Blind Faith isn't the Only Faith

In class, we have been talking about prophets and how they guide us through direct revelation from God. Before, I always took that to mean that the prophet was always right because God is always right. It meant that if my personal opinions didn't coincide with the prophet's words that I must be in the wrong. I followed faithfully what the prophet said, but I also followed blindly. Now I know that God does not ask blind faith of me. He asks more than that. He wants me to have a testimony not only of the prophet but of every word the prophet says as a messenger from our Heavenly Father. That will take work on my part. It means that I need to start praying, pondering, and studying about everything the prophet says in order to feel the Holy Spirit testify of the truth of his words. Then my faith will no longer be blind, but firm.

In my Eternal Families class this week, we read in 1 Corinthians about charity. As we were reading, I realized, once again, how perfectly Christ exemplifies the attributes of charity. You can basically just replace the word charity with Christ in any verse of 1 Cor 13 and it will still make sense. Christ "suffereth long." Christ "is not easily provoked." Christ "beareth all things." Christ "endureth all things." Christ "never faileth." To think of Christ as synonymous with charity has helped me to understand His character better than before. It was like reading a list of the attributes of Christ. Now I understand better what Christ wants me to become in the future. For now, I am going to chose one attribute of Christ/aspect of charity and attempt to better live it. In this way, hopefully I will become a better family member, better friend, better roommate, and a better disciple of Christ. 

Our Divine Potential
"Latter-day Saints see all people as children of God in a full and complete sense; they consider every person divine in origin, nature, and potential." (from Becoming Like God at lds.org essay).

I am a child of God. This is a simple fact that I have heard all of my life. The repetition of it sometimes makes me forget the meaning behind the words. We are literally God's children, which is why he cares about us, why he is there with us in every trial and why he takes an interest in what happens on our planet and in our lives. Every commandment or piece of advice he gives us, he gives because he loves us and wants us to reach our divine potential. He knows that we have the capacity to become as He is and is guiding each of us gently on the path that will lead us to our greatest potential and greatest happiness. Our duty is to accept and seek for his guidance and to fight to improve our weaknesses rather than just accept them. If I accept that I am God's child, then I will go through whatever refining fire is necessary to be able to become more like Him, one little step at a time, day by day. Over the course of many years, those tiny steps each day sure will add up.