Today, I want to keep things really simple and straightforward. It probably seems like every post I’ve made in the last few months has mentioned this, but I feel like there’s so much chaos around us right now. Social media usually leave me feeling confused and lost. The news isn’t much better. So many opinions swirling around like this is disconcerting and exhausting.
I need a break.
And I need some clarity and peace.
So today, I’m offering you my testimony. That’s it. I hope it can bring some clarity to your day the way I know it brings clarity to me.
This is what I believe.
God is Our Father
I believe that God is our literal Father. He is good, loving, merciful, and all-powerful. I wish I could comprehend how utterly wonderful He truly is. Each day He shows me a bit more of who He is and how much He loves me.
And each day He shows me how much He loves every one of His individual children on this earth. Every nation, every race, every gender, every religion – every single one of us matters to Him. Every life, every moment, every choice is significant to Him. And everything He does is for our good. His plan is perfectly prepared and executed for the ultimate salvation of man.
He sees things differently than we do. That’s hard to swallow sometimes because, personally, I like to be right. So I’m often challenged to see His point of view. I don’t know if I’m always successful, but often I find that if I really want to know, He will show me the goodness in His perspective and plan.
When I don’t understand or see His perspective, I rely on this: God is real and He is good. Nothing in my life is more certain than that. And if God is good, His reasons must be as well – even if I don’t know or understand them. That certainty carries me through so many questions, doubts, and challenges. And it’s what I rely on most right now with all the chaos around.
Christ is Our Savior
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the World. He suffered for our sins. He was the sacrifice that freed us all from death, from damnation, from Satan. He ensured that we do not have to fall away from God, but instead offered us the chance to return to our Father in Heaven.
Christ is the plan of our Father. He is the focal point of the world, of history, of our existence. Without Him, we’d lose hope, faith, repentance, healing, peace, and all that is good.
His mercy fills Him. Christ reaches out to us today, in this moment, and in every moment. And He doesn’t stop.
He welcomes us back to Him even when we’ve sinned. When we’ve hurt others. When we’re broken. When we’ve abandoned Him.
The moment we choose to look back at Him, the moment we decide we want Him in our lives – He’s there. Embracing us. Helping us. Healing us. And encouraging us to keep moving forward.
We are never alone. Christ doesn’t abandon us, and He is the reason for every hope in our lives. When I’m ready to give up, when I don’t feel like I’m ever going to be enough, He reminds me that He hasn’t given up on me – will never give up on me – and helps me try again. And again. And again.
I don’t know how He does it. How He carries all our burdens, sorrows, frustrations, and torments. How He chooses to love each of us so much. But He does, and after everything I’ve seen in my life, I cannot doubt that truth.
Satan Does His Best to Destroy Us
This may seem like a strange thing to bear testimony of, but I believe that Satan is real and that He wants to destroy us. Satan fights against God every chance he can. He hates God, and because we chose to follow God in the pre-earth life, he hates us too. He hates that we’ve progressed more than he ever will. He hates that we can continue to progress.
And he hates when we choose God over him. So he does everything he can to attack us and God’s plan.
We see his tactics every day – constant anger and contention, fear, loneliness, selfishness, superiority, offense. He attacks God’s doctrines – family, salvation, faith, repentance, Christ, even God Himself.
I bring all of this up because reminding myself that Satan is real and actively attacking every one of us helps me to see where his attacks are. It clarifies what is of God and what is of Satan, and that clarity helps me see how to move forward.
We Choose Either God or Satan
I believe that we choose to follow either God or Satan. I don’t believe that there’s a third option. Every choice we make is a choice that turns us toward God or toward Satan. It’s honestly that simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
None of us are perfect. We’ll all make choices that turn us away from God. But that’s why Christ is central to God’s plan – He gives us the chance to choose God again when we haven’t chosen Him in the past.
I believe that God’s law is good. He is good, so His law is too. His law doesn’t exist to punish us or destroy us or limit us. Remember that God’s goal is the salvation of us, His children. So His law, when we choose to accept it and follow it, lifts us and frees us in ways we will never expect. Satan attacks God’s laws and tries to convince us that it isn’t necessary to follow God’s law. Satan is wrong. He knows he’s wrong. But he doesn’t care.
