Speaking In Sacrament

Faith, Hope and Charity

Hello. Brother Baza came up to me about a month and a half ago and asked me if I would be willing to speak. He said that I had been on his mind for a while now and he was waiting to see what I would have to say.  I agreed to speak, and then he said great and that was the end of the conversation. At the time he had not given me a date, a topic, or a length of time that he wanted me to speak. I figured he would come to me again and let me know these things.

A couple of weeks later when I still had not heard any further news of me speaking I made the mistake of asking him about it. I went up to him one Sunday after sacrament and asked him if he had forgotten that he asked me to speak. He gave me a smile and said that he had, but since I had reminded him, he then said that he would like me to speak on Oct. 28. I walked away kicking myself for reminding him and wonder if I would have gotten out of it had I never gone up and asked him.

As I was walking away though, I also realized that I still did not have a topic to speak on. I wondered if I should go back and ask, and then decided that Brother Boza would probably just call me and tell me at some point. Plus, I had already reminded him once that I was speaking and I didn’t want to remind him again.  Well, he didn’t call. And by the time I got to two Sundays ago I figured I should probably go and ask him. Part of me just thought about talking about whatever I wanted and for whatever length I felt like, but a bigger part of me felt like I should ask. So after sacrament to weeks ago I found the brethren in the office. The first thing out of Brother Boza’s mouth was “two weeks. I didn’t forget.” I laughed and said neither had I but did he have a topic he wanted me to speak on or should I just pick my own. I was hoping he would say pick your own because I had had some thoughts running through my head that I felt I should share. He gave me that smile again and then said “I will give you a broad topic….how about faith, hope and charity. You may speak on it what you will.” I thanked him and then walked away.

As I walked away that day, I was a little disappointed because I couldn’t see how I could fit what I had been thinking about sharing into the topic he had given me and I really didn’t want to start thinking about a new subject to share with you. But, the more I thought about it, and as I started to research the topic, I found that it did in fact cover what I wanted to share.  

So, today as I speak to you I want to go backwards. Usually when one is given the topic that I have they speak on each subject in the order it was given: Faith, hope and then charity. Today, however, I want to start with Charity.

Growing up I always thought charity was just about serving others. I figured it just meant to go out and do service. So when people would start talking about having charity, and being the young girl that I was, I thought to myself, yeah, I got that one covered. I can help others, move on to the next thing I need to accomplish.  As I have grown up though and learned more throughout the years the word Charity holds so much more meaning to me now than it ever did as a young girl.

Charity means more than just serving your fellow man. It means more than bringing food to a neighbor in need or shoveling someone’s walk when they are too weak to accomplish it themselves. Charity is what is beneath all of that. It is what fuels the actions mentioned. Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is the base for holding the foundation of love and relationships. It is something that is given and something that you have to work for. Hyrum Smith said, “We ought to be careful of what we say, and take the example of Jesus, cast over men the mantle of charity, and try to cover their faults. We are made to enlighten and not to darken one another, save men, not destroy them.”  In Moroni 7:44 – 47 it states the following:

44: …if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

45: And Charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things,

46: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail-

47: But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Optimism and hope spring from deep faith in Jesus Christ. And the natural by-product of hope borne of faith is charity, or the ability to truly care about others more than yourself. True charity gives us the power to stop worrying about what the world thinks of us and to start caring for others. It gives us the power to find those in need to and make people’s lives better because we were there.

Hope is something that is required to have charity. One must have hope that they can make a difference. One must have hope that things can be better. The definition of hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. Despair is the opposite of hope.

Hope is something that gives us courage. It is something that helps us move forward in life and helps us to act. The concept of hope is a noun. It is an idea that we have and an idea that we tend to believe in. But hope also needs to be a verb. It needs to be an action. Hope is not just something that can sit by ideally and wait. It is something that you must use. Something that you must put into action and then act upon. 

President Uchtdorf gave an excellent talk In October 2008 entitled The Infinite Power of Hope: In it he sates a few things that I would like to share with you.

