Tips on Building Fatih

"Great faith has a short shelf life."

                  President Henry B. Eyring

What does that mean, aren't we supposed to have great faith in this life? If we have or feel like we have great faith, why does it have a short shelf life? The first time that I heard this phrase, I was shocked. I thought that my faith was being challenged and I thought that the scriptures teach us to have great faith. These thoughts and feelings I had were soon changed as I took time to ponder and pray about this quote. I pondered about my life cause this is where I exhibit and show faith every day. What I learned was that throughout my life I have had moments of great faith, for example reading the four gospels in a week, or turning to the Lord in hard times by going to church, praying, and living righteously. Despite the effort, after I began these tasks, I would soon crash and burn, leaving me back where I started and at times worse off than I began. The effects of these great bouts of faith were that I was just flooding my self with the gospel and that I was never taking the time to nourish myself with the gospel. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma teaches this concept by comparing our faith to a seed and the growth of a tree and here is an example of this concept:

"And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.
But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out." (Alma 32: 37-38)

In order to nourish our selves with the gospel of Jesus Christ we must do the very basic and simple things that the Lord teaches us to do. Like pray, read and study our scriptures, go to church, keep the commandment, and love and serve others. Doing all these things with humility, a proper attitude, and always striving to do them the best that we can will bring us closer to the Lord in our lives. Closeness to Jesus Christ is what we all seek after and it is this closeness, our faith, that will be our strength when we face the many trails of this life. That strength comes from God's grace, and that grace comes by a consistent effort to follow Christ in our lives. 

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be eperfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." (Moroni 10: 32)