Exercise Your Faith

Faith is the very first principle of heaven. All hope of understanding God and his plan for us hinges on faith. We cannot receive answers to prayers without it. We have to have it, act on it, and get more of it. For me, one of the best analogies to understand faith and how to get more, is working out.

Regardless if you have tiny muscles, or if you are a word-class weight lifter, the only way to get more muscle is to use the ones you have. If all you can lift is 5 pounds, you start there. You keep on lifting it, keep on working with it, and eventually you can lift a little more weight. From there you keep working till you look like the Hulk and can lift whatever you want.

It's the same thing with faith. We are all at different levels. Some are spiritually strong, and some are spiritually out of shape. Those that are strong in faith enjoy peace, and assurance that everything is going to be OK; they want even more of those wonderful feelings. Those that are weak in faith experience fear and doubt. In both cases, to get more faith, they must use the faith they have; there must be action. James 2:17 says, "Even so, faith if it hath not works is dead, being alone." If all you can do is read one verse in the scriptures, you start there. You consistently read one verse a night, until pretty soon you can read two or three. From there you get stronger and start having sincere prayers. Pretty soon you are actively participating in church. All the while you are growing closer to Christ, and feeling the assurance and confidence that He is there and loves you.

In the Book of Mormon, Alma 32:27, it says, "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."

Believing in Christ and trusting in His promises is ultimately what makes this life worth living. This is how we come to believe that we can be clean from sin, live again, and be with our families forever. Without that belief, we are here just to live and die,... and that's it. Without faith there cannot be hope. If you want to be happy, seek to gain faith in the Savior. Live righteously and he will bless you with increasing faith. You will feel His power more and more, until you know that He will make good on his promises. You will enjoy the satisfaction of being spiritually fit. I have experienced these blessings in my own life, and I know they will work in yours. I know that Jesus Christ will do everything He told us He would if we but have faith, and act on it. Decide what you can do to exercise your faith today, and then do it!