Monday, September 30, 2013

Doubt Not in Thyself

A scribe once asked Christ what, of all the commandments, was the greatest commandment. To which the Savior replies: to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, with all thy heart, and with all thy strength. Upon this one commandment hangs all the Law and all the Prophets. And the second is like unto it: Love thy neighbor as thyself. Upon these two commandments hang everything we do as disciples of Christ. I've learned that the greatest hindrance to these two laws and perhaps to our lives in general as human beings is that of doubt. Especially self doubt. 

Doubt in its simplest form is the absence of faith. Doubt of the self is an absence of faith in our ability to accomplish what we desire and a fear that we won't be able to progress. Just as serious sin can vastly impact our lives, so can doubt drag us down and hinder our progress. We are commanded to doubt not, only believe, so how can we learn to believe in ourselves? 

Faith in ourselves is gained in much the same way that we build our faith in God. It comes mainly through being able to experiment and see edifying results. We build faith in God by reading scriptures, praying, and going to church. Then as we live his commandments, he blesses us in return and we are able to see the results of our faithfulness. This in turn builds our faith to follow the commandments even more and thus the cycle continues. We come to recognize that we are sons and daughters of a divine Heavenly Father. A spark of divinity rests within each of us and as we allow ourselves to be influenced by it, we build ourselves up and realize our potential. 



“Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. …
“Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.
“Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.” (D&C 6:34, 36–37.)
We would do well to remember this scripture. When all else fails, we can turn to our savior who's been down the path that we're going through. He's suffered all so that we may rise above our mistakes and obtain our deepest desires. We have a promise, now let us stretch out our hands and take it. 

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