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Have you ever heard a story about someone praying for a testimony in the MTC?
The beats of the story are familiar. Someone without a strong testimony decides to serve a mission. They want a testimony badly. They pray about the Book of Mormon or the Church. Then they are given a testimony. Like a little present with a bow on top.
We frame testimonies like this a lot. If we work hard enough, and have enough desire, we will be given a testimony. It’s time to stop.
What is a Testimony?
A testimony is essentially a list of those things we have faith in.
But faith is distinct from belief. Faith is how we live our lives, not how much we believe in things.
Take the story in Mark chapter nine. A father with an ill child comes to Christ. As with many of his miracles, Christ explained that faith was necessary for the miracle to occur. The father said, “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” Christ performed the miracle, and the boy was healed.
But if faith was required, how could the unbelieving father produce a miracle? Because his belief or unbelief was entirely irrelevant to his faith. The father behaved as though Christ could perform the miracle, so he had faith.
We demonstrate faith in a principle when we live our life as if it were true, even if intellectually we may have serious reservations. In other words, our testimony is the set of principles upon which we base our decisions. A testimony is not the spiritual experiences or insights that led us to choose those principles.
To read the full article on LDS.net, click here.
Nadine AndertonJuly 26, 2016
I agree with the author, if I understand him correctly - and therefore disagree with the comments by David and Glen. We stand at the pulpit and say we know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God or we know the Gospel is true and that Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, but do our lives reflect that? Do we really care about our neighbor, whether a member or not, who is unemployed and struggling from day to day? Do we do our Home or Visiting Teaching with the spirit that we are the eyes, ears, and arms of the Lord to actually see that needs are met and those we teach actually know that we care about them? Do we attend the temple, do family history work, keep the commandments? If someone accused you of having a testimony, would there be enough evidence to convict you? I remember when the song "I Am a Child of God" was first taught in Primary, the chorus said "Teach me all that I must know to live with God some day." The words were changed to "Teach me all that I must DO . . .." because it is doing (behavior) that will save us, not only knowing. Faith is a start, but it must impel us to action. This does not leave out the role of the Holy Ghost at all, as it all works together.
Ray A. JoranJuly 26, 2016
I agree that hope and faith are involved with testimony but it is also true that a witness of spiritual occurrences are also testimonies. A witness of knowledge is also a testimony. Bearing witness of that which we KNOW is also a testimony.