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“The defining challenge of our day is to discern, obey, and defend truth,” said Brother Douglas D. Holmes, First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency, during commencement exercises at Brigham Young University-Idaho on July 23.
“This is not a small thing, for only the truth—a pure knowledge of things as they really are—will make us free and lead us to happiness now and in eternity,” he said.
Brother Holmes warned of the deceit of self-confidence, and spoke of developing a confidence based on trusting in God.
“If self-confidence is so critical to a happy life, why don’t I find any sermons on it in the scriptures?” he asked. “Why has God not told us how important self-confidence is and given guidance on how to build our self-confidence?”
Rather, the scriptures teach the opposite—to always remember “the greatness of God, and your own nothingness“ (Mosiah 4:11), with warnings against those who “putteth his trust in the arm of flesh” (2 Nephi 4:34), and encouragement to “trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding“ (Proverbs 3:5).
Citing examples such as Nephi and Helaman in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, Brother Holmes recognized all of these men had put their confidence in God.
“These examples barely scratch the surface of this prominent scriptural theme,” he said. “Time after time, remarkable accomplishments have been achieved by weak and simple people who trusted God’s power over their own.”
Brother Holmes shared three lessons to help individuals avoid deception and build their confidence every day.
To read the full article on LDS.org, click here.
Garth SmithJuly 31, 2018
I appreciate the message Brother Douglas D. Holmes, First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency gave. He offered some valuable insight into how one might gain self-confidence. I've gained inner confidence by the words found in Doctrine & Covenants 121:45-46, "45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy CONFIDENCE wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. 46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever." (Emphasis added). Many or most of us regularly use our self-talk to demean ourselves. But when we cast negative thoughts out and replace them with positive thoughts about ourselves, confidence grows within us. The 1838 Webster Dictionary offers one definition of "garnish" as: Prepare, protect, equip and arm. So, as we learn to "let virtue GARNISH our thoughts unceasingly", we are preparing our mind. Protecting our mind. Equipping our mind and arming our mind against the "fiery darts of the adversary."