An organization is only as strong as its’ members. When discussing religious organizations, the strength is measured largely in an individual’s faith and personal righteousness.
In the Sept. 2008 Women’s General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed the Mormons), Julie B. Beck, General President, addressed this very idea when discussing how to better help the women of the Latter-day Saint Church fulfill their purpose within this world-wide organization.
“To do our part under the plan of the Lord, we are to increase our faith and personal righteousness. Membership in the Church requires faith, which we nourish throughout our lives with great ‘diligence, and patience, and long-suffering’ (Alma 32:43)” (Julie B. Beck, “Fulfilling the Purpose of Relief Society”, Women’s General Conference, 2008).
Faith and personal righteousness are principles that must be acted upon before they can increase. They must be tested, or experimented with, before we can gain a true and honest testimony of their power in our personal lives. One of the most well known examples for members of the Mormon Church of how the principle of faith (and subsequently all other principles) can be tested to know of it’s truthfulness can be found in the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. Feel free to read Alma 32:28-43 for the exact scriptural account.
We start with an object lesson, that of comparing the principle we are hoping to gain a testimony to a seed. You plant the seed, water it, give it plenty of sunshine, and wait to see if it will grow. If it grows, it is a good seed.
By the same token we are given principles to live. We must take one and plant it within our hearts, not rejecting it even before it has a chance to grow. We must nurture this idea through scripture study, through pondering, and through prayer. If the ‘seed’ is good, it will “begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me” (Alma 32:28).
The gospel of Jesus Christ is filled with many good seeds that can begin to enlarge our souls and enlighten our minds, but it is not enough to simply let them sprout. We must work to allow these little seeds to grow into grand trees with deep roots. It is necessary to continue working through more study, prayer and pondering, but also by living the principles. Now it is time to put them to the test.
Sister Beck brings to mind an extraordinary example of what it means to have our faith put to the test through the trials faced by women at the time of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Early pioneer women were driven from homes and persecuted because of their faith. Others survived fires and floods. They crossed oceans and walked thousands of miles, tolerating dirt, illness, and near starvation to help build the Lord’s kingdom on the earth. Many of them buried husbands, children, parents, and siblings along the way. Why did they do this?
“The did it because the fire of their faith burned in their souls. These remarkable women were not seeking fine clothing, greater leisure, large earthly mansions, or more possessions…they had a conviction and a testimony that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ was true and that the Lord needed them to do their part in establishing His kingdom on the earth” (ibid).
We work most passionately towards those things we have a firm conviction of and testimony in. For most women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a firm and abiding testimony of the truthfulness not only of the Church, not only of the Relief Society organization within it, but also of the individual and sacred role of each and every person within it is not only sincere, but a power to be reckoned with.
For those who have not yet gained this strong testimony, the path to receive it has been given in Alma. It is only up to the individual person to take the first step.
I have a firm testimony of this Church, and have since I was seventeen years old. I have put the principle of faith to the test and have been blessed to see my faith come out stronger. I am still coming to recognize the extraordinary power behind this organization of women, and of the remarkable things that can be accomplished when we are all working together.
Perhaps that’s because, as Sister Beck indicated:
“Their pursuit of personal righteousness was a daily effort to become more like the Savior through repentance, scripture study, prayer, obedience to commandments, and through seeking after everything ‘virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy’” (ibid).