The scriptures say that there must be “an opposition in all things.” ¹⁵ So it is with faith, hope, and charity. Doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellowmen lead us into temptation, which can cause us to forfeit choice and precious blessings.

The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart. Despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward.

Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear.

Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. ² Its absence—when this desire of our heart is delayed—can make “the heart sick.” ³
 

Hope is a gift of the Spirit. ⁴ It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior. ⁵ This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment, ⁶ and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, ⁷ mercy, ⁸ rejoicing, ⁹ and gladness. ¹⁰ The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; ¹¹ it is the foundation of our faith ¹² and an anchor to our souls.

“Faith, hope, and charity complement each other, and as one increases, the others grow as well. Hope comes of faith, ³² for without faith, there is no hope. ³³ In like manner faith comes of hope, for faith is “the substance of things hoped for.” ³⁴
 

Hope is critical to both faith and charity. When disobedience, disappointment, and procrastination erode faith, hope is there to uphold our faith. When frustration and impatience challenge charity, hope braces our resolve and urges us to care for our fellowmen even without expectation of reward. The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The stronger our hope, the purer our charity.

The things we hope for lead us to faith, while the things we hope in lead us to charity. The three qualities—faith, hope, and charity ³⁵ —working together, grounded on the truth and light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, lead us to abound in good works” 

With that said, the last topic of the day then, is faith. When I first hear the word faith my mind automatically goes to the primary song that states faith is like a seed, if planted it will grow. When I was little I used to wonder if I had a tree growing inside of me or if I needed to sallow a seed to get the process started.  I wanted to have faith and I was willing to do what it took to get a tree of it inside of me. 

Looking back on that young girl I realize that I had the faith all along. I realize that that desire to have that amount of faith had already planted the seed inside of me and that it was indeed growing. But, with looking back I also wonder if I have that same amount of faith in myself now. I wonder if my tree has grown well, and if in fact it is still growing. 

With this thought in mind I choose to look of faith the Topical Guide one night. When you look this up by the word faith it gives you other words to look under for more information. In the parenthesis next to faith is says:

See also assurance; baptism, qualifications for; believe; confidence; faithful; faithfulness; obedience; trust; trust in God; Dictionary …Faith. 

The word that stuck out to me the most in this list was the word confidence. I pondered that word with faith for a moment and then decide to look for more. I choose to then do what it said and look up faith in the bible dictionary.  The definition for faith is a long one, but it sums up what it is and how it should be used in our lives so very nicely. I am going to read it to, but please don’t fall asleep.

Faith is to hope for things which are not seen, but which are true (Heb. 11:1; Alma 32:21), and must be centered in Jesus Christ in order to produce salvation. To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone. The Lord has revealed himself and his perfect character, possessing in their fulness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in him without reservation. Faith is kindled by hearing the testimony of those who have faith (Rom. 10:14–17). Miracles do not produce faith, but strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ; in other words, faith comes by righteousness, although miracles often confirm one’s faith.

Faith is a principle of action and of power, and by it one can command the elements and/or heal the sick, or influence any number of circumstances when occasion warrants (Jacob 4:4–7). Even more important, by faith one obtains a remission of sins and eventually can stand in the presence of God.

All true faith must be based upon correct knowledge or it cannot produce the desired results. Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and is more than belief, since true faith always moves its possessor to some kind of physical and mental action; it carries an assurance of the fulfillment of the things hoped for. A lack of faith leads one to despair, which comes because of iniquity.

Although faith is a gift, it must be cultured and sought after until it grows from a tiny seed to a great tree. The effects of true faith in Jesus Christ include (1) an actual knowledge that the course of life one is pursuing is acceptable to the Lord (see Heb. 11:4); (2) a reception of the blessings of the Lord that are available to man in this life; and (3) an assurance of personal salvation in the world to come. These things involve individual and personal testimony, guidance, revelation, and spiritual knowledge. Where there is true faith there are miracles, visions, dreams, healings, and all the gifts of God that he gives to his saints.

