Thursday, April 7, 2011

Developing Christlike Attributes: Faith in Jesus Christ

Who am I, and what type of person should I become? This question is one that has risen to the surface many times throughout my life. Who should we be? 

Christ answered this question during His ministry among the people of ancient America, as found in the Book of Mormon. He said, "...What manner of men ought you to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Nephi 27:27)  

How do you we become like Christ? By developing his attributes. The next nine blog posts will include seven different Christlike attribute and how we can develop them in our own lives. As we strive to develop these attributes, a greater love will come into our lives for Jesus Christ and His atonement, for others, and for ourselves. Obviously, we can never in any way, shape, or form compare to the majesty of the master, but we can strive to be like him.

Faith in Jesus Christ

In order to become like Christ we first need to develop our faith in Christ. When we have faith in Christ, we believe in Him as the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. We accept him as our Savior and Redeemer and follow his teachings. We believe that our sins can be forgiven through Christ's Atonement. Faith in Him means that you trust Him and are confident that He loves you.

Faith consists of not only of BELIEVING  IN CHRIST, but it also means that we BELIEVE CHRIST. What is the difference between believing in Him and believing Him? Believing in Christ consists of believing that He lived and is the savior and redeemer of the world. Believing Christ means that we accept his teachings, trust in him, and have confidence that he did in fact pay the price for each of us. Through Him we can be forgiven of our sins and return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. There is more to believing Christ than there is to believing in Christ. Faith includes both believing in Christ, and believing Christ.

"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." (James 2:17)

Faith in Christ leads to action. These actions include repentance, obedience, and service. When we have faith in Christ we trust the Lord enough to follow His commandments-- even when we do not completely understand the reasons for them. We do the things that the Lord asks us to do. We bring about good in our own lives and the lives of others.  Our faith is made known by our diligence in these things. "Believe in God.... believe that man doth not comprehend all this which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9) We may not know the specific reason that the Lord asks certain things of us, but faith is believing that the Lord knows what is best for us and remembering He can comprehend all things.

"And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever." (Moroni 10:7)

Faith is a principle of power. God works by power, but His power is usually exercised in a response to faith. He works in accordance with our faith. Doubt and fear are opposed to faith.

Our faith increases as we search and ponder the scriptures, offer sincere prayer, give dedicated service, and walk in obedience to the commandments.

As our faith increases increases we become better acquainted with Christ and His teachings. As we pray and diligently study the scriptures we learn of His ways, His love for all people, and His commandments. Therefore, we learn how we can become more like him.

Faith also includes confidence in the mission and power of the Holy Ghost. Through faith we receive answers to our prayers and personal inspiration to guide us in our lives.

Faith in Jesus Christ is the first step to becoming more like Him. Other Chrislike attributes follow as a direct result from our faith in Him.  

Additional Scriptures
Alma 32:21     Hebrews 11:1
Ether 12:6       Topical Guide, "Faith"
2 Nephi 25:29  Bible Dictionary "Faith
2 Nephi 26:13  Mosiah 4:6-12
Alma 32          Helaman 15:7-8
Ether 12:7-22  Mosiah 3:17
Mosiah 5:1-15 Helaman 5:9-12
John 14:6         Moroni 7:33
Romans 10:17  Hebrews 11



Taken from Preach My Gospel

2 comments:

  1. I really love the concept of believing Christ. So often we have a difficult forgiving ourselves when we have sinned. Christ did atone for our sins which means, after repentance, we can forgive ourselves. He loves us and wants us to be happy. Therefore, we need to realize that we all make mistakes and there is a way to make it back through our Savior.

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  2. Sometimes it's harder to believe Christ than it is to believe in him. To believe him seems to take great faith while believing in him seems to come naturally. To really believe that he knows you, and suffered all things for you. That he loves you and is there for you every step of the way...that requires faith.

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