David's Goliath

If you eat an ice cream sandwich one night, you won’t wake up fat the next day from that one decision. But over a period of time, many of these small and seemingly insignificant decisions can affect your weight one way or the other. 

Our testimonies work the same way. One “R” rated movie is not going to shake your testimony.  But over time if we allow ourselves to participate in "little things" it can eventually affect you.

We often tell the story of David killing Goliath as if it were an isolated circumstance. As if he was sitting around on a hillside somewhere working his thumbs on a Play Station when the call came to fight Goliath and on that day he became a great warrior.

It was not so. That day on the battlefield with Goliath was the accumulation of years of faith building experiences fighting lions and protecting his sheep.

Yet, how did Bathsheba defeat so great a warrior?

In the years leading up to Goliath, David was sharpening his faith and skills every day. In the years leading up to Bathsheba he was living in a palace with servants waiting on him hand and foot as the king of Israel; his skills had been reduced to giving orders and picking out tapestries.

No matter how strong your testimony is, it will eventually die if you don’t water it consistently.

Neal A. Maxwell
…too many members are sliding down the slope, though perhaps at a slower pace.

The Atonement: an eraser, not a pencil...

I once bought a hotdog at Costco and as I sat at my table alone, I offered a quick, silent prayer.  When I looked up, the man on the next row had a huge smile on his face as he looked at me.  He reached over to shake my hand and said, “I am your brother!  I go to the (censored) Church, where do you go?”  My blood ran cold as I smiled and reached for his hand because his church holds anti-Mormon classes.  When I told him, with hands still clasp, where I attended church it was his turn for shock.  His face went blank and he politely went back to his meal as though suddenly disinterested in the conversation.

Luckily, not everyone who disagrees with us is so impolite.  A few months ago I had a very interesting and enlightening conversation on the radio with a Christian minister about grace and whether or not anything more needs to be done after a person has confessed Jesus as their Savior.  It was a very respectful conversation and as I thought about it afterwards I realized that traditional Christianity has taken one central part of the gospel (grace) and made it the only part of the gospel.  Excluding therewith any requirement to keep the commandments.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is an eraser, not a pencil.

If leaving this life without sin was the only requirement, we could have accomplished the same thing by not coming.

Albert Einstein defined the purpose of this life when he said, “The only source of knowledge is experience.”

In fact, grace is the safety net given to us by a loving Heavenly Father so that we can gain knowledge through experience without fear of losing our reward when we make mistakes.  The great blessing of grace should never be used to excuse ourselves from keeping the commandments.

Alma 34:32
For Behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.