and not breaking
is the moment you have endured.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have grown up hearing the phrase, "to endure". At its most basic definition, endure simply means to not give up.
However, disciples of Christ follow a more specific definition.
To endure means to continue to follow the commandments of God in hopes we become more like Him. Remaining hopeful, keeping the faith, and even sacrificing for another is what it means to endure.
A few years ago I had a moment in my life where I knew I was at my breaking point. Unfortunate circumstances helped me to slowly lose faith in God and His love for me. Love is a powerful feeling. Not because it is an intense and all-consuming feeling, but because of the power it holds.
Love can do amazing things for people.
Love can cause change.
And isn't it so interesting that many people who no longer identify as members of the LDS faith often say it is because they could no longer feel the love of God for them. If a lack of love is the reason why so many people slip away from truth and goodness, why do family's turn their backs on loved ones during turbulent times?
Why do parents shun their children when they come out as gay?
Why are people judged and punished for being divorced?
Why are those who smoke a cigarette on the weekends, forced to sit alone in a congregation of people attending church who are asking for forgiveness themselves? I don't think I will ever know why it makes sense to some that other's choices affect your own worthiness.
To love is always the answer.
I am thankful to say that when I came to my breaking point, I had the love of others to help me endure. Since then, I have faced additional breaking points, as we all do in life. As my testimony of God matures and my understanding about life grows, I can see how these breaking points are similar to that of growth spurts. They hurt and are difficult to live through, but they are necessary to allow the body to be capable of more challenging activities. It is in the participation of these challenging activities that the body continues to grow in strength. Without this spurt, we would be doomed to remain in little bodies forever. This may not seem like a horrible situation, but have you ever seen a toddler walk? They are incredibly clumsy with weak muscles and delicate joints. They cannot know the thrill of hiking a large mountain or hitting a grand slam or even playing a beautiful instrument because all of which requires growth in the muscles. Similarly, without our spiritual breaking points, we would be doomed to remain with limited knowledge about God and incapable of becoming like Him.
So how can we survive our spiritual breaking points in life?
You endure.
You follow the prophet.
You choose faith over fear.
You selflessly serve others.
You stand up for truth.
You pray always.
The list is endless.
Another beautiful thing about God and His love for us is we do not need to fulfill any requirement before He loves us.
He already does. And He always will.
However, it helps us to have faith that His love can change us. But once again, our faith does not need to be great. We know from the Book of Mormon that our faith can be the size of a mustard seed and God will accept it. In fact, God will do amazing things with your little seed.
He can make you feel like you can do anything
because you can with Him.
This morning, I felt of His love and power when I heard Elder Maxwell's words. The Spirit testified to me that what I was hearing is true and I should follow the counsel.
I hope that you can learn how you want to grow and then be brave to overcome your breaking points.
Remember, life is not hard because you are not good.
Life is hard because of opposition.
