.

I shudder to think of a world without faith. A faithless world is a joyless world. Faith is what

cushions the blow when pain would otherwise swallow me when I think of those our family has

lost. It brings a level of peace, knowing that, in a way that is beyond my mortal comprehension,

a loving God would have me see the faces of my 2 older brothers again. It brings Him joy to

know I have hope that I will see my nephew, Kobee, again. Lost to us at 22 years old.

Faith in Jesus Christ literally makes the world go ‘round, and I am truly grateful for it.

I say these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.