Helaman 5:12

“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”

Like the majority of you, I have read this verse a number of times. It is a verse of scripture that has always been one of my favorites. One thing that I really love about the verse is its overall focus on Christ and the strength that comes from building our foundation on him. Having a strong foundation of Christ is essential because that is what everything else relies. If that is weak, things are sure to fall when things get rough.

The principle that this scripture teaches has a lot to do with faith and the importance of a strong testimony. We must have faith that if we choose to build our foundation on Christ he will not fail us. A huge part of having enough faith to build our foundation on Christ has to do with the strength of our testimony. Having a strong testimony makes it much easier to face the problems that Satan will continually throw at us. Having a strong testimony paired with great faith in Christ will make it so that our foundations will be immovable. The many tactics that Satan uses in hopes of effecting us will have no success.

This principle is definitely applicable to all of us. Satan is constantly threatening us so having great faith and a strong testimony is essential to our survival against the adversary. When times get hard and life seems more difficult than usual, we can rely on our foundation to keep us grounded and standing upright.

Alma 36:21

“Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so better as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, me son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.”

What this scripture means to me is that we will all face pains in life but they are nothing compared to the joy that we will feel. They joy we have in life will make the pains seem like they never happened. It also makes me think of the source of this joy. I think the only way to experience such great joy is through living how you should and having a good relationship with Christ and our Father in Heaven.

The principle that this scripture teaches has to do with change and repentance. In class, Brother Griffin talked about how we often think that change takes weeks, months, or even years, but that is not the case. Change is something that happens quickly, it is the temptations and pains of the sin that can last much longer. What this lesson taught me was to make a decision to change but to be prepared to deal with the temptations that last much longer.

This principle and lesson changes my overall view of change and what it takes. Making the choice to change is simple, but we must be willing to deal with the temptations that will follow that decision. Something that will most definitely not be easy but will be worth it I the end. The joy that comes from dealing with and overcoming the temptations and pains that are felt from the decision to change will be very much worth it in the end. Feeling the joy that the gospel and repentance can bring into your life is far greater than the feelings of pain that come from making that initial decision to change.  

Mosiah 4:19

“For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold. And for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?”

In my personal scripture study this week I came across this scripture and it really stood out to me. The main thing that it brought to my mind was the judgments that we make of others. Too quickly we judge people based off of rumors or the actions they have done. This is incredibly hypocritical because we all make mistakes and as the scripture says, “we are all beggars,” we all rely on God for everything we have and we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ to help us right our wrongs. This scripture is a great reminder that no matter who we are or what we have done each and every one of us relies on Christ to save us. We would most definitely not be able to reach our full potential without the Savior and Heavenly Father on our side.

One important principle that this scripture does teach is not to be hypocritical of others. I think we can all agree that we are guilty of the occasional judgment and this scripture is a reminder of how important it is to remember that we are all more alike than we realize. We all rely heavily on God and Christ for all that we have. We have no right to be hypocritical of others when nobody, including ourselves, are perfect. Hypocrisy does not accomplish anything.  

How this scripture applies to me in my life is it is a reminder to watch what I think about and say about others. We all make mistakes whether they be big of small and we all rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ to be forgiven. As children of God, we need to remember to love and help one another not hate and judge one another.  We all depend on the same beings to grow, learn, and hopefully reach the eternal goal we have set.