When we choose to follow God, we choose to accept His law. We may not be perfect in following it, but if our goal is to follow God, we’ll return to Him and try again. And again. And again. Because, with Christ, we can.
Accepting and following God’s law helps us to know Him better. We can grow, learn, explore, and progress by following His law. And we’ll find that nothing will be more worthwhile in our lives than choosing God, His plan, and His law.
Family is Significant in God’s Kingdom
I believe that family is significant to God. After all, God’s preferred title is “Father.” He values family and asks us to value our families as well.
In God’s plan, the family is the place where we grow, learn, and teach. In His plan, the family is a mother, a father, and children because this set-up allows families to grow. Men and women are partners in His plan, and we all partner with Him, our Beloved Father in Heaven, to build strong families with Him.
Family is complicated here on earth. I believe that God loves those families that are different, and that He values all those who love and raise His children. But for an eternal family to be built, He does ask us to strive for the family He outlines in His plan. That may not be possible for some in this life, but if we choose to follow and obey Him as best we can, we will have the opportunity to build eternal families later.
God gave us families to help us through this life. And as we work to build and rely on our families, we will come to understand God and His role as our Father better every day.
God Speaks to Us Through Ancient and Modern Testimony
I believe that God has sent, does send, and will send prophets to the earth to teach and testify of Him. Nothing in His plan includes leaving us alone and abandoned in this fallen world. Instead, He does everything He can to help us find our way back to Him.
We find these prophets in scripture. I believe that God has given us the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as scripture for us to study and learn from. Every single one of these books includes testimonies from ancient prophets and from God Himself.
We also have prophets now. When Christ organized His church, He set it up to have a prophet and twelve apostles. This same organization exists now in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each of these men has been called as prophets, seers, and revelators, and each of them fulfills these roles as they travel, teach, warn, and prophesy.
I believe that these prophets and apostles offer direction from God to us now. I love seeing their posts on social media because they offer such light and clarity. And I believe that they are just as much prophets as Isaiah, Peter, Moses, and Nephi were.
God does not leave us alone to figure out what truth is. He knows that it’s all too easy for Satan to twist truth into falsehood. So He gives us these prophets and their testimonies so we can have access to Him.
We Can Talk to God
God speaks to us through scripture and modern prophets. He also talks to each of us personally through His Holy Spirit so we can have revelation about our own lives.
I believe that we can talk directly to God as well. Communication with Him isn’t one-way. We reach Him through prayer. As we live our lives, we can pray at any moment to thank Him, ask for help, or simply seek comfort. There are no barriers, no middle-men, and no ear-plugs involved when we speak to God.
He does hear us. Always. But again, He doesn’t think the way we do. He’s all-knowing and all-powerful. He does what is best for us so we can continue to progress toward salvation. We won’t always like the answers He gives us. But He isn’t there to tell us what we want to hear and to bless us when and how we want to be blessed.
God gave us prayer so we could communicate with Him. So when we don’t like the answer He’s giving us, we can ask for understanding. So we can tell Him what we’re struggling with, and He can help us see the purpose behind it. So we can request blessings and He can grant them when those blessings are the best thing for us.
God will always do what is right and what is good. We speak to Him to build a stronger relationship with Him, the way we do with family members and friends, not to dictate how our lives should be. It’s a struggle and takes time to learn, but as we learn to pray to communicate, not to dictate, we will be strengthened and grow much more than we would if we always had our way.
Please Hear Him
I want to end with this – please stay with God. Please think about your own testimony. If you have a lot of questions, ask them, but hold on to the things you do believe in. God is real, He is good, He is holding His hand out to you, and He loves you more than you know. As chaotic, confusing, and exhausting as the world can be, don’t let it take you away from God.
You can trust God. You can love Him and rely on Him. You can follow Him even when others don’t. And you can find clarity and peace as you choose to make Him part of your daily life. God is talking to you. Please hear Him.
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