Learning By Faith

With the new year upon us and everyone setting resolutions and goals to become more and do better in life there is a single ingredient that will help more than anything else...FAITH!  Faith is an interesting topic to discuss and ponder about.  Here is the definition of Faith:

Faith 

Faith. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen, but which are true (Heb. 11:1; Alma 32:21), and must be centered in Jesus Christ in order to produce salvation. To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone. The Lord has revealed himself and his perfect character, possessing in their fulness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in him without reservation. Faith is kindled by hearing the testimony of those who have faith (Rom. 10:14–17). Miracles do not produce faith, but strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ; in other words, faith comes by righteousness, although miracles often confirm one’s faith.

Faith is a principle of action and of power, and by it one can command the elements and/or heal the sick, or influence any number of circumstances when occasion warrants (Jacob 4:4–7). Even more important, by faith one obtains a remission of sins and eventually can stand in the presence of God.

In our priesthood lesson at church today I had the privilege of being the instructor and leading the class discussion on Learning by Faith.  We are using the Teachings of Presidents of the Church Lorenzo Snow for our study manual in 2013.

The main points or key takeaways I took from this chapter are the following:

1. Learning comes in various forms but requires faith, exertion, and perseverance.
2. Obtaining knowledge is necessary to gaining permanent happiness.
3. The education of the Lord's Spirit is worthy of our best attention.
4. We benefit from hearing the gospel principles over and over again.
5. When we gather to learn the gospel, both the teacher and the learner need the guidance of the Spirit.

A few of my favorite scriptures we discussed today are the following:

2 NEPHI 28:30
 30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon ^aprecept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn ^bwisdom; for unto him that ^creceiveth I will give ^dmore; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

D&C 88:118
 118 And as all have not ^afaith, seek ye diligently and ^bteach one another words of ^cwisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best ^dbooks words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.

D&C 130:18-19

 18 Whatever principle of ^aintelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the ^bresurrection.

 19 And if a person gains more ^aknowledge and intelligence in this life through his ^bdiligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the ^cadvantage in the world to come.

I am grateful for the lessons we learn each week and for the reminder this one gave me to consistently study the gospel of Jesus Christ and the things of the Spirit.  This balance is necessary for us to obtain happiness and learn to do the will of Father in Heaven.  I know that Jesus Christ lives today and is the Head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I am so grateful for my membership in it and love the joy it brings to my family and I.

C.J. Poulsen