In our little French choir we are singing "Il est ne, le divin enfant", a traditional French carol. The words talk about how long the world waited and looked forward to Christ's coming, because of their faith in the promises made by all the prophets. That struck me today. Anciently, they waited with faith for the coming of a Lord they knew through the prophets. After Christ's resurrection, his disciples testified of him, built faith in those who hadn't seen or known him, and looked forward with faith for his return. And today, I try to do the same.
I love in the Book of Mormon, Moroni chapter 7 that talks about this very thing. God has always revealed truth through prophets so that all men might have faith in Jesus Christ. As I sang those hymns and reflected on what it means to truly be faithful, I could see areas in my life that I need to work on. Having faith is much more than believing he lived and will come again. It is more than just going through the motions and waiting for him to come. It is more than believing he is the Son of God and that he came to be our Savior.
For me, as a mother, a wife, a friend, truly having faith in him means being kind. Always kind. No matter how tired or busy I am. It means giving others the benefit of the doubt and trusting them as children of God--seeing in them the divine worth we each have, instead of focusing on their momentary mortal slip-ups. It means lifting, building, encouraging and loving everyone around me as he would. It means not being weary in well doing. It means doing the right things for the right reasons. It means letting go of things that have no lasting worth. It means changing my very nature through the power of his atoning sacrifice and not justifying my weaknesses as being "just who I am".
So the gift I'm giving my best efforts to this year: becoming one of the "faithful" so All that I am, all that I do, and every word that I speak will joyfully testify of him.
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