Last week, I saw an Instagram reel by President Nelson about taking charge of our testimony of Jesus Christ. As he talked, I felt the need to take more ownership of my relationship with God. I began to ponder what a testimony really is and what I can do personally to better take charge of my testimony.
I first want to talk about what a testimony actually is. The definition of a testimony from the church website is, “a spiritual witness given by the Holy Ghost.” So if a testimony is a spiritual witness, why do we need to nourish it and strengthen it? We may we tempted to say that when we believe or know something, we will always believe that thing.
As I think about this, I am reminded of Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon. At one point, an angel appeared to them to reprimand them and to testify that the Lord would deliver what they needed. If this happened to me, I would think that I would always remember and believe. How could I not after seeing an angel, right? Yet a little while later, we see Nephi reminding them of the things that they know. In 1 Nephi 15, many times, Nephi uses the words, “Do ye not remember.”
No matter how much we would like to say that we will never forget the Lord, if we are not consistently working to strengthen our relationship with Him, we will forget Him. We are not Laman and Lemuel, but we can be like them if we are not diligent. If we do not work to build upon the spiritual witnesses that we have been given, the impressions that we receive will not be as prevalent as they previously were. It is imperative that we realize that it is by constant, consistent effort that we not only gain a testimony, but keep and strengthen that testimony.
Choices for Eternity
Now, after learning more about what a testimony is, I decided to go through the devotional where President Nelson gave the direction shown in the Instagram video. It was a young adult devotional that was given in May 2022, entitled “Choices for Eternity.” I wanted to share some of my thoughts and feelings as I went through this devotional.
As I started to go through it, some things that stood out to me were to stop spending time on things that don’t matter, and to always increase in knowledge. Both of these are things that I have thought about in the past few months. Moving across the country and starting over in a new city has given me the opportunity to evaluate my life and the things that I spend time on. I have realized how much time I waste, and how much more I want to do. It was these types of thoughts that caused me to start this blog in the first place. We have been given precious time here on earth. We must spend that time on things that are important. To me, the things that I view as most important are building my relationships with friends and family, and increasing my knowledge, both religious and secular.
Three Fundamental Truths to Build our Testimonies
For the majority of President Nelson’s devotional, he goes through three fundamental truths to help us build our course for the future. I think that each of these things are vital to our spiritual survival, and I want to go through each one thoroughly.
First, he says to know the truth about who we are. As President Nelson states, “you are a child of God, a child of the covenant, and a disciple of Jesus Christ.” I think that this is something that we hear so much, that it is easy to gloss over the reality of what this means. If we are literal children of God, then we have the potential to become like Him. We have a divine destiny. It us up to us to choose to live up to our divine nature and destiny. If we strive to keep this truth at the forefront of our minds, it will affect every choice that we make. I wholeheartedly believe in President Nelson’s promise when he said, “As you embrace these truths, our Heavenly Father will help you reach your ultimate goal of living eternally in His holy presence.”
Second, we need to know the truth about what God the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, have offered us. Through a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, we can see that they have offered us everything. Not only do we have the ability to repent and the promise of resurrection, but we have the knowledge that we can be exalted. We can be glorified beings and joint heirs with Christ. All of this is only possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It will not be an easy path, but as we make covenants with God, and as we strive to follow and embrace the Plan that He has created for us, we can receive all that God has offered us.
Third, he says that we need to know the truth related to our conversion. The truth that he wants us to know is that we need to own our own conversion. In order to do this, we must consider our current beliefs and actions. We also must ponder our desires and seek to know where we can improve. God wants a relationship with us. He wants us to be converted. That being said, He will never force us. We must decide what we want, and act accordingly.
Take Charge of Your Testimony
This is where the part from the Instagram video comes in. President Nelson says it much better than I ever could, so I’ll use his words:
“I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning.
“Engage in daily, earnest, humble prayer. Nourish yourself in the words of ancient and modern prophets. Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear Him better. Spend more time in the temple and in family history work.
“As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.
“If you have questions—and I hope you do—seek answers with the fervent desire to believe. Learn all you can about the gospel and be sure to turn to truth-filled sources for guidance. We live in the dispensation when “nothing shall be withheld.” Thus, in time, the Lord will answer all our questions.
“In the meantime, immerse yourself in the rich reservoir of revelation we have at our fingertips. I promise that doing so will strengthen your testimony, even if some of your questions are not yet answered. Your sincere questions, asked in faith, will always lead to greater faith and more knowledge.”
What powerful words. These words fill me with so much motivation to grow and improve. We are given so many steps that we can take in our personal lives to take charge of our testimonies. As I read these words, I decided to make a list of all of the things that President Nelson listed that we can do to strengthen our testimonies. I am evaluating my own life so that I can work to learn and grow.
I, more than anything, wish to strengthen my relationship with God and Jesus Christ. Here, right in front of us, we have the “secret” formula. The things that we need to do and focus on are simple, but now always easy. We have to work for it, just like President Nelson said.
We need to make our testimony our highest priority. If it is our highest priority, we will put in the necessary work and we will see the results. We will be able to feel God’s spirit with us, leading and guiding us. We will receive answers to questions that we have. We will build a stronger relationship with God. And as President Nelson said, we will see miracles happen in our lives.