The Power of a Personal Testimony

I love this week's article. In the October 2006 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the apostle President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a talk entitled, "The Power of a Personal Testimony." The link to the audio/video is here.

I wonder how many of us understand the meaning of a testimony and what it can do for each of us individually. A lot of people say they believe in God and a lot of people try to live some of His commandments and teachings. But how many of us have that burning, undoubting knowledge that Jesus is the Christ and that living the restored gospel is the only way to find true and everlasting happiness?

Read this talk and think about how these words of an apostle of God apply to you in your life. Take a step back and evaluate where your testimony is, how it helps you in your life, and what you need to do to better strengthen and nurture your testimony that you may reach your full potential as a son or daughter of God.

If you don't think you have a testimony, get one! Read Alma 32; all you need is a desire to begin and the wonderful thing is, you can pray to the Father and ask Him for the desire! You can ask for understanding why you should even strive to build and develop a testimony and the Spirit will testify to you of the truthfulness of the restored gospel. Reasons why a testimony is eternally vital are found all throughout the scriptures. Pray, then open the scriptures and read.

Testimonies are found more in praying and listening that in purely studying and trying to obtain as much information as possible. Study of the scriptures is essential to gaining and especially maintaining a testimony, but knowledge and information are not a testimony. Also, a testimony isn't just believing something because it makes sense. A testimony is confirmation from the Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, that His gospel is the way, and that He called and continues to call prophets in our day. See Alma the younger's conversion story in Alma 5:45-48.

Try it, why not? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I know Jesus Christ lives, I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Christ's church on the earth today. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's prophet on the earth and that he speaks the Lord's will for us in our day. I know this because too many things have happened in my life for it not to be true. I have felt the Spirit innumerable times confirm to me that each point of the gospel is true and that I am a child of my Heavenly Father.

Jeremy