"Faith is just a little seed, if planted it will grow. Faith is a swelling within my heart, when I do right I know." You are all familiar with the Primary Children's song. Just like we learned in Primary we must continue to nourish and strengthen our trees by giving it food, water, shelter, and sunlight. Well I am comparing the physical things to the Gospel principles of how faith grows. They are: food=scriptures, water=trials, shelter=temple, sunlight=having Jesus Christ in our thoughts and hearts.
To increase our faith we read the scriptures. Just like a plant needs food daily, our spirits need daily, diligent scripture study to build up our faith as well as maintain it. Helaman 15:7 says: "And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy propehts, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them-therefore, as many as have come to this, ye know of yourselves are firm and steadfast in the faith, and in the things wherewith they have been made free." The Scriptures lead us to faith on the Lord and daily reading keeps us steadfast in the faith. Because we have the knowledge of the truth from the scriptures, our faith and testimonies grow of the Savior and His plan for us.
A plant needs water more than any other source, besides sunlight. According to my metaphor, that means we need more trials and hardships than any other thing, except for the Holy Ghost to be with us during those times, to increase our faith. There are blessings of adversity: the Lord didn't just let Nephi get the plates right away, He let Nephi and his brothers suffer a little, go through a rough patch so that they could be edified; it's the time that we spend in adversity and trials that strengthen our faith. We need to have trials, we need to have faith so that we can gain the most important thing: a testimony. Once we have one, we continue to build it precept upon precept, line upon line, which in turn mean experiences. It may be hard at the time to press forward, but each successful triumph over tribulations bring increased faith in our Savior.
Storms and harsh physical elements blow our plant everywhere, but it won't move if it is firmly rooted into the ground. However it will withstand much better if it is sheltered in some way, especially if it is a small plant. The shelter we need to increase our faith is going to the temple regularly. Whenever I need to get out of the storms of life or I need peace to receive answers, I go to the temple and sit in the waiting room and ponder, or do baptisms for the dead. Every time I enter the temple I feel love and warmth, peace and comfort from the Spirit. This helps me gain courage and more faith to face the trials I have outside of the shelter that the temple provides. D&C 110:7 says: "For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house." What greater peace can we feel than in the temple, where the Spirit of the Lord is present? If the storms of life are troubling you, seek refuge in the temple.
The last thing I am suggesting to increase our faith is to have the Lord in our thoughts and hearts. In 2 Corinthians 8:9, it reads: "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." Wow! I don't think we can comprehend what the Lord went through for us, but to know that He gave everything up for our good, for our progression to take place, so that we can return with Him again, makes me want to live my life the best that I can, to live it to the fullest. To help others by smiling, being friendly or just talking with those who need to talk are all simple ways we can be more Christ-like. By following Christ's ultimate example, we are demonstrating faith and increasing it. If we give up our riches of popularity and pride and give them to the poor in spirit or in hope, as Christ did, we can uplift others as well as edify ourselves. We can also receive His help in our personal lives and trials if we constantly think of Him, or keeping a prayer in our hearts. The Lord is always there, regardless of our circumstances. He's walked the path we are walking, and He knows exactly what we are going through. Why not ask someone who's been through it for help? I know when I humbly get on my knees He answers my prayers by showing me what to do. He may not take the entire burden away, but He makes it bearable and comforts us during the hard times. If we knew that it would all turn out good in the end, then it wouldn't be a test here on the earth. That's why we need to have faith and put our trust in the Savior, rely on the testimony we have received to keep us going up the mountain towards the tree of life, our ultimate goal.
Works Cited:
1.The song "Faith" in the Primary Children's Songbook
2. D&C 110:7
3. 1 Nephi ch 3
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10 comments:
Kelli,
I like the organization of your essay and the plant metaphor. This works really well. Make sure you make that connection with each paragraph specifically and not just in the introduction.
I really like the extended plant metaphor also. The Children's Song is a good way to introduce the theme, and you elaborated each point well.
Thanks for pointing out that increasing faith takes continual time and effort; the plant analogy really helped me visualize this concept. Good job!
Thank you for your post. I always love learning about faith because it is so essential. I loved the plant example because that is something that you can always relate to faith.
I like how you said we need trials and hardships in order to increase our faith, just as plants need water to grow. Good point!
I hadn't really ever thought of water as a trial before. This can be true though, through hail or excessive rain or even drought. The presence or lack of water can be a trial for a plant. Thanks for the insight
I really like how you related the growing of a plant and what it needs to our spirits and how they can grow and how our faith increase.
I like how you said that in order for our faith to grow, we need to experience trials. I liked you r personal commentary as well.
I love the seed metaphor, it is truly one of the best to describe the deveopment of faith! Good job!
I love your metaphor! I like how you used water for trials. When you pour water on a plant, it usually gets a little droopy but then it rises. Great blog!
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