Believing with our Whole Souls - Ashlee Johnson

Although the word “believe” may seem like a small and simple word, it is easier said than done if you ask me, and I’m sure many would agree. I grew up believing in God, believing in the LDS church, and never really considered any alternative. However, as I grew older, I realized I had not discovered truly for myself if I believed in God. I mean really believe. In 2 Nephi 25:29 it says, “I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not… wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out.” [1] I said I believed, but there were random doubts in my mind that I could not seem to settle. I did not believe and trust in Him with my whole soul yet, and I’m sure many have found themselves in my same position.

            Is there a reason to believe in God with our whole souls? It is interesting to look at the Hebrew translation of the word “soul”. In Hebrew, “soul” is translated as “ne'fesh” or “ne'shama”.  This word is derived from the word root “hey” in Hebrew, which interestingly enough has to do with “star shine”. [2] In further research of this, I discovered that the ancient writing of this root is a picture of a man raising his arms and looking up at a great sight (most likely something shining or bright). [3] From all of this it seems that our souls have a natural inclination toward our Heavenly Father, or toward his brightness. This was extremely comforting for me. It shows that I am capable of believing with my whole soul, I just have to find the right direction to face. Believing with our whole souls will face us toward Him, and make us stronger and wiser in everything we do.

Being able to face toward Him and let Him help us in our daily lives is just one of many reasons to devote our whole souls to him. Other reasons can be to live with Him again, to be saved, and to feel protected. But how can we believe in Him with our whole souls? One way is to serve Him with all our might, mind, and strength. We can do this through fast and prayer. Omni says, “Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.” [4] Other manners of service for our Lord is to go to our church meetings, fulfill our callings, and continue to build up the kingdom of God. We can also be grateful toward Him. King Benjamin preaches in Mosiah, “I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you… I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.” [5] By serving our Heavenly Father, it will bring us closer to believing in him with our whole souls.

When we truly believe in Him, we can have a perfect knowledge of Him. Once I had realized I did not yet have this perfect knowledge, I began to fast and pray, and serve him with my whole soul as often as I could. After two months of praying for a stronger testimony and belief, I went to the LDS Girl’s Camp “Oakcrest” for the first time. There, we did an activity in which we were all blindfolded and we had to follow a very small string with our hands. It was a long hike, and some of the counselors were acting as the “enemy” and tried to guide us away. Eventually I reached the end, and although I was exhausted and a little frustrated, the minute I took off my blindfold I was filled with nothing but happiness. Right in front of me was a giant picture of Christ, (as displayed in this blog) blown up to be about twenty feet high and ten feet wide. I was literally absorbed in His light! Right next to the picture, there was also a group of counselors singing the camp’s theme song for that year. The song was based on Mosiah 4:9, where it says, “Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth.” [6] I sat down in front of the picture with the other girls, listening to the beautiful song and waiting for some of my closest friends to come up. Once they reached the end however and took off their blindfolds, they hardly glimpsed at the glorious image in front of them. It was as if they hardly cared! I knew they were not very devoted to the church, but it was so incredulous to me that they were not feeling what I was feeling. I could not take my eyes off of the picture! Right then I realized that this was exactly what I wanted. I desired nothing more than to be with Christ again, and I definitely did not want to be one of those who hardly cared for Him. It was a brutal awakening to see my friends like that, but it strengthened my testimony and made me believe in Him with my whole soul so that I would not be like those girls.

With this experience and my determination to begin serving the Lord with my whole soul, I gained a perfect knowledge of Him. I felt exactly as King Benjamin says in Mosiah 4, “That as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love… I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God… and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.” [7] I know that if we serve the Lord with all our might, mind, and strength, and turn our whole souls to Him, we may gain a perfect knowledge of Him and believe in Him with our whole souls. I know God lives, and He is there for me every day. Believing in Him is definitely worthwhile. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

Works Cited

1. 2 Nephi 25:29

2. The Scriptures: CD-ROM Edition 1.1. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2005.

3. www.ancient-hebrew.org

4. Omni 1:26

5. Mosiah 2:20-21

6. Mosiah 4:9

7. Mosiah 4:11-12