Protect and defend our faith

 

“I would never have asked for this trial, but I would never give it away.”

 

Jean Stevens

 

“Surely the angels of Heaven wept as they recorded the cost of discipleship.”

 

Jeffrey R. Holland

 

 

“Every person eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there … must make his stand.”

 

Ezra Taft Benson

 

Don’t be surprised when it happens to you!

 

By definition, trials will be trying. There may be anguish, confusion, sleepless nights, and pillows wet with tears. But our trials need not be spiritually fatal. They need not take us from our covenants or from the household of God.

The gift of faith is a priceless spiritual endowment. “This is life eternal,” Jesus prayed, “that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Our faith is centered in God, our Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. It is bolstered by our knowledge that the fulness of the gospel has been restored to the earth, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that prophets and apostles today hold the keys of the priesthood. We treasure our faith, work to strengthen our faith, pray for increased faith, and do all within our power to protect and defend our faith.

The Apostle Peter identified something he called a “trial of your faith.” He had experienced it. Remember Jesus’s words:

“Simon, … Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.”

Peter later encouraged others: “Think it not strange,” he said, “concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.”

These fiery trials are designed to make you stronger, but they have the potential to diminish or even destroy your trust in the Son of God and to weaken your resolve to keep your promises to Him. These trials are often camouflaged, making them difficult to identify. They take root in our weaknesses, our vulnerabilities, our sensitivities, or in those things that matter most to us. A real but manageable test for one can be a fiery trial for another.

How do you remain “steadfast and immovable” during a trial of faith? You immerse yourself in the very things that helped build your core of faith: you exercise faith in Christ, you pray, you ponder the scriptures, you repent, you keep the commandments, and you serve others. With faith come trials of faith, bringing increased faith. The Lord’s comforting assurance to the Prophet Joseph Smith is the very same promise He makes to you in your trial of faith: “Hold on … , fear not … , for God shall be with you forever and ever.” Of this I bear my sacred witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Neil L. Andersen

The covenant of consecration encompasses sacrifice; circumscribes love, work, and self-reliance; and is fundamental to the establishment of God’s kingdom. “Zion cannot be built up,” the Lord said, “unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom.”  The covenant of consecration is central to this law. We shall one day apply it in its fulness. This covenant embraces the “giving of one’s time, talents, and means to care for those in need whether spiritually or temporally and in building the Lord’s kingdom.”

 

Keith B. McMullin

 

Christ's requirements are not so that we can make the best of the Atonement, But so that on His generous terms the Atonement can make the best of Us.

 

Brad Wilcox

 

God wants our obedience and sacrifice, But only as a means to an end. He wants us to live the gospel, But even this is still a means to an end. What He ultimately wants from all of us is exactly that All of Us

 

He wants our consecration.

 

Brad Wilcox

 

"True success in this life comes in consecrating our lives that is, our time and choices to God’s purposes.

 

In so doing, we permit Him to raise us to our highest destiny."

 

D. Todd Christofferson