This week, one of my favorite passages was when the Savior asks His disciples who the people are saying that He is. They respond that many believe He is John, the Baptist, or Elias, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asks them who THEY say He is. This video shows Peter's response:
What I love is the Savior's response to Peter. He tells him that Peter has this knowledge of who Christ is not because of anything earthly witness, but because it was revealed to Peter through the Father in heaven.
This principle is the foundation upon which our belief in the Savior must be built: We must have faith in things that we cannot see with our earthly eyes. I personally have not seen the Savior as His disciples did. However, that fact does not diminish my testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ.
I don't need to see the Savior to know that He is real and that He loves me. I don't need to see the Savior to know that He suffered for my sins and forgives me when I make mistakes. I don't need to see the Savior to know that He was crucified and rose from the dead on the third day. I know these things are true through the Spirit of God, who has witnessed to my heart and mind that these things are true.
It hasn't been easy to know for myself that things are true. I have had to read and study the scriptures. I have had to pray earnestly for answers to my questions and doubt. I have had to act in faith and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. I have had to humble myself and follow the teachings of living prophets and apostles.
We live in a world that says those who believe in God are foolish and mocked. People just can't understand how a person can KNOW God lives. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a wonderful talk about this subject and said this:
"Satan, our adversary, wants us to fail. He spreads lies as part of his effort to destroy our belief. He slyly suggests that the doubter, the skeptic, the cynic is sophisticated and intelligent, while those who have faith in God and His miracles are naive, blind, or brainwashed. Satan will advocate that it is cool to doubt spiritual gifts and the teachings of true prophets.
I wish I could help everyone to understand this one simple fact: we believe in God because of things we know with our heart and mind, not because of things we do not know. Our spiritual experiences are sometimes too sacred to explain in worldly terms, but that doesn’t mean they are not real.
Heavenly Father has prepared for His children a spiritual feast, offering every kind of exquisite food imaginable—and yet, instead of enjoying these spiritual gifts, the cynics content themselves with observing from a distance, sipping from their cups of skepticism, doubt, and disrespect.
Why would anyone walk through life satisfied with the light from the candle of their own understanding when, by reaching out to our Heavenly Father, they could experience the bright sun of spiritual knowledge that would expand their minds with wisdom and fill their souls with joy?
When you and I talk to people about faith and belief, don’t we often hear, “I wish I could believe the way you do”?
Implied in such a statement is another of Satan’s deceptions: that belief is available to some people but not to others. There is no magic to belief. But wanting to believe is the necessary first step! God is no respecter of persons.6 He is your Father. He wants to speak to you. However, it requires a little scientific curiosity—it requires an experiment upon the word of God—and the exercise of a “particle of faith.”7 It also takes a little humility. And it requires an open heart and an open mind. It requires seeking, in the full meaning of the word. And, perhaps hardest of all, it requires being patient and waiting upon the Lord.
If we make no effort to believe, we are like the man who unplugs a spotlight and then blames the spotlight for not giving any light."
Like Peter, I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and I'm so grateful for all the experiences in life that prove to me every day that He is real. I invite you to also believe!
Here is Pres. Uchtdorf's talk called "Be Not Afraid, Only Believe"
This principle is the foundation upon which our belief in the Savior must be built: We must have faith in things that we cannot see with our earthly eyes. I personally have not seen the Savior as His disciples did. However, that fact does not diminish my testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ.
I don't need to see the Savior to know that He is real and that He loves me. I don't need to see the Savior to know that He suffered for my sins and forgives me when I make mistakes. I don't need to see the Savior to know that He was crucified and rose from the dead on the third day. I know these things are true through the Spirit of God, who has witnessed to my heart and mind that these things are true.
It hasn't been easy to know for myself that things are true. I have had to read and study the scriptures. I have had to pray earnestly for answers to my questions and doubt. I have had to act in faith and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. I have had to humble myself and follow the teachings of living prophets and apostles.
We live in a world that says those who believe in God are foolish and mocked. People just can't understand how a person can KNOW God lives. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a wonderful talk about this subject and said this:
"Satan, our adversary, wants us to fail. He spreads lies as part of his effort to destroy our belief. He slyly suggests that the doubter, the skeptic, the cynic is sophisticated and intelligent, while those who have faith in God and His miracles are naive, blind, or brainwashed. Satan will advocate that it is cool to doubt spiritual gifts and the teachings of true prophets.
I wish I could help everyone to understand this one simple fact: we believe in God because of things we know with our heart and mind, not because of things we do not know. Our spiritual experiences are sometimes too sacred to explain in worldly terms, but that doesn’t mean they are not real.
Heavenly Father has prepared for His children a spiritual feast, offering every kind of exquisite food imaginable—and yet, instead of enjoying these spiritual gifts, the cynics content themselves with observing from a distance, sipping from their cups of skepticism, doubt, and disrespect.
Why would anyone walk through life satisfied with the light from the candle of their own understanding when, by reaching out to our Heavenly Father, they could experience the bright sun of spiritual knowledge that would expand their minds with wisdom and fill their souls with joy?
When you and I talk to people about faith and belief, don’t we often hear, “I wish I could believe the way you do”?
Implied in such a statement is another of Satan’s deceptions: that belief is available to some people but not to others. There is no magic to belief. But wanting to believe is the necessary first step! God is no respecter of persons.6 He is your Father. He wants to speak to you. However, it requires a little scientific curiosity—it requires an experiment upon the word of God—and the exercise of a “particle of faith.”7 It also takes a little humility. And it requires an open heart and an open mind. It requires seeking, in the full meaning of the word. And, perhaps hardest of all, it requires being patient and waiting upon the Lord.
If we make no effort to believe, we are like the man who unplugs a spotlight and then blames the spotlight for not giving any light."
Like Peter, I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and I'm so grateful for all the experiences in life that prove to me every day that He is real. I invite you to also believe!
Here is Pres. Uchtdorf's talk called "Be Not Afraid, Only Believe"