Faith

Today I'd like to talk about faith.

In the Book of Mormon Alma 32:21 it says that "faith is hope for things not seen."

In the Bible in Hebrews 11:1 it says "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen."

In the American Heritage Dictionary it defines faith as a "Confident belief or trust in a person, idea, or thing."

A few quotes from unknown authors say:

"Faith is a principle of power."

"Fear show a lack of faith and trust in the Lord."

"Faith is assurance and confidence."

"Faith is trusting in the Lord without knowing the consequences."

President Joseph Smith said "Faith is a principle of action."

Elder Richard G. Scott said "This life is an experience of trust."

Faith is all those things: it is a principle of action, a principle of power, an assurance, a hope, and many more things. Because it's a principle of action, it requires work.

I think in order to have faith in someone or something you first need to learn about that person or that subject.

Faith is essentially Belief plus Action. Let's use an example given in the Book of Mormon in Alma 32 to illustrate this point. Alma compares the Word of God to a seed and tells us we need faith in order for the Word of God to increase.

Cooking is much the same way, it's easy for anyone to cook or to say they cook. It's also easy for someone to say they believe in God, but just like in cooking in order to become better you need to practice and to learn all you can about which foods go best together, then you are confident or have faith in your ability to cook.

In the same way, in order to have faith in God or whatever you want to gain faith in. You need to learn all you can about that person or subject and continue learning about that person or subject.

The more you learn and practice what you learn. The more faith you will have and the stronger you will become. For example, the more someone learns about driving, the better and safer they'll become at driving, and the better they'll make their community.

If each of us just had a little more faith in all we do, we would become better citzens, friends, neighbors, and individuals.