This definition in whole says a great many things. It talks about faith being and action word and not just an idea. It talks about how miracles do not produce ones faith but can make it stronger and it also talks about how faith must be centered in Jesus Christ and in God. But it also talks about how to have faith is to have confidence in something and in someone.

The first person that we must have faith in, or confidence in, is God. It is not enough to just have faith that he exists. It is not enough to just believe that he is there. One must also have faith and confidence in his words and in his works. If we are to truly have faith in God then need to have faith in 1) that he knows who we are and hears ours prayers in 2) that his words are true and will be fulfilled and in 3) that he has a plan for us. 

Along with God our Father, we must also have faith in his son Jesus Christ, our brother. We must have faith in his existence here on Earth and in the life that he lived. We must also have faith in his works and words as well. We must have faith that the sacrifice he made in Gethsemane was real. But not only was it real, but that it was for us. We must have confidence that he can take our sins away. Confidence that he can take our pain away. Confidence that he knows what we are going through and is there for us in our lives.  It is not enough to just have faith that our Father and brother live. We must also have confidence in their words and in their works. 

The next person we must learn to have faith and confidence in is ourselves.  This one can often times be the hardest one for us to achieve. For some reason we find it far easier to have faith in someone else and what they can do, then to have faith in ourselves and what we can do. President Hinckley said the following: “I have been quoted as saying, ‘Do the best you can.’ But I want to emphasize that it be the very best. We are too prone to be satisfied with mediocre performance. We are capable of doing so much better.”

Often times in our lives I think we settle for good enough. We look around at our jobs, or living situations, our friends, and think to ourselves... “yep, this is good” and we stop there. We stop trying to be more or to achieve more with our lives. We figure that we have made it this far and don’t attempt to wonder what more there is to accomplish. I was in this place about two years ago. I had graduated from college, I had a job that suited me just fine, and I had a ward I liked and friends I liked to hang out with. But what I had stopped doing was moving forward. I had stopped trying to be more or to change more about myself and my life. And even though I was happy I soon realized that I had gotten myself stuck. I realized that I was in a rut and I didn’t know how to get out of it. 

I then took a look at my life and realized that I had settled. I wasn’t trying to be my best. I had a job, yes, but it was not the job I really wanted. I spent some time with the talents the Lord had given me, but I was not longer trying to continue to develop them. I was not trying to be more or to achieve more in any way. With this realization came the knowledge that I needed to change. That I needed to be more. But when one determines that they need to change it can bring about a fear inside of one selves. We start to wonder if we can truly achieve more or if we can really get the type of job and life that we really want. And sometimes this train of thought can make us stop in our tracks and we decide that yes, life is good and we are right back to where we started. 

Instead of getting stuck in this circle, we must start to believe in ourselves. We must start to have faith in ourselves. We must start to have confidence that we can be more. That we can be all we are meant to be. In order to do this we need to remember who we are. We need to remember that we are children of a king. We are royalty. We are all princes and princesses. In 2 Nephi 20:8 it says: Are not my prince’s altogether kings?”  We are all his children and within all of us is the potential to be kings and queens. We need to be the ones to work to reach that potential and we cannot let something like fear stop us. We need to do as it says in D&C 78:15 and come up unto the crown that is prepared for us. Our Father in Heaven is a God and a king and he has a plan for each and every one us. He has promised blessings waiting for us to reach for. He wants us to be great. He wants us to achieve what he has in store for us, and if we start believing in ourselves and working towards those goals he will help us. But If we never make an effort to be more, if we never make an effort to achieve, then it will never be accomplished.

One of my favorite quotes is by Marianne Williamson. It is a poem entitled

Our Greatest Fear

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

As we move forward in life we must remember who we are. We must remember that we are royalty and that we have a God as a Father. We must remember where we come from and where we want to go. We must not let fear keep us from being who we are meant to be. We must not settle for less than our best and we must remember to keep the faith. Keep the faith in God and his existence. In his word and in his plan for us. But most of all we must keep the faith within in ourselves. The faith that we can achieve, that we can be great, and that one day we can return to live with God.