Faith is a Verb

Jesus Christ - Media Library

There are two parts to having faith in Jesus Christ - the first being to have "a firm belief that He is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.  It means believing that He suffered for your sins and afflictions (Faith in Jesus Christ)."  When I hear most people talk about having faith this is the part they focus on.  However, there is a second part to it that is just as important:  to act on that belief.

Go, and Do

After giving the parable of the good Samaritan the Lord asked who was a true neighbor to the injured man.  The response he received was "He that showed mercy on him."  To this the Savior said, "Go, and do thou likewise." (Luke 10:37.)  Likewise we learn from James:

"Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.  Yea, a man say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:  shew me thy faith without works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works... Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?" (James 2:17-18,22.)

Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us many things during his mortal ministry:  Prayer, the sacrament, the Beatitudes, etc.  We also learn many things from him through the many revelations and teachings of prophets throughout the Old Testament and Book of Mormon, but we must not only know these things in our minds, but must know them in our hearts - we must act on them.  It is good to know how to pray, but it will do no good if we do not pray.  Understanding the sacrament, or Lord's Supper, is wonderful, but we must partake of it also.

Faith Taught By a Living Apostle

Elder David A. Bednar, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teaches:

"True faith is focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ and always leads to righteous action.  The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that 'faith [is] the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness; and that it is also 'the principle of action in all intelligent beings' (Lectures on Faith).  Action alone is not faith in the Savior, but acting in accordance with correct principles is a central component of faith." (Ask in Faith, April 2008 General Conference.)

Christ - The Perfect Example of Faith in Action

The Lord taught us again and again throughout his life that we must serve others.  James, of the New Testament and someone who was close to Christ, wrote that "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27.)

Never did Jesus turn away someone that came to him for help.  He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, cured leprosy and many other ailments.  He not only taught us how to serve, but he showed us how to do it.  He forgave those that did wrong against him or others, and then showed them how to be a righteous person.

And, in the final moments of his mortal life, he showed faith in his Father's Plan of Salvation by giving his life for us.  He not only taught the atonement, but he lived the atonement, for all of us.

It is important to know the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to have faith in the Lord, but to show our faith we must act on it.  For "we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." (2 Nephi 25:23, emphasis added.)

Mormon Mothers

I want to make this post in appreciation to mothers, more particularly with the women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Many people criticize Mormonism because they say women do not have any important roles in the religion.  Elder Quentin L. Cook, in his General Conference address titled 'LDS Women Are Incredible!' has said, "Much of what we accomplish in the Church is due to the selfless service of women."  In the same address Elder Cook said the following:

"Sisters have key roles in the Church, in family life, and as individuals that are essential in Heavenly Father's plan... We pointed out that the most important organization on earth is the family, where 'fathers and mothers are...equal partners.'  Neither one is financially compensated, but the blessings are beyond description."

This morning I was reminded of a wonderful story from the Book of Mormon.  The story is often referred to as "The Stripling Warriors" story.  Before I say more I will share the story of the young warriors.

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Some background:
In the great war going on in this part of the Book of Mormon there are three groups to know about:  The Lamanites, the Nephites, and the people of Ammon.  Years before this war a missionary by the name of Ammon, a Nephite, went to the Lamanites and converted them and brought them back to the lands of the Nephites.  These converts are separate than the Nephites, however, because they vowed to never fight a war again so long as they lived.  After they made the promise to night fight the Lamanites, out of anger, came against them and killed many of them, until the remainder of the people were able to flee to the safety of the Nephites.

The time came though that the Lamanites were about to take over the Nephites in many of their strongholds.  These people of Ammon, with compassion, were ready to disregard their vow to never fight a war so that they could help their Nephite friends in battle.  The Nephites did not want them to break their promise though, and the answer was the sons of these Ammonites.  The sons had not made the promise that their fathers did, and they came out to join the Nephites to fight the Lamanites.

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And now I go to the account as recorded by Helaman (the captain over these boys) in the book of Alma chapter 56.

"Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle?
"And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.
"For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me:  Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.
"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
"And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying:  We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

After their great battle Helaman writes:

"I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain.
"But, behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength;"

Quite often, and appropriately, people recount this story to show the power of the faith of these two thousand young men.  Through their faith they were able to go into one of the most intense wars of the times and come out without a single one of them being killed in battle.  But I wish to change the focus of this story slightly this once to the mothers of these men.

As mentioned earlier, the parents had covenanted to never to fight again.  As a result many, if not most, of the fathers had been killed by the Lamanites.  These two thousands boys were raised by their mothers.  This most assuredly was tough for both the kids and the mothers, but those mothers knew what was important to teach their kids and they were not afraid to do so.  The outcome was that an entire generation was raised in immense faith.  This was faith strong enough to preserve every last one of them even in the face of war.  Mothers, past and present, have a wonderful power and do a great work.

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